Questions people ask before they build

Short, direct answers about websites, web and mobile apps, hiring a developer, AI and integrations, and keeping a product running. Written by Nazar Kashuba, a solo full-stack developer, and kept free of invented prices and statistics: where a number matters, it comes with its source.

Website Development

What a website costs, how long it takes, and when a template is enough.

How much does a website cost? There is no single price: it depends on how many different kinds of pages you need, whether anything has to be built rather than configured, and who looks after it afterwards.
How long does it take to build a website? A simple site can be built in days of work, while a site with accounts, payments or integrations takes weeks or more.
Custom website or WordPress: which should you choose? Choose WordPress when your site is mostly pages and posts that you want to edit yourself.
Wix or Squarespace versus a custom-built website A website builder is the right tool when you need a simple site fast and can live within its templates.
Do I need a website or just a landing page? If you want people to do one thing — book, sign up, call — a landing page is often enough and easier to get right.
Does a small business really need a website? Not always, but usually yes.
How much does it cost to build an online store? The shop front is the smaller part.
Shopify or a custom online store? Start on a hosted platform if your products and checkout are ordinary — it gets you selling sooner with less to maintain.
Should you redesign or rebuild your website? Redesign when the structure and technology still serve you but the look and message are tired.
What pages does a business website need? Most business sites need a home page, a page for each main service, an about or contact page, and the legal pages their country requires.
How much does website hosting cost? Hosting ranges from inexpensive shared plans to managed servers that cost much more, and the difference is in resources, support, backups and who is responsible for what.
How do you choose a good domain name? Choose something short, easy to say aloud and spell, and free of confusing characters.
How do you make a website SEO-friendly? A developer can make sure search engines can reach, read and understand your pages: clean URLs, titles, fast loading, mobile layout, a sitemap.
How do you make a website load fast? Measure first, then fix the biggest cause.
How do you make a website accessible? Build with real HTML structure, readable contrast, visible keyboard focus, labelled form fields and text alternatives for images.
What is a headless CMS, and do you need one? A headless CMS is an editing tool that stores your content and delivers it to any front end through an interface, instead of also producing the pages itself.
How do you build a website with online booking? You can use an existing booking service, or build one around your own rules.
What does GDPR mean for a business website? If your site collects or tracks personal data of people in the EU, you generally need to tell them what you collect and why, have a lawful basis, keep it only as long as needed, and respect their rights.

Web Applications & SaaS

Web apps, MVPs and SaaS: what to build first and how to keep it maintainable.

What is the difference between a web app and a website? A website mostly shows information that is the same for every visitor.
How much does it cost to build a web application? The price follows the amount of logic, not the number of screens: users and permissions, the data model, integrations, payments, reporting and the level of testing.
How do you build an MVP on a small budget? Pick one user, one problem and the shortest path that solves it.
MVP, prototype or proof of concept: what is the difference? A proof of concept asks “can this be done?”, a prototype asks “does this design make sense to users?”, and an MVP asks “will people use and value it?”.
How much does it cost to build a SaaS product? A SaaS product is an application plus a business machine: accounts, billing, onboarding, support and constant operation.
How do you build a SaaS product, step by step? Start with a specific problem and a few people who have it, build the smallest useful version with accounts and billing from the beginning, launch to a handful of customers, and let their use decide what to build next.
When does a business need a custom web application? When your way of working is part of what makes you competitive, off-the-shelf tools force constant workarounds, or you are stitching several together with spreadsheets and manual steps.
Build or buy: how do you decide on business software? Buy when the problem is common and a product fits most of your process.
How do you validate a startup idea before building it? Look for evidence that people already have the problem and will act: talk to them, show them something simple, and ask for a commitment such as time, a pre-order or an introduction.
How do you add user login to a web application? Use established, well-reviewed methods rather than writing your own: hashed passwords with a modern algorithm, sessions handled by your framework, optional sign-in with an identity provider, and protection against repeated guessing.
How do user roles and permissions work in a web app? Each user is given one or more roles, and every action in the system is checked against what those roles allow, on the server.
How do you accept payments in a web application? Use a payment provider such as Stripe to collect card details on its own secure page or form, so card numbers never touch your server.
What is multi-tenant SaaS architecture? Multi-tenant means one running application serves many customers (tenants), each seeing only its own data.
Monolith or microservices for a startup? Start with a single, well-organised application.
How do you choose a technology stack for a project? Choose mature, well-documented tools that fit the problem and that you can find people to maintain.
PostgreSQL or MySQL for a new project? For most new business applications either works well.
How do you build an admin panel for your application? Decide which tasks you do repeatedly and build screens for exactly those, behind strong login and role checks.
Internal business tools: spreadsheets or custom software? Stay with spreadsheets while one or two people use them and mistakes are cheap.

