Why custom-built instead of WordPress, Shopify, or Odoo?

Templates trade flexibility for speed. They suit specific cases - Shopify for a straightforward store, WordPress for a blog. When a business has its own workflows, local payment methods, or growth that does not fit a plugin, the template becomes the limit. A custom build means: Performance: speed is designed into the architecture and built to the published performance targets (see our quality standards). Integration: payment providers and other services are connected through their own APIs, not through a plugin that approximates them. Ownership: no platform subscription or plugin vendor between you and your own code. Growth: the architecture follows your business logic, not a plugin's limits.

When does a business need custom software instead of an off-the-shelf product?

When the product makes the business work around it. If the team keeps a spreadsheet beside the software, types the same data twice, or has to ask one person where things stand, the tool no longer fits the work. Custom software is not always the answer: If an off-the-shelf product already fits how you work, use it. It costs less to start, and someone else maintains it. If the problem is not yet clear, start with the free initial consultation call before anything is built. If what you need is for customers to find and contact you, a website may be enough. On the call we say which of these applies. If it is not custom software, we say so.

What's the timeline from 'I want to start' to 'we're live'?

2–8 weeks, depending on scope. Every project moves through the same five phases - discovery, wireframe, design, development and launch - and the project phases page shows how long each takes. The estimator gives an indicative range in weeks; your proposal sets the delivery window once scope is reviewed. What moves the date: scope first, then how ready your content is and how quickly each phase is signed off. Content written from scratch adds time to the early phases; a flexible deadline can stretch a quote to 12 weeks, never further.

How do you charge for projects? What's the payment schedule?

In three milestone payments, not by the hour: Deposit (50% of the total): secures your build window Development milestone (30%): due at a development milestone, named in your proposal Final (20%): before production launch The estimator gives an indicative range. Your proposal fixes the price for the scope it describes and stays valid for 30 days. Applicable tax treatment will be confirmed in the final proposal and contract. If you start with the technical audit, the full audit fee (12,000 EGP) is credited toward the build. No hidden fees: domain, hosting and business email are billed at what we pay plus a stated margin, each on its own line, and third-party services appear only if your project uses them. Read the full payment terms.

Can we hire a different developer to maintain our system later?

Yes. That is why we build the way we do. The handover package lets any competent full-stack developer take over. It covers: The technology choices (Next.js, database, deployment) The business logic (why workflows are structured as they are) The operational side (monitoring, error tracking, scaling) When you switch, we can walk your developer through the system. It is your decision.

Altruvex

Estimate your project

Altruvex

Websites and software built for how you work.

A software development company building websites for businesses, and custom systems for the work your current tools don’t handle: internal applications, workflows, dashboards and portals.

Start a projectEstimate your project

Tell us what you’re building. We reply within 24 hours on business days.

Where are you? Starting something new Replacing a site or system that isn’t working Improving something already live

Not sure yet? Start with a technical audit. The 12,000 EGP fee is credited toward your build.

The problem

Signs your business has outgrown
its tools and its website.

Five things owners notice once the business grows past the tools it started with.

Information in too many places
Orders in one spreadsheet, customers in another, status in a chat thread. Nobody sees the whole picture without asking around.
The same data typed twice
A sale is entered in the shop, again in the invoice sheet, again in the report. Every copy is another chance for an error.
Status lives in one person’s head
Ask where a job stands and the answer is a name, not a screen. When that person is away, the work waits.
Software you work around
The product you pay for assumes a process you don’t follow, so the team fills the gaps with spreadsheets and messages.
A website that doesn’t earn trust
It looks like a template, loads slowly on phones and gives visitors no clear way to ask for what you sell.

What you get

What a custom build includes:
five layers, yours at final payment.

A website or a business system rests on the same five layers. A template or an off-the-shelf product changes the top one; we design and build all five, and at final payment the code, the database and the accounts are in your name.

Interface
Designed around the people who use it, your customers or your own team, from the first screen to the final action. Every language and right-to-left from the start, WCAG 2.1 AA, usable on a phone as well as a desk.
What you own
An interface made for how your business works, not a theme with your logo dropped in.
A template stops here
Altruvex — all five layers
Components
Every button, form and screen is built once as a reusable part, so new pages and screens keep the same standard as the first ones.
What you own
A component system your team or another developer can extend, not a design file that drifts after the first edit.
Application
Your business rules, roles and permissions, approvals, payments and connections to the tools you already use, written as your own code, not plugins.
What you own
Logic shaped to how you operate, not a plugin’s or a product’s assumptions bent to fit.
Data
A PostgreSQL database designed around your records and who may see them, documented so another developer can work on it.
What you own
A database you own and can move, not tables locked inside a platform you rent.
Infrastructure
Hosting, deployment and environments set up in accounts you control. Monitoring and backups run on a maintenance plan.
What you own
Deployment you hold the keys to: no lock-in, no subscription holding your site.

Transparency · Cost estimator

You see the price before you talk to us.

