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Custom web application
dotNET lab develops custom web applications for SMEs and organisations in Belgium: the engine of your business, available in every browser and connected to your existing systems.
A web application runs in the browser: nothing to install, available everywhere and always up to date. Built custom, it becomes the central place where your processes, people and data come together.
The problem
Does this sound familiar?
The question for a web application rarely starts with technology. It starts with daily friction.
- Your team juggles Excel files, emails and scattered tools. Systems that do not talk to each other, and your people in between.
- Customers call about things they could easily look up themselves. And every question interrupts someone on your team.
- Your current program only runs on that one office computer. Nobody can reach it from home or on the road.
- Retyping data from one system into another. A daily routine, with errors as a bonus.
- You want one central place for planning, follow-up and administration. Today that lives spread across five tools.
Explained
What is a custom web application?
A web application is software you use through your browser, on any device. Nothing needs to be installed or updated: everyone always works in the same, current version.
The difference with a website? A website informs, a web application works: users log in, manage data, follow up on processes and collaborate.
Web based software, web app or web application? Three names for the same idea: software that runs in the browser. We use them interchangeably, just like our clients do.
And compared to a native app: no app store, no separate versions per platform, one application that runs everywhere. If it needs to behave like an app on a smartphone, the same technology covers that.
Custom means the application starts from your processes, as custom software that does exactly what your organisation needs.
See our full custom software offeringMore about custom CRMMore about custom ERP
Applications
What can you have built?
Every custom web application starts from a concrete need. These are the forms that come back most often.
Internal tools and workflows
Order management, leave requests, expenses or approvals: one place instead of scattered lists.
Planning and reservation systems
Planning of people, machines or appointments, with real-time availability for everyone.
Quotation and calculation tools
Complex price calculations or configurations that your team or your customers complete without errors.
Tracking and management systems
Follow files, projects or assets from intake to completion, tailored to your flow.
Why custom
Why a custom web application?
Works the way your organisation works
No superfluous features or workarounds: the application follows your processes, not the other way around.
Everywhere, on any device
At the office, at home or on site: the same application in every browser, including tablet and smartphone.
Connected to your systems
Your ERP, CRM, accounting or webshop join the conversation. Enter once, correct everywhere.
Secure and maintainable
Security is part of the design, not a patch afterwards. And the code stays manageable for years.
The application is yours
A one-time investment, no per-user licences. The code is your property, without vendor lock-in.
Sometimes custom is not the answer
If a website or a standard tool covers your situation, you will hear that in the first conversation.
Integrations
Integrations are half the work
The value of a web application rarely sits in the application alone. It sits in what it connects: your ERP, CRM, accounting, webshop or your partners’ systems.
Data and integration engineering is our strongest muscle. We make sure data is entered once and then correct everywhere, automatically.
That is how retyping disappears, errors drop and everyone has the same current information.
For example with
ERP and accounting OdooExact Online
CRM TeamleaderPipedrive
Webshop and platforms ShopifyWooCommerce
E-invoicing and payment PeppolBillitMollie
A sample, not a limit: if your system has an API or an export option, we can integrate with it.
- Orders and documents flow automatically between your web application and your ERP or accounting.
- Enter once, correct everywhere: what changes in one system is immediately right in the other.
- Automatic notifications on a new request, approval or status change.
- Real-time reporting across all your systems, in one overview.
Build it yourself?
Can you build a web application yourself?
Honest answer: sometimes, yes. With no-code tools or AI help you can build a form or a simple internal tool yourself today. The question is not whether it works, but where it stops.
Having it built wins once
-
Multiple systems need to talk
Integrations with your ERP, CRM or accounting take integration engineering: error handling, synchronisation and monitoring, not one little connector that sometimes hiccups.
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Security and access really have to be right
Roles and permissions, secure authentication and GDPR-proof data management are architecture choices. You build those in from day one, not afterwards.
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The tool becomes business-critical
Then the invisible work counts: testing, version control, documentation and maintenance. Without it, self-built tools hit a ceiling, or everything depends on one colleague.
Building it yourself is fine when
It is a personal list, a simple form or a first prototype, no sensitive data is involved and it is no disaster if it stalls for a while.
Is that you? Go ahead and start yourself. Hit the ceiling later? Come talk to us: we build on what you already learned.
Technology
Technology in function of your situation
We are language- and technology-agnostic: we choose the technology that fits your situation, your existing systems and your team.
What is always fixed: security from the start, and tested, maintainable code with documentation. Where your application runs is that kind of choice too: with the cloud provider you already use today, or on a European cloud environment if you want to keep your data under your own control.
Approach
How a project runs
No big project without a clear picture. We start small, show results fast and scale what works.
