01
Plan
Two weeks to lock outcome, scope, risks and budget. No code touched until the plan is signed off.
Currently Booking projects for Q3 2026
plan · architect · build
Your app. Architected and shipped.
Two decades of engineering, modern AI tooling, one architect on the call. Plan, build, hand over — no agency layers between you and the work.
Marcel R. G. Berger Software Architect · 20+ years Get a project brief in 48 hours
Send a sentence, a paragraph, or a rough sketch. I send back a structured brief — scope, risks, budget range, timeline. Free, no commitment.
Twenty years of shipping software meets the modern AI stack.
Professional. Secure. Cost-efficient. Modern.
- 20+ years shipping
- AI-augmented
- Modern stack
- Secure by default
- Fixed price
4.7 ★ across 16 App Store reviews · 2 live apps
How a project runs
02
Architect
Right boundaries, secure defaults, technologies that still make sense in five years. Designed to be handed over.
03
Build
Swift, Flutter, Quarkus on Kubernetes. Shipped to the App Store with a documented, operable backend behind it.
In the App Store right now
Live in the App Store today. New apps appear here the day they go on sale.
CivoCloudManager
Tired of MFA codes and browser tabs just to flip one firewall rule? CivoCloudManager fixes that.
Developer Tools App Store
Read the case study 
Photo Speed Quiz - SnapShots
Three photos flash on screen. Five seconds. They disappear.
Games App Store
Read the case study 
DokuAI
Turns a 90-second voice memo and a photo into a structured site report.
FlutterQuarkusKafkaOpenAI Vision App Store
Read the case study Honest pricing
Fixed-price ranges. After the brief you get an exact quote with locked scope. No hourly-rate surprises.
MVP
For testing a market hypothesis
from €15,000
2–4 weeks
- One platform (iOS or Android)
- Single-stack backend (Quarkus + PostgreSQL)
- App Store submission included
- 30-day bug-fix retainer
Production app
For a real product launch
€30,000 – €60,000
3–4 months
typical range — larger scope or deeper integrations cost more
- iOS + Android (Flutter) or native
- Full microservice backend on Kubernetes
- CI/CD, monitoring, analytics
- 90-day bug-fix retainer
Full service
I build and run it for you
on request
months to years
- Production app as above
- Backend operations: K8s, DB, monitoring, on-call
- Feature roadmap on monthly retainer
- GDPR + App Store compliance ongoing
All prices are net (plus VAT where applicable). The ranges above are typical for the scope outlined — bigger products, deeper integrations or stricter SLAs land higher. You always get a binding fixed-price quote after the brief, no surprises. Backend hosting and third-party services (Apple Developer, MailerLite, OpenAI) are billed at cost on top.
What I work with
The same stack that runs my own production apps. Picked for longevity, not for hype.
Apps & Platforms
- macOS · Swift / SwiftUI
- iOS · Swift / SwiftUI
- Android · Kotlin
- Flutter · Dart
Backend & APIs
- Quarkus · Java
- Kafka
- PostgreSQL
- S3-compatible storage
Infrastructure
- Kubernetes (Civo)
- ArgoCD · GitOps
- GitHub Actions
- Liquibase migrations
Security & Identity
- OAuth2 / OIDC
- GDPR by design
- Hardened defaults
AI Tooling
- Claude Code
- IntelliJ AI
- Codex
- Custom agents & skills
Dev Tools
- GitHub
- GitHub Actions
- IntelliJ IDEA
- Xcode
Honest answers to common questions
How much does an app cost?
A lean MVP starts around €15,000. A polished iOS + Android product with real backend typically lands between €30,000 and €60,000. After the brief you get a fixed-price quote with a clear scope — no hourly surprises.
How long does it take?
MVP in 2 to 4 weeks. Production-grade app with backend in 3 to 4 months. The plan phase pins this down precisely. From there it's a fixed date, not a target.
Who owns the code?
You. Full source, build pipelines and infra config are handed over at launch under a clean license. No vendor lock-in.
What happens after launch?
First 90 days include a bug-fix retainer. After that we agree on a monthly support or feature retainer if you want one — or you take it in-house.
Can you also run the backend?
Yes — if you want. Kubernetes, database, monitoring, on-call. Pricing depends on scale and SLA; we settle this during planning.
Why is this cost-efficient?
One architect with twenty years of experience plus modern AI tooling moves faster than a small agency team — and produces less code that needs maintenance. You pay for outcome, not headcount.
Fixed price or hourly rate?
Fixed price for the build, on a scope locked in the brief. Hourly only kicks in for explicit out-of-scope work you request later, and only with your written approval. You never get an open-ended invoice.
What's an MVP — and do I need one?
An MVP is the smallest version of your app that proves the core value to real users. Most first-time founders need one before the full product — it costs less, ships in 2 to 4 weeks, and tells you whether the idea works before you spend the rest of the budget. If you already have paying users and only need a v2, skip the MVP.
How do I find the right app developer?
Look for three things: someone who plans and operates what they build (not just writes the code), a fixed-price commitment with a written scope, and a clean code handover at the end. Agencies, freelance pools and offshore shops all violate at least one of those. Ask for a 48-hour written brief before signing anything — that's how you tell a real engineer from a sales pipeline.
Twenty years of shipping software meets the modern AI stack.
One sentence is enough to start. Within 48 hours you get back a structured brief — scope, risks, budget range, timeline. Free, no commitment.