Our prices are published. Answer a few questions and you get your range; the proposal then fixes it as one written figure.

Website, for example

45,000 – 85,000 EGP

The estimate you would see on screen — before any call, form or meeting.

Where it starts
From 22,000 EGP
Custom engagements start here.
Your estimate
A range, on screen
Every answer shows what it changed.
What you pay
One written figure
Fixed in the proposal after a scope review. Only this one is binding.

Estimate your project

View transparency

Our work

We built NewLight's first online store, a storefront for Art Lighting Store where fixtures can be seen up close, and the site you are reading.

Live work you can inspect

View our work

Working with Altruvex

Proof you can check
before you sign.

You should not have to take our word for it. Prices, quality thresholds, contract terms and shipped work are all published on this site. Check them before any call.

Published on this site

The price range
Run the estimator and see a range, and how it was calculated, before any call.
Estimate your project
The quality bar
Performance, accessibility and security thresholds are published, with how each one is measured.
View the standards
The terms
Three payments, a 30-day warranty after launch, and code, designs and accounts in your name at final payment.
Read the terms
The work
Shipped projects, with the scope of each and the engineering decisions behind it.
View our work

Founder

The goal is not to appear premium. It is to build work with enough quality, clarity, and structural depth that the surface can be copied - but the standard behind it cannot.

Ali Abdelhadi· Founder & Lead EngineerView LinkedIn

FAQ

Questions to ask before you start a website or software project.

All questions

Next step

Have a website or business software to build? Start with a short brief.

Send a short brief: what it must do and who uses it. We reply with questions or a next step. If it fits what we build, that step is the free initial consultation call to scope it; if it does not, we say so.

Estimate your projector talk it through first

Websites and software built for how you work.

Signs your business has outgrown its tools and its website.

Information in too many places

The same data typed twice

Status lives in one person’s head

Software you work around

A website that doesn’t earn trust

What a custom build includes: five layers, yours at final payment.

Interface

Components

Application

Data

Infrastructure

You see the price before you talk to us.

We built NewLight's first online store, a storefront for Art Lighting Store where fixtures can be seen up close, and the site you are reading.

Proof you can check before you sign.

The price range

The quality bar

The terms

The work

Questions to ask before you start a website or software project.

01Why custom-built instead of WordPress, Shopify, or Odoo?

02When does a business need custom software instead of an off-the-shelf product?

03What's the timeline from 'I want to start' to 'we're live'?

04How do you charge for projects? What's the payment schedule?

05Can we hire a different developer to maintain our system later?

Have a website or business software to build? Start with a short brief.

Signs your business has outgrown its tools and its website.

Information in too many places

The same data typed twice

Status lives in one person’s head

Software you work around

A website that doesn’t earn trust

What a custom build includes: five layers, yours at final payment.

Interface

Components

Application

Data

Infrastructure

We build websites and custom software. Audits and maintenance support both.

Website DesignNeed a site that explains what you sell?

Website DevelopmentNeed a website built properly, not assembled from a theme?

Custom SoftwareRunning the operation on spreadsheets, email and manual steps?

Technical AuditFacing a rebuild, a slow site or an unclear technical choice?

Website MaintenanceAlready live, and need it kept secure and current?

Not sure which one you need?

Five phases. Your sign-off between each.

01Discovery1 session

02Wireframe2 – 5 days

03Design2 – 7 days

04Development3 – 22 days

05Launch2 – 5 days

We built NewLight's first online store, a storefront for Art Lighting Store where fixtures can be seen up close, and the site you are reading.

Proof you can check before you sign.

The price range

The quality bar

The terms

The work

Questions to ask before you start a website or software project.

01Why custom-built instead of WordPress, Shopify, or Odoo?

02When does a business need custom software instead of an off-the-shelf product?

03What's the timeline from 'I want to start' to 'we're live'?

04How do you charge for projects? What's the payment schedule?

05Can we hire a different developer to maintain our system later?

Have a website or business software to build? Start with a short brief.

We build websites and custom software. Audits and maintenance support both.

Website DesignNeed a site that explains what you sell?

Website DevelopmentNeed a website built properly, not assembled from a theme?

Custom SoftwareRunning the operation on spreadsheets, email and manual steps?

Technical AuditFacing a rebuild, a slow site or an unclear technical choice?

Website MaintenanceAlready live, and need it kept secure and current?

Not sure which one you need?

Five phases. Your sign-off between each.

01Discovery1 session

02Wireframe2 – 5 days

03Design2 – 7 days

04Development3 – 22 days

05Launch2 – 5 days

Signs your business has outgrown
its tools and its website.

What a custom build includes:
five layers, yours at final payment.

Proof you can check
before you sign.

Signs your business has outgrown
its tools and its website.

What a custom build includes:
five layers, yours at final payment.

We build websites and custom software.
Audits and maintenance support both.

Five phases.
Your sign-off between each.

Proof you can check
before you sign.

We build websites and custom software.
Audits and maintenance support both.

Five phases.
Your sign-off between each.