You are here
- 01
Intro call
30 minutes, no obligationThe button schedules it right away. You tell us what is going on and what you want to achieve, in plain language.
- 02
Direction
within 2 working daysYou hear whether a web application makes sense in your situation, and which direction we propose.
- 03
Analysis
scope before priceTogether we pin down which core delivers the most value. You get an honest estimate in program goals: for the core that is often just a few, and you decide whether more follow.
- 04
Building
program goals of 1 monthEvery month we deliver a program goal: a concrete piece of working software. You adjust where needed.
- 05
Go-live
training includedWe take the application live and train your team.
App live!
Support
for as long as you need usWe stay available for questions, extensions and further support.
Costs
What does a custom web application cost?
A fixed price list does not exist. What you invest follows from three things:
Start from as little as
Like all our custom software€9,500
per program goal, delivered every month
A fixed budget per program goal. After each delivery you decide: build on, pause or stop.
Included per program goal
- Development and program management
- Support during the build
- AI-agent usage during development
- No licence costs
A delivery every month: a concrete piece of working software
* We also charge a one-time program setup of €6,000: that is where we get to know your organisation and pin down the scope of the first release.
What else determines the price:
- The pace that suits your business: how many program goals in a row, and how fast you want to go live.
- The ambition and size of the project: from screens, roles and processes to reporting and smart AI features.
- The number of systems we integrate with: your ERP, CRM, accounting software or webshop.
Three dials you turn yourself: that is how you keep the investment under control.
We build the core first: the one process that immediately saves time is often live within the first program goals, and you decide each time whether we continue.
So pausing or stopping is always possible. Do know it can have downsides: the team that knows your business moves on, and restarting later costs onboarding time and, with it, money. We always weigh the pros and cons together. Your success is our success.
What you have after that is yours: a one-time investment plus a predictable maintenance cost, without per-user licences.
Discuss what this means for your situation
A clear answer within two working days, no obligation.
Client cases
Proven in practice
This is what custom web applications look like at dotNET lab, and who we build for.
From legacy application to modern web application
How an outdated desktop application became a manageable, modern web application. (Article in Dutch.)
Read the caseA 20-year-old custom application rebuilt for an SME
Legacy modernisation without halting day-to-day operations. (Article in Dutch.)
Read the caseCustom software for the Flemish government
Custom development, with AI and machine learning, for the Department of Agriculture & Fisheries. (Article in Dutch.)
Read the caseOrganisations we build for
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about custom web applications
What is the difference between a web application and a website?
A website informs: visitors read and browse. A web application works: users log in, manage data and follow up on processes. They often complement each other, with the website as the shop window and the web application as the workshop.
Can I build a web application myself with no-code or AI?
For a personal list, a simple form or a first prototype, no-code tools or AI help get you a long way. Once multiple systems need to talk, users need roles and permissions or the tool becomes business-critical, self-building runs into architecture, security, testing and maintenance. Then it pays to have a web application built by a team that also carries that invisible work.
Web application or native app?
A web application runs in the browser on any device, without an app store and without separate versions per platform. That makes it faster and more affordable to build and maintain. A native app mainly pays off for intensive offline use or specific phone features; for most business applications a web application is the logical choice.
What does a custom web application cost?
That depends on the size, the number of integrations and the complexity. We work in program goals: every month we deliver a concrete piece of working software, from €9,500 per program goal, with a one-time program setup of €6,000 beforehand. The core of a web application often fits in the first program goals. After an intro call you hear within two working days whether custom makes sense in your situation; the figure follows from the analysis.
How long does it take to develop a web application?
By building in phases, a first working version is often there within weeks to months, depending on the scope. You see regular results throughout the project and can adjust each time.
Can you integrate with our existing systems?
Yes, that is often the core of the work. We connect web applications to ERP, CRM and accounting packages such as Exact Online and Odoo, to webshops and to invoicing flows such as Peppol. That way data is entered once and correct everywhere.
Does anything need to be installed?
No. A web application works in the browser, on any computer, tablet or smartphone. Everyone always works in the same, current version.
Is a web application secure?
For us security is a design choice, not an afterthought: secure authentication, roles and permissions, encrypted connections and hosting you stay in control of, on a European cloud environment if you want.
What about changes afterwards?
Your organisation changes, so your application has to keep up. We build maintainably, document clearly and stay available for extensions and support.
Who owns the code?
You do. You pay once for the development and the software is your property. No vendor lock-in: any developer can in principle continue with it.
Do you work in our region?
We work from Westerlo for SMEs and organisations across Belgium, from the Kempen and Antwerp to Brussels. Meetings can happen at your place, at ours or online.