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Don’t just hire a developer.Hire an engineering team.
We don’t just build what you ask for. We work out what the problem actually is, then design and build the right thing — a website, an application, a store, an automation or an integration. Scope and price agreed before development starts, and direct access to the people building it.
- Years building
- 6+
- Projects shipped
- 18
- Countries served
- 4
Work delivered in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the Philippines.
Where projects start
Most digital problems aren't development problems
Most projects arrive described as a redesign and turn out to be something else — two systems that cannot talk to each other, a process still running on a spreadsheet, or a site search engines cannot read properly. Identifying which one you have is the first piece of work.
“The site looks dated and is awkward on a phone.”
Usually a build that predates how people actually browse, rather than a design taste problem.
“Nobody finds us in search.”
Often technical — pages search engines cannot read properly, or a migration that lost its redirects.
“The same information gets typed into two systems every week.”
Two tools that do not talk to each other. The fix is usually an integration, not more discipline.
“Half the business runs on a spreadsheet nobody trusts.”
A process that outgrew the tool. Worth building properly at the point the workaround costs more than the build.
“The site is slow and we do not know why.”
Almost always measurable, and almost always fixable without starting again.
“We have an application, but it is holding the team back.”
Improving what exists is often cheaper and less disruptive than replacing it.
“The store cannot do what we now need it to do.”
Either the platform has been outgrown, or it was never configured for how you actually sell.
“We are not sure what we need built.”
The most honest starting point there is, and the reason the first step is a diagnosis rather than a quote.
If any of those sound familiar, the right first step is not a quote. It is establishing what actually needs to change — that is what a Build Audit is for.
What we solve
One team. Different problems.
You do not always need a new website. Sometimes the answer is a better workflow, a custom application, a faster store, an integration, or a system that removes repetitive work. Grouped by what you are trying to achieve rather than by the technology behind it.
Build
Something new, or a replacement for a system your business has outgrown.
Improve
You already have it. It needs to perform better and be easier to find.
Connect
The systems exist. They need to share information reliably.
Automate
The work happens the same way every time. It should not need a person.
Why Forgeline
A developer builds it. An engineering team solves it.
Hiring execution gets you the thing you specified, which works when the specification is right. Often nobody has checked — and a project that builds the wrong thing correctly is still a project you pay for twice.
Execution only
- Take the requirement
- Build what was asked for
- Ship it
- Next ticket
Engineering
- Understand the problem
- Question the requirement
- Choose the approach
- Build it
- Test it
- Improve it
- The brief gets checked, not just followed
- Most projects arrive described as one thing and turn out to be another. We say so before development starts, while changing direction is still free.
- You talk to the people building it
- Technical questions are answered on the call by the people responsible for the work, rather than taken away and returned the following week.
- Built to be maintained
- Performance, accessibility and readable code are part of the build. Whoever works on it next — us or anyone else — can follow what is there.
- One team, several kinds of problem
- A site, an application, a store, an automation and an integration are not five suppliers. When the answer turns out to be a different one, you are not starting again.
The Forgeline Promise
Our commitment to every project
Five commitments that apply to every project we take on. Each one is something within our control, which is why none of them mentions rankings, traffic or revenue — those depend on your market. These depend on us.
- 01
Clear scope
You know what is being built before development starts.
Deliverables, milestones and who is responsible for what, agreed in writing before any code exists — including the assumptions behind them. Unstated assumptions are where most projects quietly go wrong, so they get written down too.
- 02
Direct communication
You work directly with the people building your project, not through a relay.
Technical questions go to the people writing the code and are answered by them. Nobody is carrying a decision back and forth on behalf of someone who cannot make it, which is why answers take hours rather than a sprint.
- 03
Built for production
We build for launch, not for a demonstration.
Responsive, tested, deployed, and written so that whoever works on it next can follow it. Performance and accessibility are part of the build rather than a phase that gets dropped when the schedule tightens.
- 04
No surprises
Changes are discussed before they become work.
When a requirement shifts or a technical constraint appears, you hear about it when we do — with the trade-off explained and the cost agreed before anything is built. A change never arrives quietly as a line on an invoice.
- 05
You own the result
The code, the accounts and the documentation are yours.
Everything transfers on handover, under the terms agreed for the project. No proprietary page builder holding your content, and no obligation to stay on a support plan in order to keep what you have already paid for.
Agreed before we start. Supported after we launch.
Our work
Projects we have delivered
Websites, applications, online stores and custom software delivered for businesses in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the Philippines.
The Forgeline Build Method
Understand. Plan. Engineer. Build. Improve.
A clear process from first conversation to launch, with agreed scope, visible progress and direct communication at every stage. The first step is a diagnosis rather than a quote, because building the wrong thing correctly is the most expensive mistake in this industry.
- 01
Diagnose
Before anything is quoted, we work out what is actually wrong — the business goal, the system you already have, and which part of it is the real constraint. Most projects arrive described as one thing and turn out to be another.
A clear reading of the problem, and whether building is the answer.
- 02
Define
Scope, deliverables, technical approach and price, agreed in writing. This is where the engineering decisions get made — what to build, what to reuse, what to leave alone — while reversing them is still cheap.
A fixed scope and a fixed price, before any code is written.
- 03
Build
Design, development, integration and testing, with regular check-ins. You see working software as it is built rather than a status report describing it, and you talk to the person writing it.
Real progress you can open in a browser, every week.
- 04
Launch
Deployed, tested and handed over clean — code, accounts and documentation. You own all of it, and you are free to take it to any developer.
A live product, full ownership, and no lock-in.