Mobile App Development

iOS and Android apps: approaches, store rules, upkeep and money.

How much does it cost to build a mobile app? The price follows features, the back end behind the app, the number of platforms and the quality bar, not the screen count.
How long does it take to build a mobile app? A focused first version typically takes a few months of work; larger apps take longer.
Native or cross-platform app development? Native development gives the best fit and access to every platform feature, at the cost of building each app separately.
Flutter or React Native? Both build iPhone and Android apps from one codebase and both are good.
Should you build for iPhone or Android first? Start with the platform where most of your first users are.
Progressive web app or native app? A progressive web app (PWA) is a website that can be installed, work offline and send some notifications, built with web technology and no app store.
Does my business need a mobile app? Only if customers will use it often enough or need something a mobile website cannot do.
How do you publish an app on the Apple App Store? Join the Apple Developer Program, create the app record in App Store Connect, upload a build, fill in the listing and privacy details, submit for review, and release once approved.
How do you publish an app on Google Play? Register a Google Play developer account, create the app in the Play Console, upload a release build, complete the store listing and the policy declarations, meet any testing requirements for your account type, and roll out to production.
Why do apps get rejected in App Store review? Mostly for avoidable reasons: the reviewer cannot log in, the app crashes or looks unfinished, privacy details are missing or inconsistent, or it breaks a specific guideline on accounts, payments or user content.
How much does it cost to maintain a mobile app? Expect ongoing costs for servers, store accounts, services such as email and notifications, annual operating-system updates, bug fixes and support.
How do you make money from a mobile app? Choose a model that matches how people get value from the app: subscriptions for ongoing value, one-time purchases for a clear tool, advertising for large free audiences, or the app as a channel for a service you sell elsewhere.
Subscription or one-time purchase for an app? If the app costs you money to run every month, or keeps delivering new value, a subscription is honest and sustainable.
What is an offline-first app, and do you need one? An offline-first app keeps its data on the device and works without a connection, then synchronises with the server when it can.
How do you localise a mobile app into other languages? Keep every user-facing string out of the code from day one, use the platform’s localisation system, plan for text that changes length, and get translations reviewed by a native speaker.
What privacy information does an app have to disclose? Both major stores ask you to declare what data your app collects and how it is used, and Apple also requires a privacy policy link.

Hiring a Developer

Finding, vetting and working with a developer, and writing down what you need.

Freelancer or agency: which should you hire? Hire a freelancer when the project is well defined, you want direct contact and the scope fits one skilled person.
Solo developer or a development team? A solo full-stack developer is a good fit for products where one person can hold the whole design in their head: small to mid-sized web and mobile apps and internal tools.
How do you find a developer for your startup? Ask people you trust for referrals, look at real, working things a candidate has built, and talk to them about your problem before you talk about price.
How do you hire a freelance web developer? Write down what you need, shortlist people whose past work matches it, talk to them, ask for a written proposal with scope, timeline and what is not included, and agree ownership and payment terms before work begins.
How do you evaluate a developer’s portfolio? Open the work and use it.
What should you ask a developer before hiring them? Ask how they would approach your project, what they would leave out, what could go wrong, who owns the result, how they handle changes and what happens after launch.
How do you write a technical specification for a project? Describe who uses the system, what they need to do, the data involved, the rules that apply, the systems it connects to and how you will know it works.
What should a project brief for a developer contain? One or two pages that say what you are building and why, who it is for, what it must do, what you already have, your timeline and budget range, and how you will decide.
Fixed price, hourly rate or retainer: which is best? A fixed price fits a well-defined scope; hourly or time-and-materials fits work that will change as you learn; a retainer fits ongoing small changes and maintenance.
How do you estimate the cost of a software project? Break the project into small pieces, estimate each, add time for testing, integration and the unknowns, and give a range that narrows as you learn.
Why do software projects go over budget? Mostly because the scope was not clear, the requirements changed along the way, a hidden complication appeared, or decisions and content arrived late.
What is scope creep, and how do you control it? Scope creep is the gradual addition of work that was not part of the original agreement.
Who owns the code when you hire a developer? It depends on your agreement and on the law where you are, so settle it in writing.
What should a software development contract include? It should state what is being built and what is not, the price and payment schedule, how changes are handled, who owns the result, how delivery is accepted, confidentiality, what happens after launch and how either side may end the contract.
What are the red flags when hiring a developer? Be cautious of anyone who guarantees outcomes, quotes a price without understanding the scope, will not show working examples, resists giving you ownership of code and accounts, pressures you to decide quickly or cannot explain things plainly.
How do you work with a developer if you are not technical? Focus on what you know: your users, your business and what success looks like.
What is a full-stack developer? A full-stack developer can build both the front end, what users see and click, and the back end: the server, database and logic behind it.
Should you pay a developer upfront? A modest deposit to reserve time is normal; paying everything before anything is delivered is not.

