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Build & Ship articles from RaftLabs, practical write-ups from engineers who built these things.

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nonprofit donation management software development - How to Build an App Like Donorbox

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How to Build an App Like Donorbox: Nonprofit Donation Management

A nonprofit raising $1M/year pays $15,000 to Donorbox. A hospital foundation raising $5M/year pays $18,000 and loses control of its donor data. Here's what it costs to build your own, and what you actually get for the money.

Food delivery app on smartphone next to takeout bags

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How to Build an App Like DoorDash: The Product Owner's Playbook

Food delivery apps look simple from the outside. Under the hood, DoorDash coordinates three parties -- restaurants, dashers, and customers -- in real time on thin margins. Here's what to build first, what to skip, and what will sink your budget if you get it wrong.

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How to build an app like Duolingo: features, tech stack, and cost

Duolingo has 500M+ registered users and 37M daily active users. The streak system, XP loops, and bite-sized lessons aren't happy accidents. They're engineered retention. Here's what it takes to build a gamified learning app that actually works, and what it costs.

Handmade goods marketplace app showing craft product listings with seller shop pages

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How to Build an App Like Etsy: The Product Owner's Playbook

Handmade product marketplaces look simple from the outside. Under the hood, Etsy solves a seller-first supply problem, image-heavy search, and international tax complexity -- all while protecting the craft brand that buyers actually trust. Here's what to build first, what to skip, and where most teams overspend before they ship.

Event management dashboard showing ticket sales, attendee list, and QR code check-in interface

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How to Build an App Like Eventbrite (Event Management)

Eventbrite charges 3.5% plus $1.59 per paid ticket. A conference selling 500 tickets at $200 each pays $4,300 in fees per event. Here is how to build your own event management and ticketing platform: QR check-in, Stripe payments, and what it costs.

Travel booking app on laptop with flight search results

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How to Build an App Like Expedia: Travel Aggregation, APIs, and Real Costs

Expedia does not own any flights or hotel rooms. It aggregates inventory from airlines and hotels via GDS and direct APIs, then sells search and booking on top. Here is what that actually means to build -- and where the engineering gets hard.

Freelance marketplace app interface showing service gig listings and seller profiles

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How to Build an App Like Fiverr: The Product Owner's Playbook

Freelance marketplaces look simple from the outside. Under the hood, Fiverr coordinates three parties -- buyers, sellers, and the platform -- around a trust economy built on reviews, response rates, and payment escrow. Here's what to build first, what to skip, and what will sink your budget if you get it wrong.

Salon receptionist managing appointment bookings on a desktop computer at a modern front desk

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How to build an app like Fresha: salon and spa booking software breakdown

Fresha is free to start but charges 20% commission on new marketplace clients and 1.29% + £0.20 per transaction. A salon chain processing £20K/month pays £280/month in payment fees alone. Here is what a custom booking platform actually costs to build, what it includes, and when building your own wins.

Mobile app showing a tours and activities booking interface with time slots, group size selector, and QR voucher confirmation

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How to Build an App Like GetYourGuide (Tours and Activities Booking)

GetYourGuide processes 1M+ bookings a year at 20-30% commission. The real opportunity is niche: food tours only, corporate team-building, regional adventure sports. Here is the full architecture, from availability calendars to Stripe Connect payouts.

developer building a company review platform with ratings, salary data, and employer profiles

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How to Build an App Like Glassdoor

A Glassdoor-style review platform costs $50,000–$140,000 to build. Here is what goes into anonymous reviews, salary data, fraud detection, and the content cold-start problem every review site faces.

crowdfunding platform development - How to Build an App Like GoFundMe

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How to Build an App Like GoFundMe: Crowdfunding Platform Architecture

GoFundMe earns $45K-$60K on every $1M raised, all without charging a platform fee. Here's the architecture, compliance requirements, and real cost to build a crowdfunding platform, from charitable campaigns to equity crowdfunding under the JOBS Act.

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How to build an app like Grab: Super app architecture for Southeast Asia

Grab started as a taxi app in Malaysia and became Southeast Asia's most-used app by adding food, payments, deliveries, and financial services in one platform. Here's how the super app architecture works - and how to build one without starting with all of it.

Creator at a desk selling digital products online through a custom storefront

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How to Build an App Like Gumroad (Digital Product Sales Platform)

Gumroad takes 10% of every sale. A creator making $200K/year pays them $20K. For $80K–$130K, you own the platform and keep every dollar. Here is how to build it.

HR manager reviewing payroll dashboard on laptop - how to build an app like Gusto

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How to Build an App Like Gusto (Payroll and HR)

A custom payroll and HR platform like Gusto costs $120,000–$200,000 and takes 20–24 weeks. Here is what you need to build, the compliance traps that sink most projects, and who should actually consider doing it.

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How to Build a Dating App Like Hinge: Architecture for Niche Dating Platforms

Hinge was acquired for $51M with only 800K users. The mechanics that made it different, prompts instead of bios, likes on specific content, hard dealbreaker filters, are what you should study before building a dating app for any niche. Here is the architecture.