- 05
Improve
Systems that stay in use keep changing. Where ongoing development is agreed, we keep the thing working and keep making it better as the business moves — measured against what you actually need next, not a retainer that has to be spent.
A system that keeps up, with the option to stop whenever you want.
Technology
Technology that fits the job
We do not force every project into the same stack. The recommendation follows the requirements — what the system has to do, what it must connect to, how it needs to perform, and who will maintain it after launch. WordPress is the right answer more often than developers like to admit, and the wrong one when a business needs software rather than pages.
- Front-end
What your customers see and use. Built to stay fast on a phone, which is where most of them are.
- React
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
- Vue
- Tailwind CSS
- jQuery
- Back-end
Where accuracy matters most — accounts and logins, business rules, and payments.
- PHP
- Laravel
- Node.js
- REST APIs
- Commerce & CMS
Used where the platform genuinely earns its keep, and skipped where it would get in the way.
- WordPress
- WooCommerce
- Shopify
- Data
Your data is structured around how the business actually works, so the system stays maintainable as it grows.
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- MongoDB
- Tooling & Delivery
How changes reach your live site safely, and how they are reversed if something is wrong.
- Git
- Docker
- Vercel
- Figma
The team
The people who would build it
A small team, and you work with all of it. You know who you are talking to, who is coordinating the work, and who is writing the code.
Clear roles, clear communication and direct responsibility. You know who you are talking to, who is managing the project, and who is building it.
Raymund Hermoso
Founder & Lead Developer
Romeo D. Lobaton Jr.
Project Manager
Mark C. Balinario
Web Developer
FAQ
What clients usually want to know
Including the ones that decide whether you hire someone: what it costs, who owns the result, and who is actually doing the work.
What does Forgeline build?
Websites, web applications, e-commerce storefronts, custom software, and the APIs, integrations and automations that connect them — plus the technical SEO that makes them findable. If it runs in a browser and a business depends on it, it is in scope.
Who actually builds my project?
A focused team of three, and you know all of them by name. Raymund Hermoso, the founder, leads the technical direction and the build. Mark Balinario develops and implements the work. Romeo Lobaton coordinates the project and is your main point of contact. You speak with the people writing the code rather than an account manager relaying messages to them, which is why the client list is deliberately not enormous.
What happens before development begins?
A free call to work out what the project has to do, then a written scope: deliverables, milestones, who is responsible for what, and the assumptions behind the estimate. You approve that and the price before any code exists. Nothing starts on a verbal understanding.
How does pricing work?
Scope is agreed first and the price is fixed against it, so the number you approve is the number you pay. Starting figures are published rather than held back until you book a call. If a project cannot be scoped properly up front, we say so instead of quoting a number we would later have to move.
What happens if the scope changes?
You hear about it when we do. The trade-off gets explained, and anything outside the agreed scope is priced and approved before it is built — you can always say no, and the original price is unaffected either way. A change never turns up unannounced on an invoice.
Who owns the website and the code?
You do. Code, accounts and documentation all transfer on handover, under the terms agreed for the project. There is no proprietary page builder holding your content and no requirement to stay on a support plan to keep what you paid for.
Will I be able to update the site myself?
Yes, for the content you should be able to change — text, images, pages, products, posts. That is a scoping decision made up front, because building an editable structure is different work from building a fixed one. Anything genuinely technical stays with a developer, which is normal and worth being honest about.
Can you improve an existing website?
Yes, and it is common. Taking over an existing build, finishing one that was abandoned, moving between platforms, or making a slow site fast are all normal work. You do not have to start again to get help.
Can you build a custom web application?
Yes — portals, dashboards, booking systems, internal tools and SaaS products. Talk Global Study is a live example: a student-to-university matching platform with a REST API behind the search, listing and enquiry flows.
Do you work with Shopify and WooCommerce?
Both, plus fully custom commerce where a platform would get in the way. The recommendation depends on your catalogue, your margins and who has to maintain it — not on which one is fashionable.
Do you offer SEO?
Technical and on-page SEO: how pages are structured, labelled and linked, how fast they load, metadata, structured data, and clean migrations. It gives a site a stronger foundation for organic search. What it is not is a ranking guarantee — nobody can honestly offer one, because rankings depend on competitors and search engines nobody controls.
Do you build automations?
Yes — form-to-CRM workflows, lead routing, notifications, scheduled jobs, data syncing between systems that do not talk to each other. The test is whether a task happens often, the same way each time, and gains nothing from a person doing it. Anything needing judgement stays with the person who has the judgement.
Can you work with our existing internal team?
Yes. That can mean building a piece your team has no capacity for, taking a specific service line, or working inside your existing repository and review process. Developer-to-developer communication tends to make this faster, not slower.
How long does a typical project take?
A focused website is one to two weeks. A production web application is usually four to eight weeks. Anything bigger gets split into milestones, so you see working software throughout rather than waiting on a single delivery at the end.
Do you provide support after launch?
If you want it. Ongoing development and a maintenance plan are both available month to month and cancellable. Neither is a condition of the build — you get a clean handover regardless, and you are free to take the work anywhere.
Two ways to start
You know what you need
Talk about your project
Send the details and you get a reply from a developer who would work on it. If it is a fit, the next step is a call and a fixed quote. If it is not, you will be told that instead.
You know something is wrong
Book a Build Audit
For when the problem is clear but the right solution is not. We establish what is actually wrong, what is worth keeping and what to do first — before anyone quotes you for a rebuild.
Either way: a fixed price agreed before work starts, and you own everything at the end of it.
View pricing