Jul 24, 2018
Top 5 web application development companies & firms — Best developers in 2020
We cover the top web app developers, agencies, and firms that can help you build a web application tailored to your needs.
Web application development is certainly not easy, it’s a niche specialty that requires attention to detail and a vast knowledge in user experience and behavior.
Whether you’re building the next big thing in SaaS (software as a service) or creating a super customized internal tool for your company, Hiring a web developer or an agency is a challenging task.
In this post, I’ve compiled a trusted list of the top 5 (really good) web app developers and agencies that can help you create an incredible product.
Top 5 web application development companies, firms, and agencies with experience in (React, Node JS, Vue, Laravel, Ruby, Python, and User Interface design)
1. MojoLab — Web app developer & UI Designer
I am Ryan. a web maker, developer, and UI designer working remotely with companies to design & create exceptional web software that connects with people.
Specialty: Web app development & User interface design, React/ Vue/ Angular JS, Node JS/ AWS architecture.
View portfolio: http://mojolab.xyz
Contact: ryan@mojolab.xyz
2. CygnisMedia — Build intelligent apps
Located in: United States
We Leverage Cutting Edge Technology to Promote Rapid Growth We are a team of product designers & developers with a diverse skillset and vast experience across several industries.
Specialty: Web app development, UI / UX design, iOS and android app development.
View portfolio: http://cygnismedia.com
Contact: sales@cygnismedia.com
3. Selleo — Custom software development firm
Located in: Poland
We typically provide a range of quality software development services which benefit Product Owners and CTOs in start-ups and SMEs. Our clients and their teams usually craft and market SaaS software products or build and maintain their own cloud-based software solutions.Specialty: Web application development, User interface design, mobile apps.
View portfolio: http://selleo.com
Contact: hello@selleo.com
Bonus Slide: The lifecycle of web application development.
4. RapidOps— Enterprise Apps for Web & Mobile
Located in: North Carolina
At RapidOps Solutions, we build Digital Products, Experiences and Platforms that provide real world solutions, engage users and scale on-demand. By partnering with purpose-led startups and enterprises, we aim to transform markets with disruptive technology innovations.
Our passionate team of designers, developers and creators have fantastic skills and experience in building high performing data analytics tools, API platforms, scalable web solutions and engaging mobile applications using progressive technologies like Grails, MEAN, Cloud and AWS. With creative application of technology, design and business finesse.
Specialty: Web & mobile app development, User interface design
View portfolio: http://rapidops.com
Contact: hello@rapidops.com
5. WillowTree — Web application development company
Located in: Virginia
Our elite teams build apps, responsive websites, bots — any digital product that interacts with users — for the world’s leading companies. We cultivate expertise in every stage of product creation, resulting in extraordinary digital experiences.
We have put together an industry-leading team of designers and developers, web application developers and mobile optimization experts.
Specialty: App development, Web development, React, Progressive apps, Mobile marketing
View portfolio: http://willowtreeapps.com
Contact: info@willowtreeapps.com
How much does it cost to develop a web application?
It really depends. a web app can cost from $10k to $100k and even beyond for certain large scale and enterprise applications.
Most web developers & agencies will give you a rough estimate upfront, even if they charge an hourly fee. but you will need to have a clear idea of what you want, how that thing works, and what it can’t do.
Communication is key. so make sure you take some time to write down all of your ideas and thoughts on a project scope document that would be helpful to the vendor.
How long does it take to build a web application?
Again, it varies from vendor to vendor. a small web app could take maybe a month, but a larger one could extend to 3, 6 months or even a year in a certain cases.
How much upfront do you pay to a web developer?
Most web development firms ask for a 50% deposit and the rest you pay when the project’s completed. However some developers may ask for less or more percentage. This will be set on stone in your contract.
What tech stack should we go with?
Get your advice from the developers. what you think is best might not really be the best option for what you want to build.
Vendors usually consider a variety of factors when choosing a programming language or a database, such as scalability, flexibility, and cost management.
