Your app grew faster than your infrastructure and now every new feature requires a DevOps sprint to make it work?
You're paying for server capacity you don't need because no one set up auto-scaling from the start?
Your dev team is great at building features but keeps getting pulled into Kubernetes firefights?
The short answer
RaftLabs builds cloud-native applications on AWS, GCP, and Azure for businesses across the US, UK, Europe, Canada, GCC, South Africa, and Southeast Asia. Most projects ship in 10-16 weeks. Fixed price, scoped architecture, and CI/CD from day one. 100+ products shipped since 2015.
Key Takeaways
RaftLabs builds cloud-native applications on AWS, GCP, and Azure for businesses in the US, UK, and Australia.
Most projects ship in 10-16 weeks with fixed pricing and scoped architecture.
100+ software products shipped since 2015.
A focused cloud-native application typically costs $25,000-$60,000; a more complete product with multiple modules runs $60,000-$120,000.
Every build includes CI/CD pipelines, staging and production environments, and infrastructure as code from day one.
HIPAA-compliant cloud applications are supported for healthcare clients operating in the US.
Trusted by
Software delivery, by the numbers
01
software products shipped
100+
02
average time to first production release
12 weeks
03
rated by clients on Clutch
4.9/5
04
years delivering software for established businesses
9+
RaftLabs builds cloud-native applications on AWS, GCP, and Azure - SaaS products, internal tools, and APIs that are designed for the cloud from the first architecture decision. Not applications that get lifted and shifted after launch.
According to Gartner's 2025 public cloud services forecast, worldwide cloud spending is projected to grow 19.3% in 2025, with enterprise application software reaching $722 billion by 2029. For companies building new products today, that growth reflects one reality: the window for shipping server-based software and migrating it later is closing fast.
Most cloud cost and scaling problems come from applications built for traditional servers and later moved to cloud infrastructure. The fix is architecture, not migration.
Capabilities
What we build
01
Serverless applications
Functions on AWS Lambda, GCP Cloud Run, or Azure Functions for workloads that need to scale to zero and back without server management. Event-driven architectures, API backends, scheduled processing pipelines, and webhook consumers built on managed compute. You pay for what runs, not for servers that sit idle between requests.
02
Containerised applications
Docker and Kubernetes on AWS ECS, GKE, or Azure AKS for applications that need consistent runtime environments and horizontal scaling. Container images built for reproducibility - the same image that passes tests in CI is the one deployed to production. Auto-scaling configured from day one, not added when traffic spikes cause the first outage.
03
Cloud-native SaaS products
SaaS products built with multi-tenant architecture, subscription billing, role-based access, and the cloud infrastructure decisions that hold at 10,000 users - made at 10. Authentication, data isolation, managed queuing, and background job processing designed into the product from sprint 1.
04
API development and cloud integration
REST and GraphQL APIs that connect your application to third-party cloud services - Stripe, Twilio, SendGrid, AWS services, GCP services, and others. API gateways for rate limiting, authentication, and request routing. Webhooks for event-driven integrations between systems.
05
Cloud database setup
Managed database selection and configuration based on your data model and access patterns. AWS RDS, Aurora, and DynamoDB. GCP Firestore, Cloud SQL, and BigQuery. Azure Database services. Backup schedules, read replicas, connection pooling, and query performance configuration included. You don't inherit a database that breaks at scale.
06
CI/CD pipeline and deployment automation
GitHub Actions, AWS CodePipeline, or GCP Cloud Build configured for automated testing, staging deployment, and production releases. Infrastructure as code in Terraform or AWS CDK so your environment is reproducible and version-controlled. Monitoring and alerting via CloudWatch, Datadog, or GCP Monitoring set up before launch, not after the first incident.
07
Multi-region architecture
Applications deployed across multiple regions or availability zones for workloads where downtime is expensive. Read replicas in closer regions to cut latency. Global load balancing. Disaster recovery configurations with documented RTO and RPO targets. Right-sized for your actual uptime requirements, not over-engineered for a theoretical scale you won't hit.
Services
Cloud application services we offer
01
Cloud-native application development
Full-stack builds designed for the cloud from the first architecture decision: SaaS products, internal tools, and APIs on AWS, GCP, or Azure with auto-scaling, managed services, and CI/CD from sprint 1.
The engineers who assess your cloud architecture also build the solution. No bait-and-switch, no offshore handoff after the contract is signed. The team you meet in week 1 ships in week 12.
02
Fixed price before development starts
We scope the work, calculate the cost, and lock it in writing before any development starts. A scope change is a change request: priced, agreed, or dropped. It never absorbs into the project and appears on the final invoice.
03
9 years and 100+ products shipped
Clients include Vodafone, T-Mobile, Aldi, Nike, Cisco, and Lockheed Martin. Track record across AI, SaaS, mobile, automation, and enterprise platforms across healthcare, fintech, logistics, and hospitality.
04
Compliance built in from the start
GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2 - compliance requirements are scoped in week 1, not retrofitted before launch. We have shipped HIPAA-compliant systems for US healthcare clients and GDPR-compliant products for European markets.
Process
How we build cloud-native applications
Five steps from blank slate to a deployed, monitored application running on your cloud account.
Week 1
01
Architecture and cloud provider selection
Before writing code, we decide the cloud provider, the core services, and the cost model. Which services fit the workload, what the infrastructure will cost at current and projected load, and which architectural decisions are cheap to change now but expensive to change after launch. We document this and get your sign-off before development starts.
Week 1-2
02
Infrastructure as code setup
Terraform or AWS CDK to define every resource - compute, networking, storage, security groups, IAM roles, DNS - in version-controlled code. Not click-ops. Your staging and production environments are created from the same codebase with environment-specific configuration. State managed in a remote backend. Your team inherits infrastructure they can modify, extend, and rebuild from scratch.
