Mercier SoftwareInc.
About
Idealyst
Services
FAQ
Français
Get an estimate
Freelance fullstack developmentHi, I'm Nicho. I build apps that ship on every platform.Web, iOS, Android, desktop — usually from one codebase, all the way through to release. Most of my career has been at startups, where I've taken products from an idea to something people can use, owning every part of the build myself. I got far enough into that problem to write the tooling for it: Idealyst, an open source cross-platform framework I built and maintain.
Estimate my project
Contact me
10+ yrsshipping software
1 codebaseweb + mobile + desktop
App Store+ Play Store releases
AWS / GCPhosting & CI you own
The estimatorAnswer a few questions to get an estimate.The real price depends on scope, and scope takes a conversation — but this will put us in the right range before we spend time on a call.
Step 1 of 5What are you building?
Closest descriptionpick one
Marketing siteContent, forms, CMS. No accounts.
SaaS productAccounts, dashboards, recurring billing.
Marketplace or socialTwo sides, listings, messaging, payouts.
Internal toolOps dashboards, admin, workflow.
Consumer appMobile-first, onboarding, notifications.
Something elseNot sure yet — we'll figure it out together.
Where does it need to run?pick all that apply
WebResponsive browser app.
iOSReal native iOS build.
AndroidReal native Android build.
DesktopmacOS / Windows app.
Roughly how many distinct screens?a guess is fine
10screens or views
340+
Accounts and access
No accountsAnyone can use it.
Email and passwordSign-up, reset, sessions.
Social or magic linkGoogle/Apple sign-in, invites.
Teams, roles, SSOOrganisations, permissions, enterprise SSO.
Taking money?
Not yetNo billing in this phase.
One-off paymentsCheckout, receipts, refunds.
SubscriptionsPlans, trials, upgrades, dunning.
Marketplace payoutsSplit payments, onboarding sellers, KYC.
Backend and database
I already have an APIYou connect to what exists.
Straightforward dataStandard models, CRUD, search.
Custom API and schemaReal modelling, jobs, third-party integrations.
Complex or high-volumeMulti-tenant, reporting, scale and caching work.
AI or LLM features
NoneNone needed.
Assisted featuresSummaries, chat, classification via an API.
RAG or agentsEmbeddings, retrieval, tool use, evaluation.
Design
I have designsFigma ready to build from.
Light designClean UI from a simple system, no branding work.
Full product designFlows, screens, design system, polish.
Hosting and deployment
Handled alreadyYour team owns infra.
Standard cloud setupAWS/GCP environments, deploys, backups.
Production-gradeCI/CD, monitoring, IaC, scaling and cost work.
App store publishing
Not neededWeb only.
One storeListing, assets, review, first release.
App Store and Play StoreBoth listings, signing, staged rollout.
Timeline
FlexibleNo hard deadline — quality comes first.
Target date, some roomA date in mind, not immovable.
Tight deadlineHard date — needs priority scheduling.
Project estimate$11,000 – $15,5003–5 weeks of build time, 110–155 hours of workBased on the screens, features and complexity you picked. A firm price needs a scoping conversation — treat this as a well-informed starting point.
What's driving it
Core foundation, architecture, setup
100 h
Screen build-out10 screens
28 h
Start over
Want this in writing?Leave your email and I'll send you the full breakdown, along with a couple of questions that would sharpen the number. Just the one email — I don't do mailing lists.
Send me the estimate
Or skip ahead:
Tell me about your project →
Back
Continue
Answers stay in your browser
AboutA decade of being the whole team.
Most of my career has been at startups, where "fullstack" means designing data models, writing the API, building the client, setting up the deployment pipeline, and being around when something breaks. It's also why my estimates hold up: I've seen firsthand where projects tend to run over, and I can proactively avoid those problems.I work in whatever the project needs. Most of my work lives in React and React Native, with plenty of Vue, Laravel, and Node alongside it, and I drop into native Android and iOS whenever the platform demands it — which is more often than most cross-platform work admits. Picking up a new framework or language is just part of the job.That native gap is what led to Idealyst, an open source framework I built and maintain. One codebase, genuinely native output on every target — no web view wrappers or bundled JavaScript runtimes. It's the tool I wanted after years of hitting the ceiling of the existing ones.Getting it built is only half of it. I've shipped through App Store and Play Store review more times than I can count — signing, provisioning, privacy manifests, staged rollouts, the occasional rejection appeal — and I've hosted and run what sits behind those apps on AWS and GCP for years: containers, queues, managed databases, CDNs, CI/CD, monitoring, and the cost tuning that keeps bills predictable. I know that terrain, and I plan for it from day one.
TypeScript
React / React Native
Swift / Kotlin
Node / tRPC / GraphQL
Postgres / Prisma
AWS / GCP
CI/CD
LLM integrations
Open sourceIdealyst — my cross-platform frameworkOne Rust codebase gives you native apps on iOS and Android, a web build, and a desktop app — with a shared data layer and design tokens across all of them, so a change lands everywhere at once.For you, that mostly means fewer billable hours — shared logic instead of parallel builds. And since the framework is open source and documented, your own developers can take the codebase over whenever you like.See the repo →
One codebase, four targetsiOS, Android, web, desktop from the same source of truth.
Typed end to endTyped from the schema to the screen, so refactors stay safe.
Yours to keepMIT-licensed and public, so you're never locked in to me.
ServicesWhat I take on
01MVPs from zeroFrom idea to something real users can log into, usually in 8–12 weeks. I scope the first release tightly so it stays small enough to ship well.
02Mobile apps & store launchesNative or cross-platform builds, plus the release plumbing: certificates, review, staged rollouts, crash reporting.
03Backends that hold upAPIs, data modelling, auth, payments, third-party integrations — designed for the load you'll actually have.
04Cloud & deploymentAWS or GCP set up properly: environments, CI/CD, monitoring, backups, and a cost profile you can live with.
05Rescue & takeoverInheriting a half-finished or unmaintained codebase, getting it stable, and making it shippable again.
06Ongoing partnershipMonthly retainers for teams that need a senior fullstack pair of hands on tap rather than a one-off build.
ProcessHow a project runs with me
Week 0Scoping callWe turn the estimate into a real scope: what the first release needs, what can wait, and which unknowns carry the most risk.
Week 1Fixed planA written milestone plan with prices, dates and what "done" means for each one. You approve before I build.
BuildWeekly demosWorking software every week, on a real environment you can click through. Change requests are welcome — they just get priced as they come up.
LaunchHandoverStores submitted, infra documented, repo and accounts in your name. Retainer only if you want one.
FAQQuestions I get a lot
How do you charge?Project estimates are based on the number of screens, the features, the kinds of features and the complexity. Simple apps cost a lot less and take less time. Most projects run as fixed-price milestones so you're not watching a meter; retainers are monthly.
Can you work with my existing team or codebase?Yes — plenty of my work is joining an existing repo, matching its conventions, and reviewing rather than rewriting.
Do I have to use Idealyst?No. It's a good default when you need web and mobile at once, but I'll recommend plain React, Next, native Swift/Kotlin, or whatever fits the problem.
Who owns the code and accounts?You do, from day one. Repos, cloud accounts, store listings and domains all live in your organisation, with me as a collaborator.
What happens after launch?30 days of bug fixes on delivered scope are included. After that it's either a retainer or ad-hoc work, your call.
Tell me what you're building.Run the estimator first if you'd like a number in hand, or just send me a paragraph about your project. I read and answer everything myself, usually within a day.
Tell me about your project→
Get an estimate first→
© Mercier Software Inc.
Back to top ↑