Build & Ship

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

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Voice AI · Research

Text-based interviews converted to automated phone calls

6× deeper insights

AI Automation · Ops

Manual invoice OCR across 40+ gas stations

20k+ txns day one

Loyalty · Retail

SuperValu & Centra loyalty platform with receipt validation

1,062 users in 4 weeks

SaaS · Logistics

Multi-carrier shipping hub for Indonesian eCommerce

2,000+ shipments yr 1

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Build & Ship

How to build an app like TaskRabbit: Architecture, features, and timeline

TaskRabbit is a two-sided marketplace connecting people who need tasks done with skilled freelancers nearby. Here's how the matching engine, trust system, and payment flow work -- and what it takes to build one.

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

Building a course marketplace like Udemy means shipping two complete products -- one for students, one for instructors -- plus a video infrastructure that doesn't buckle under load. Here's what it actually takes.

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How to build an app like Urban Company: The hyperlocal services playbook

Urban Company is India's largest home services platform -- salons at home, plumbing, deep cleaning, AC repair, and more. What makes it different from TaskRabbit is the training-first supply model and quality control at scale. Here's the full technical and operational breakdown.

Smartphone showing a messaging conversation interface

Build & Ship

How to Build a Messaging App Like WhatsApp: The Engineering Reality

WhatsApp sends 100 billion messages a day on infrastructure that started as a small team's project. If you are building a messaging app for a niche audience -- enterprise teams, a specific community, or a regulated industry -- you do not need to solve WhatsApp's scale problems. You need to solve your users' communication problems. Here is what that actually requires.

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How to build an app like Wise: Cross-border payments architecture explained

Wise moved $118 billion in 2024 on a simple promise - show the real exchange rate and charge a transparent fee. The engineering behind that promise is anything but simple. Here's what it takes to build a cross-border payment app.

Laptop screen showing a video conference call with multiple participants

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How to Build a Video Conferencing App Like Zoom: What Product Owners Need to Know

Zoom took video calling from a corporate tool to a household verb. If you are building video conferencing for a specific vertical -- telehealth, online education, legal consultations, or enterprise teams -- you do not need Zoom's scale. You need reliable video, the right integrations, and features that fit your users' workflow. Here is the product and engineering breakdown.

Appliance repair dispatcher reviewing technician job board and schedule on a computer

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How to build appliance repair and home service dispatch software

Appliance repair businesses lose customers on the second visit. A technician drives to a job, diagnoses the problem, and the part is not on the van. The customer waits 5 days. Here is how to build the software that fixes that, and everything else that makes or breaks a repair dispatch operation.

Applicant tracking system development - How to build an ATS like Greenhouse for recruiting and hiring

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How to Build an Applicant Tracking System Like Greenhouse

Greenhouse costs $6,000-$30,000 per year. Staffing agencies processing 500+ candidates per month, companies with multi-country hiring workflows, and HR tech startups building for niche roles often find that off-the-shelf ATS tools don't fit. Here is the architecture for building your own.

Dashboard showing asphalt tonnage estimator, equipment schedule, and daily production log for a paving contractor

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How to Build Asphalt and Paving Contractor Management Software

A practical guide to building estimating, job costing, equipment scheduling, and daily production tracking software for asphalt and paving contractors.

Build & Ship

How to build an astrology app: features, cost, and timeline

AstroTalk hit $78M in revenue bootstrapped. Sanctuary raised $6.5M. Nebula has 60M users. Here's what it actually takes to build an astrology or psychic consultation app.

auto detailing management software showing booking calendar and van dispatch map

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How to Build Auto Detailing Management Software (2026)

Auto detailing management software costs $90K-$160K for an MVP and $200K-$320K for the full platform. Here is what the system needs to do, how the pricing engine works, and why photo management at scale is the hardest engineering problem.

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How to build a custom CRM: A step-by-step guide for 2026

Building a custom CRM that your team actually uses starts with a clear data model, not a feature list. Here's the full process -- from requirements to a working system.

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How to Build Towing and Roadside Assistance Dispatch Software

A towing company running 50+ dispatches per day through AAA, Agero, and Urgently processes each job through a different billing portal with different rate schedules. Without automated billing submission per motor club, a dispatcher spends 30-45 minutes at shift end doing data entry. Here's what it actually takes to build dispatch software that solves that.

Build & Ship

How to build a trading platform: Features, architecture, and cost

Most trading platform projects fail because founders underestimate what 'real-time' actually means in production. Here's the honest engineering guide.

product manager reviewing LLM API integration architecture on laptop

Build & Ship

How to Integrate an LLM into Your Existing Software: A Business Owner's Guide

Adding AI to your existing product sounds simple. Connect an API, get AI. In practice, there are five integration patterns, each suited to different problems. Choose the wrong one and you lose 3–6 months. Here is the guide your developer will not write for you.