Weeks 2-10
03
Application build in sprints
Development in two-week sprints with cloud-first patterns throughout. Managed services where they cut operational overhead. Serverless where workload characteristics justify it. Every feature built against the staging environment, not a local machine. You see working software every two weeks, deployed to real cloud infrastructure.
Week 10-12
04
Load testing and auto-scaling validation
Before launch, we run load tests against your production configuration. We validate that auto-scaling triggers work correctly, that the database handles concurrent connections at peak load, and that the application recovers from dependency failures without cascading. No surprises on launch day.
Week 12+
05
Deployment automation and monitoring setup
Production deployment with monitoring, alerting, and log aggregation configured before the first real user hits the application. CloudWatch dashboards, Datadog monitors, or GCP Monitoring - whichever fits the stack. Runbooks for the most common operational scenarios. Your team can run the application without depending on us.
Ready to scope your cloud application project?
30 minutes. You walk away with a clear cost, timeline, and team. No commitment.
We are not tied to one cloud or one framework. We pick the provider and the services that fit your workload, cost model, and existing tooling, then define every resource in code so any competent engineering team can maintain it. The technologies we reach for most often:
Version-controlled, reproducible infrastructure and automated releases
Monitoring
CloudWatch, Datadog, GCP Monitoring
Dashboards, alerting, and log aggregation configured before launch
The rule holds at every layer: no proprietary tooling that locks you in, and no infrastructure we cannot hand to your team on day one.
What cloud application development costs
We price by project, not by the hour. After a scoping session you get a fixed quote with a defined scope, timeline, and price, so you know the number before development starts.
Project type
Scope
Cost range
Focused cloud-native application
One core workflow, a backend API, and a web or mobile frontend
$25,000-$60,000
Complete cloud product
Multiple modules, third-party integrations, and a data layer
$60,000-$120,000
What pushes cost up: real-time features, multi-region requirements, and strict compliance posture such as HIPAA and SOC 2. What keeps it down: a narrow first scope, managed services rather than self-hosted infrastructure, and serverless where the workload justifies it. We scope every project before pricing it.
Cloud applications we build by industry
The architecture changes with the domain. Compliance-heavy sectors need audit trails and access controls designed in from sprint 1, while high-volume consumer platforms need auto-scaling and managed queuing. We build cloud-native applications for:
Healthcare and life sciences: HIPAA-ready portals, remote monitoring dashboards, and patient engagement platforms on AWS.
Three-year average engagement. Founders and operators describing the work in their own words. No marketing varnish.
Amer Abu Khajil
Canada
Founder, Peak Studios & Perceptional
“
I found RaftLabs to be the perfect partner for Perceptional, with their expertise in helping startup founders build MVPs, a free consultation, a prototype that matched my vision, and their unwavering support.
A focused cloud-native application - one core workflow, a backend API, and a web or mobile frontend - typically runs $25,000--$60,000. A more complete product with multiple modules, third-party integrations, and a data layer runs $60,000--$120,000. Projects with real-time features, multi-region requirements, or strict compliance posture (HIPAA, SOC 2) run higher. All engagements are fixed cost based on scoped features. You know the number before development starts.
AWS is the default for most projects - it has the broadest service selection, the largest partner network, and the most available talent. GCP is the right call when your workload is data-heavy or ML-centric - BigQuery, Vertex AI, and Dataflow are significantly stronger than the AWS equivalents. Azure makes sense when your organisation is already deep in the Microsoft stack - Active Directory, MSSQL, and Office 365 integrations are tighter on Azure. We recommend based on your workload profile and existing tooling, not our default preference.
Cloud migration moves an existing workload - servers, databases, applications - from on-premises or a legacy host to the cloud. Cloud application development builds something new with cloud infrastructure as the target from day one. Migration is about moving what exists. Cloud-native development is about building for the cloud from the first commit. If you have an existing server-based application you want to move, see our cloud migration service. If you're building something new and want it to run on cloud infrastructure, that's this.
Yes. Every cloud application we build ships with a CI/CD pipeline and deployment automation. We set up GitHub Actions or AWS CodePipeline for automated testing and deployment, staging and production environments separated at the infrastructure level, monitoring and alerting via CloudWatch, Datadog, or GCP Monitoring, and infrastructure as code (Terraform or CDK) so your environment is version-controlled and reproducible. You don't need a dedicated DevOps engineer to run what we build.
Yes, but it costs more. Applications built on traditional server architecture require re-architecting to take advantage of cloud services. Auto-scaling, managed databases, serverless functions - these aren't things you bolt on later without touching the application code. Starting cloud-native means those decisions are made during architecture, not after launch. If you already have a server-based application and want to migrate it, see our cloud migration service. The earlier you design for cloud, the less that migration will cost.
Yes. We sign a mutual NDA before any project discovery begins. All engineers on your project are bound by confidentiality. We have worked with clients in regulated industries including healthcare and fintech where data privacy requirements are strict.
We build cloud-native applications across healthcare, fintech, logistics, hospitality, B2B SaaS, and retail. We have shipped HIPAA-compliant systems for US healthcare clients, PCI-aware payment platforms for fintech, and multi-tenant SaaS products for B2B software companies in the US, UK, and Australia.
Work with us
Tell us what you need. We'll tell you what it would take.
We scope Cloud Application Development Services | RaftLabs in 30 minutes. You walk away with a clear cost, timeline, and approach. No commitment required.
Scope and cost agreed before work starts. No surprises. No obligation.
Working prototype within 3 weeks of kickoff.
Pay by milestone. You see progress before each invoice.
60-day post-launch warranty. Bug fixes, UI tweaks, and deployment support. No retainer.