AI, Automation & Integrations

Adding AI, connecting systems and automating routine work.

How do you add AI to your business? Pick one repetitive, language-heavy task where a draft or a summary saves real time, try it on real examples, measure the result, and keep a person responsible for the output.
How do you add a chatbot to your website? Decide what the chatbot is for, then pick the simplest type that does it: a fixed set of choices for simple routing, or an AI model answering from your own content for open questions.
How much does an AI chatbot cost? There are two costs: building and connecting it, and running it, which for AI models usually grows with how much text is processed.
How do you integrate a large language model into an app? Your server calls the model provider’s API with instructions and the relevant context, receives the text back, checks it, and passes it on.
What is RAG, and do you need it? RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) first looks up relevant passages from your own documents, then gives them to a language model to write the answer.
Can AI tools replace hiring a developer? For a prototype or a personal tool, AI coding tools can take you surprisingly far.
How do you automate business processes? Map the process as it really runs, pick a step that is frequent, rule-based and stable, automate that one thing with the simplest tool that works, and check the results against the manual version.
No-code automation tools or custom automation? Use a no-code automation tool for simple, low-volume connections between popular apps.
What is an API integration, and why does it matter? An API is a defined way for one piece of software to ask another for data or to make it do something.
How do you connect a CRM to your website? Your website sends form submissions to the CRM’s API, or through an automation tool, mapping each field to the right place.
What is a webhook? A webhook is an automatic message that one service sends to an address you provide when an event happens, such as a payment succeeding.
How do you connect two software systems that were not built to work together? First check whether either has an API; if so, a small service between them can translate and move data.
Is it safe to send business data to an AI API? It can be, but it depends on the provider’s terms, where data is processed, what is kept, and what you send.
How do you evaluate an AI feature before building it? Gather real examples, define what a good result is, run a model on them and compare with how the task is done today.
How do you send automated emails from your app reliably? Send through a proper email service or your own authenticated mail server, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your domain, keep messages plain and relevant, and handle failures and bounces.

Maintenance, Security & Scaling

Keeping a product running, safe and affordable after launch.

How much does website maintenance cost? It depends on the kind of site: a simple static or hand-built site needs little, while one with many plugins, accounts or integrations needs regular attention.
What does website maintenance include? Keeping software and its components updated, taking and testing backups, monitoring that the site is up and forms work, renewing domains and certificates, checking security and performance, and fixing small problems before visitors find them.
Who maintains an app or website after launch? Whoever you arrange: the original developer on a maintenance agreement, another developer or agency, or an in-house person.
What is technical debt, and should you worry about it? Technical debt is the extra work you will have to do later because of shortcuts taken now, such as quick fixes, missing tests or outdated components.
How should you back up a website or app? Copy both the data and the files on a regular schedule, keep copies in a different place from the live site, protect them like the original and, above all, practise restoring one.
What should you do when your website goes down? Confirm it is really down and for whom, check the obvious external causes such as domain, hosting and certificate, restore from the last good state if a recent change caused it, tell your users, and then work out why so that it does not recur.
What is a basic website security checklist for a business? Keep everything updated, use strong unique passwords with two-factor authentication, serve the site over HTTPS, limit who has access and to what, back up regularly, remove what you do not use and watch for signs of trouble.
How do you secure a web application? Treat every input as untrusted, check permissions on the server for every action, store passwords and secrets properly, keep dependencies updated, encrypt traffic and log what matters.
What is two-factor authentication, and should your app have it? Two-factor authentication (2FA) asks for something besides a password, such as a code from an app, so a stolen password alone is not enough.
How do you hand a project over to a new developer? Secure your access first: code, hosting, domain, store and service accounts.
How do you scale a web application as it grows? Measure to find the real bottleneck, usually the database or a slow operation, fix that, add caching, and only then add more servers.
What is a CDN, and do you need one? A content delivery network (CDN) keeps copies of your static files, such as images, styles and scripts, on servers around the world and serves each visitor from a nearby one.
Serverless or traditional hosting for a new project? Serverless suits spiky, event-driven or low-traffic workloads where you want no server to manage.
How should you test a web application before launch? Combine automated tests for the important logic and flows with manual testing on real devices and awkward data, test failure cases and permissions, check performance and accessibility, and launch with monitoring and a way to roll back.
Should you rewrite old software or improve it step by step? Improving step by step is usually safer and cheaper, because a rewrite must recreate everything the old system knows, including rules nobody remembers.