NETGATE

Custom Software Development for Australian Businesses

Off-the-shelf tools are built for the average business. If your workflow doesn't fit, you spend half your day forcing the wrong tool to do the right job. NetGate builds the software that fits. Web platforms, native iOS apps, internal tools, customer-facing portals, automation systems. We're Sydney-based, work Australia-wide, and ship our own SaaS — Leado, our quoting and invoicing app for tradies, is live on the App Store. We don't outsource. Same team designs, builds, ships, and supports.

What we deliver

What We Build

Custom software, end-to-end. Each capability below is something we've shipped to a real Australian business — not a slide deck.

Web Applications

Internal tools, customer portals, dashboards, marketplaces. We build web platforms for businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets and off-the-shelf SaaS. Multi-user, role-based, integrated with your existing systems. Hosted on Australian infrastructure where it matters for compliance. Designed mobile-first because half your team is on a phone in the field.

Benefits: Workflow that fits, no licence-per-seat creep, full control of features.

Native iOS Apps

App Store-distributed, push notifications, offline-capable. We've published our own — Leado is live at au.leado.app today. We know what passing App Store review actually requires (it's not what the tutorials say). If your business needs a real iPhone app — not a wrapped website pretending to be one — we ship it end-to-end, including the App Store listing.

Benefits: Real native experience, push notifications, offline workflow.

Backend & APIs

Custom APIs, integrations, automation pipelines. The plumbing that connects your systems together — calendar to CRM to billing to comms. We design APIs that are documented, versioned, secured and built to outlast the app that called them first. When the next system needs to talk to your data, the API is already there.

Benefits: Clean integrations, future-proof data layer, no vendor lock-in.

Maintenance & Evolution

Software needs upkeep. We stay with you long-term. Most agencies disappear after launch and reappear at quote time when something breaks. We don't. The team that built your system is the team that maintains it — security patches, feature additions, infrastructure migrations, integration changes. Flat monthly retainer or per-change pricing, your choice.

Benefits: Same team long-term, no rebuild every three years, predictable cost.

Why NetGate

Why Choose NetGate for Custom Software in Australia?

There are plenty of agencies that talk about custom software. We're the Sydney team that ships our own — and yours.

We Ship Our Own SaaS

Leado is our quoting and invoicing app for Australian tradies — live on the App Store today (au.leado.app). It went through every step a real software product goes through: design, build, App Store review, real users, support tickets, version updates. When you hire us, you're hiring a team that has shipped end-to-end — not consultants who hand you a spec and walk away.

End-to-End, In-House

Design, build, ship, support — same team. We don't subcontract development to overseas partners and pretend it's local. The Sydney developer who scopes your project is the Sydney developer who writes the code and the Sydney developer who picks up the phone when you ring two years later. One point of contact for the life of the system.

Sydney-Based, Australia-Wide

Our office is in Sydney's Martin Place. Our clients are across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and regional Australia. Build runs over video and screen-share — distance is not a barrier. Australian time zone, Australian English, Australian business hours support. No overnight ticket queues, no offshore call centres.

Tailored, Not Templated

Every project starts from your workflow, not a generic boilerplate. We don't have a 'starter template' we shoehorn every client into. Discovery first — we map how your business actually runs, where the friction is, and what the software needs to do. Then we design and build to fit. The result is software that feels like it was made for you, because it was.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does custom software development cost in Australia?
Most projects sit between $15,000 and $150,000+ depending on scope. A focused internal tool — single-purpose, small user base, straightforward integrations — usually runs $15,000 to $40,000. A multi-user web platform with custom workflow, integrations and a polished customer-facing UI typically runs $40,000 to $100,000. A native iOS app published to the App Store with a backend, push notifications, and ongoing infrastructure runs $50,000 to $150,000+. We scope every project against a fixed deliverable list before quoting — no surprises, no hourly billing creep. Get in touch for a quote against your actual requirements.
How long does development take from idea to launch?
Typical timelines: a focused internal tool ships in 6 to 10 weeks. A medium web platform with multiple user types and integrations ships in 10 to 20 weeks. A native iOS app with backend and App Store submission ships in 14 to 26 weeks, including App Store review (which alone is 1-3 weeks). We work in two-week sprints with a demo at the end of each one — you see the system grow as it's built, not at the end. If a deadline matters (trade show, funding round, season launch), we scope to hit it. See our broader process.
Do you do offshore or in-house development?
In-house only. Every developer who writes code on your project is part of our Sydney team. We don't have a hidden offshore arm, and we don't subcontract to external developers. This costs more per hour than offshore-blended models — but the difference is night and day on quality, communication, and long-term maintainability. The agencies you've heard horror stories about (six-month overruns, code that nobody understands six months later) are usually offshore-blended without the client realising. We're the opposite of that, deliberately.
Will I own the code, or is it locked into your platform?
You own everything. Code, data, infrastructure access, third-party accounts (App Store, payment processors, hosting) — all in your name or transferred to you at the end of the project. We're an agency, not a SaaS subscription. There's no platform lock-in, no per-seat licence on top of the build, no clause that says you can't take the code elsewhere. We hand over the repository, the documentation and the access. If you want to bring it in-house in three years, you can. If you want us to keep maintaining it, we will. Either way, the asset is yours.
What's the difference between custom software and using SaaS like HubSpot or Salesforce?
Off-the-shelf SaaS is fantastic when your workflow fits the tool's assumptions. The moment it doesn't, you start configuring around the gaps — workarounds, manual processes, multi-tool stitching, per-seat licences ballooning as you grow. Custom software is the opposite: you describe your workflow, the software fits it. The trade-off is upfront cost — SaaS is cheap to start, custom is an investment. The break-even is usually around the point where SaaS configuration starts breaking, or where per-seat licences exceed what a custom build would have cost amortised. We'll tell you honestly if SaaS is the right answer for your problem — we don't sell builds you don't need.

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Ready to build software that fits your workflow?