Know Before You Buy

No. Our price is the once-off build. Your app also has running costs you pay directly to the providers every month or year: the database and hosting (Supabase), your domain, email sending, SMS or WhatsApp messages, card fees and, if you want phone apps, the Apple and Google developer accounts. The calculator shows an estimate of these before you pay anything.

The database, hosting and store accounts are opened in your business name, on your card. That means you own them, nobody can hold your app hostage, and you can move to another developer at any time. Our account set-up service (R950) opens them with you; either way, we get admin access so we can build and maintain your app.

Supabase is the secure database, login and file storage behind your app and dashboard. The free plan is only used while we build and test: free projects pause after 1 week without activity and have no backups. Every live app must run on the Pro plan, from US$25 a month (about R420, depending on the exchange rate). That includes set amounts, for example 100,000 monthly active users, 8 GB of database space, 100 GB of file storage, 250 GB of data transfer, and compute credit for one small server. Supabase can also charge for usage above those amounts (extra users, storage, data transfer, a bigger server or add-ons), so the bill can change from month to month. Supabase's spend cap is on by default: it stops most extra charges by limiting the service instead, but it does not cover a bigger server or add-ons.

Apple charges US$99 a year (about R1,700) for a developer account. Apple may show the price in rand when you pay. If you stop paying, your iPhone app can no longer be downloaded and you cannot send updates (phones that already have it keep it). Google Play charges a once-off US$25 (about R420). Apple gives you two choices. Individual account: the business owner enrols in their own name. This is the easiest for small businesses and sole proprietors, needs no D-U-N-S number, and the owner can reuse it for their other businesses. The trade-off: your personal name shows as the seller on the App Store. Organisation account: your company name shows as the seller, but it must be a registered legal entity (not a trading name) with a free D-U-N-S number (Apple says allow up to 5 working days, plus 2 for Apple to receive it), a work email on your own domain and a working website. Google Play also has personal and organisation accounts.

Customer payments go into your own PayFast or Yoco account. They charge you per sale, for example PayFast cards 3.2% plus R2 and Instant EFT 2% (minimum R2), excluding VAT, plus a payout fee. Check their current rates. We never touch your customers' money.

Yes. SMS costs roughly 25c to 40c each (BulkSMS, October 2026), bought as credits. WhatsApp Business messages are charged per message by Meta through a provider, and you need a verified business number. Email notifications are free up to a provider's free limit.

Every app works as a web app: customers open a link or scan a QR code and can add it to their home screen. No store, no store fees, no waiting for approval. The Android and iPhone app add-on puts it in Google Play and the App Store, which needs your developer accounts and store approval.

Apple says it typically reviews 50% of submissions in under 24 hours and 90% in under 48 hours, but rejections are common and each fix needs a new review. Apple rejects apps that are just a website in a wrapper, have too little content, broken logins or missing privacy details. Google Play requires new personal developer accounts to run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days before going public. These delays are outside our control and are not covered by our timeline.

Phone app (store) versions support push notifications. On the web app, iPhones only get notifications if the customer adds the app to their home screen (iOS 16.4 or newer) and allows notifications. Customers can always switch notifications off, so never rely on push alone for important messages.

Apple and Google change their rules every year and sometimes require apps to be rebuilt for new versions. This is maintenance, not a fault. App Care (R1,150 a month) includes 1 hour a month for this, fixes and small changes. Without App Care, updates are quoted. Apps that are never updated can be removed from the stores.

Yes, with the social login add-on (Google and Apple). If an iPhone app offers Google login, Apple requires an equal privacy-friendly login option as well, so we include Sign in with Apple. Sign in with Apple needs your Apple developer account. We do not offer Facebook login, because it needs a Meta developer app.

Not to personal profiles. Meta removed that years ago. Posting is only possible to a Facebook Page or an Instagram Business or Creator account, needs a Meta developer app and Meta app review, and Meta can change the rules at any time. SFDS does not offer auto-posting. Most small businesses are better served by share buttons: the customer taps share and posts it themselves.

Not as a live feed. A feed that updates by itself needs a Meta developer app (Meta shut down the API for personal accounts in December 2024), and we do not use Meta's API. Instead, our Instagram section add-on shows a follow button plus posts you choose, using Instagram's own embed code. It does not update by itself: you swap posts in the dashboard. Posts must be public.