Maybe you’re building a massive scale application - your web developer might suggest a NoSQL database like Cassandra and a highly concurrent language like Node JS or Elixir. Maybe you’re building a highly relational application where something like MySQL or PostgreSQL and Rails/Laravel will be more suitable.
Benefits of web application development.
Web applications and PWAs are becoming very popular as more companies are moving away from buggy, outdated desktop software they’ve been running for a decade.
- You can use web apps on various platforms without worrying about OS or device compatibility as long as you’re not using a very outdated system.
- Avoid issues with compatibility by having users run one latest version
- Eliminate IT security processes. Users can run your web app on any browser with no extra privileges.
- Reduce cost and burden on your support and maintenance team by removing potential tech issues that come out of legacy desktop software.
Differences between a web app and a website
Web apps utilize more features than websites do, web apps can access features on your device such as the camera, gyroscope, and push notifications. This leads to a more native app experience, but with all the benefits of the web like speed and accessibility.
Web apps will likely never need to be updated by the user, unlike native apps because it is essentially just a link to the web app version of your website. Web apps even take advantage of service workers to ensure the web app can work offline if no new data is needed for the work and upload it when the device goes back online.
A user can choose to install a web app meaning that the web app gets added to the home screen for easy access, and the web app gets cached into the device storage for super fast load times even when data is limited.
Challenges of progressive web app development
Progressive web apps can be tricky to develop because they use many new services implemented in the JavaScript language. Service workers are really what turns a website into a web-app on mobile devices service workers can send push notifications to the user even when the app is not open in the browser. Service workers run separately from the main application. They are how the web app, the browser, and the server communicate with each other.
Designing a web app is no easy task. On mobile devices, a web app can look like a native application with easy to click buttons, smooth transitions, and readable text. On desktops and laptops, the web app should still look like a website with great navigation and desktop-specific features. Nobody wants to navigate a mobile app on a desktop it would be a lot of wasted screen space.
Progressive web apps should load fast on slow networks and work even when offline. This means web apps must be very well optimized and have no “extra” code. Many websites are developed off of frameworks that speed up production but include code that is never used in the website increasing load times substantially.
Choosing a web app development company
If developing a web app sounds like a task that your team cannot undertake right now there are many companies that can develop web apps for you. The challenge will be finding out exactly which custom software development company to choose.
- Experience. They need to have a decent and demonstrable experience in developing web applications for various industries.
- Portfolio. Previous work speaks louder than words, you can really tell if a company’s good by the problems they undertook and how they solved them for their clients.
- Technology. Be sure they are not working with super outdated technology that you’ll have a hard time acquiring talent to develop your project further. Nowadays most web apps use frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue JS to create a state of the art user experience.
Choosing the best framework for your web app
There are many frameworks that can make a great web app such as React, Vue, and Angular. These frameworks share one thing, they make it very easy to manipulate a webpage. They all have great starting points for web apps such as Vue or React, etc. How does one choose? My recommendation is to go with what your developer knows, or what they are most comfortable with. If they do not know any of the frameworks the quick rundown is Vue is great for beginners as it is very close to vanilla JavaScript, they are not owned by a major company and is community-driven. React is made by Facebook and is almost always the first to get new features or updates, but that means it is rapidly changing and it uses JSX (JavaScript XML) which can look a bit intimidating at first. Angular is made by Google and is a more complete package meaning certain development options are picked by default it uses the TypeScript which makes code easier to debug and can use newer features of JavaScript while supporting most older browsers.
Ruby on Rails development
Ruby on Rails is a popular server side framework that makes some general choices for the developer like security should be ‘on’ by default, and code should never be repeated over and over.
The Ruby on Rails framework is driven by security, it has protection from common attacks like CSRF, Script Injection, and SQL Injection built in.
Ruby on Rails also develops the templates for testing code you are writing automatically making it very simple to ensure the code only does the intended functions.
