Backend & API development

Backend development services: APIs your product can rely on

Backend development services cover everything your users never see: the API, the database, login, payments and the connections between systems. We build backends with Node.js or Python on PostgreSQL, using AI coding tools for speed and an engineer's review for every change. This page helps you decide whether a managed backend is enough or your product needs its own API, and shows the security baseline we work to.

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REST and GraphQL APIs
PostgreSQL, Supabase, Firebase
Security reviewed by an engineer

Decision

Managed backend or your own API?

Managed backends such as Supabase and Firebase give you a database, login and file storage without writing server code. For many products that is enough. These five signals show when it stops being enough.

Look at	A managed backend is enough when	You need your own server code when
Business rules	Users mostly create, read and edit their own records	There are multi-step rules: pricing, approvals, quotas, anything a user must not be able to skip
Secrets	The app calls no paid outside services	You call payment or AI providers, whose keys must stay on a server
Clients	There is one web app	A web app, a mobile app and partners all need the same rules
Integrations	There are none, or one simple one	You need webhooks, scheduled jobs or two-way sync with a CRM or accounting system
Access rules	Each user sees only their own rows	Access depends on organisations, roles and record state together

There is a middle path, and it is the one we recommend most often: keep the managed database and login, and add a thin layer of server code for the rules and secrets. Supabase, for example, offers server-side functions for webhooks and third-party integrations.

What we build

What our backend development services include

Three kinds of work, usually combined in one project.

APIs

The contract between your backend and everything that uses it: web app, mobile app, partners.

REST or GraphQL
Documented endpoints with examples
Versioning, so updates do not break clients

Data

A database designed around your product, with every change recorded so it can be rebuilt or rolled back.

PostgreSQL schema and migrations
Automatic backups, restore tested
Imports from spreadsheets or old systems

Integrations

Connections to the services your business already runs on, built to cope when the other side is slow or down.

Stripe payments and subscriptions
OpenAI and other AI APIs
CRM, email and accounting tools

Security baseline

The backend security checklist we review against

AI tools write working code quickly, and working is not the same as safe. An engineer checks every backend against this list before launch. It is short enough to use on your own system today.

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Every endpoint checks that the caller may access this exact record.Broken object level authorization is the first item in the OWASP API Security Top 10.
Login uses a proven provider or library.No home-made password storage or session handling.
Secrets exist only on the server.Kept in a secret store, never in the repository, and replaced if they were ever exposed.
Input is validated on the server.Checks in the form are for convenience; the server must not trust them.
Login, costly endpoints and AI calls are rate limited.This stops both attacks and surprise bills.
Incoming webhooks are verified.For Stripe that means checking the signature on every event.
Backups run automatically and a restore has been tested.Database changes are stored as migrations in the repository.
Errors are monitored, and logs hold no passwords or personal data.You can investigate a problem without creating a new one.
Dependencies are scanned for known vulnerabilities.And the scan runs again on every change.

What you receive

Source code and database migrations in your repository, owned by you.
A backend running in production, with monitoring and backups set up.
API documentation: every endpoint, with examples and error cases.
Automated tests for the rules that protect money and data.
A setup guide, so another developer can run the project from scratch.
Weekly demos during the build, even when there is no screen to show: we walk through working endpoints and test results.

A backend is usually built together with the product that uses it. See AI web app development and AI mobile app development for those sides of the work.

When we are not the right fit

Systems where microseconds matter, such as trading engines or multiplayer game servers.
Large data platforms. Data warehouses and machine-learning pipelines are a specialism of their own.
Changes inside a legacy enterprise system. We connect to such systems through their APIs; we do not customise their internals.
Products that need certified compliance. We can build the software alongside a specialist compliance partner.

FAQ

Questions about backend development services

Does my app need a backend at all?

If it stores user data, has logins or takes payments, yes. That does not always mean custom server code: a managed backend may cover it, and the table on this page helps you tell.

REST or GraphQL: which should my API use?

REST is our default, because it is simple, every tool supports it and responses are easy to cache. GraphQL is worth its extra complexity when several clients need different shapes of the same data.

Can you add a backend to a frontend or prototype I already have?

Yes. We read the existing code first, then design the API around what the screens actually need. If the prototype came from an AI builder, our rescue service covers this in more detail.

Can you migrate my data from spreadsheets or an old system?

Yes. We write import scripts, run them against a copy first and compare record counts and samples with the source before anything touches production.

Can we start on Supabase and move to a custom backend later?

Yes. Supabase is built on PostgreSQL, so your schema and data move with you. The move is easiest when business rules were kept out of the frontend from the start, which is how we build.

Who has access to our production data?

Only the engineers working on your project, with the least access the task needs, in accounts that belong to you. We sign an NDA before seeing any data if you want one.

Need a backend or an API? Get a scope and estimate.

Tell us what the system must do and what it has to connect to. Within 24 hours you get a clear scope, a timeline range and a fixed estimate — free, with no obligation.