Share button: customer shares a link or reward to their own WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram. Simple and reliable. Social links: buttons to your pages. Instagram section: posts you choose, embedded with Instagram's own embed code, plus a follow button. Auto-posting to Facebook Pages or Instagram, live feeds, Facebook login and bulk WhatsApp marketing: not offered, because they need a Meta developer app and Meta's rules change too often.

Exactly what is listed on the app card and the modules you tick, set up with your logo, colours and content, plus the admin dashboard. If it is not on the list, it is not included. "Can it also just..." is a change request and is quoted before we do it.

Two rounds of changes to colours, wording, images and settings before launch. Changing how a feature works, or adding screens, is new work and is quoted.

No. Those apps took big teams years and millions of rand. We build focused small business apps from proven templates. Live GPS tracking, marketplaces with many sellers and driver dispatch are not offered.

Your logo, colours, photos, product or service list with prices, wording, opening hours, staff names, terms and privacy details, and access to your accounts. Your timeline starts when everything is in. Late content means a later launch.

Each app shows a working-day estimate that starts once your deposit is paid and all content is in. App store review and Meta or WhatsApp approvals are extra and outside our control.

You own your data, your accounts, your domain and your branding. Our template code stays ours and is licensed to you to use for your business. You can export your customer data from the dashboard at any time. A full data export and handover pack is R1,450.

Your business is the "responsible party" for your customers' personal information. We build with logins, access rules and minimal data collection, but you need your own privacy notice and consent wording, and you must only send marketing to people who agreed to it.

30 days of bug fixes after launch, by email only (we are zero-contact, no calls). We aim to reply within 2 working days, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm. After 30 days, support is via App Care (R1,150 a month, 1 hour included) or paid per request.

Supabase, Apple, Google, Meta, PayFast and SMS providers set their own prices and rules and can change them. Fixing things caused by their changes is maintenance, not a free repair.

Yours. Your Supabase database is your own account in your name, and you pay Supabase directly (from about R420 a month for Pro, more if usage goes above the plan). We are never billed for it and never resell it.

You choose. Option A (recommended, lowest cost to you): your own Apple and Google accounts, either in the owner's own name (individual account, shown as the seller) or your company name (organisation account, needs a D-U-N-S number). Store fees: you pay Google US$25 once-off and Apple US$99 a year directly to Google and Apple, on your own card. We charge R0 for publishing. Optional: Our R950 account set-up service is our own fee for opening the accounts with you. It comes on top of the store fees and does not include them. Option B: our SFDS accounts for R450 a month or R4,950 a year, with App Care (R1,150 a month) compulsory. The listing then shows SFDS as the developer.

Over 3 years your own accounts cost about R5,850 in store fees. On SFDS accounts it is about R56,250 (R4,950 a year plus compulsory App Care). Your own account also means the listing, reviews and downloads are yours.

We may remove it from the stores after 14 days unpaid. To move it to your own accounts later costs R1,950.

We keep the deposit plus payment for milestones completed. Once you approve the preview, the full balance is due.

After 30 days your project moves to the back of the queue and a R950 restart fee applies. After 90 days it is closed, the deposit is kept and finished work is handed over as it is.

Only once the balance has cleared. Until then it runs on a test link. Late balance: R350 after 7 days, and a live app can be suspended until paid.

R450 for up to 30 minutes, paid before we do it. Extra revision rounds: R650 (websites) or R950 (apps).

Yes. Per order: up to 5 extra location pages, 3 extra custom screens and 3 modules. More than that is a custom project and starts with a Blueprint.

2 resubmissions are included if we caused it. If the rejection is caused by missing content, policies, accounts or products the stores do not allow, it is R950 per resubmission.

Each licence is for one business. A second business is a new licence at 50% of the app price.

Chargeback admin R450, reopening a closed project R950, fixes without App Care R450 an hour, App Care health check to rejoin R950, extra training R650 an hour. Optional: yearly update pack R2,450, priority 5-day launch R1,950.

After you get your proposal you receive a private upload link (also in our emails). Upload JPG, PNG or WebP photos, an SVG logo, and PDF or Word (.docx) documents: up to 10 MB per file, 30 files and 60 MB per order. Files are stored privately with your order, never on a public web address, and we are told when you upload. We remove hidden details such as phone location from photos.

We shrink the file size, convert photos to the modern WebP format and make different sizes so pages load fast on phones. We cannot make a blurry or very small photo sharp. If a photo is too small or unclear, we will ask for a better one.