Our values
Build less. Build better. Build to last.
Krafter is a software studio that builds custom software for its clients and designs its own products. Both activities rest on the same technical convictions, the same quality standards, and the same founders. Here’s how we work, why we work this way, and what guides every one of our decisions.
01/03
(Real client stories)
« Krafter, a dynamic team of professionals who give it their all, relentlessly! Thank you for supporting us through our ERP transition with so much commitment. »
Ilaria F.
Sales administration manager
What the studio builds
Build less. Build better. Build to last.
The studio
Service and product. Two crafts that reinforce each other instead of competing.
On one side, we design and build software for our clients: SaaS platforms, business applications, mobile apps. On the other, we design and operate our own products: Melimelo (consumer app, thousands of active users), Trottr (field service management), Kascade (project management), Smashr (AI-augmented CRM), Remastr (platform for IT refurbishing).
This double commitment is no accident. It’s a strategic choice. Service revenue funds the development of our products. The experience gained on our products in production (scaling, retention, critical bugs, user adoption) makes us more lucid and more rigorous on client projects. And the business problems we meet at our clients feed our product thinking.
For an investor, it means a studio that doesn’t theorize product development but practices it every day, with its own money. For a client, it means a partner who knows what “in production” really means, because it lives it on its own software.
Technical
The code we write today, someone will read it again in two years. We write for that person.
Every technical shortcut taken under deadline pressure ends up costing more than the time it saved. A module shipped without tests breaks at the first version bump. Undocumented code becomes a trap for the person who picks it up. A botched architecture forces a full rebuild the moment the product starts growing.
At Krafter, code is treated as an asset to protect, not a deliverable to bill. Clean architecture, respected conventions, up-to-date documentation, automated tests on critical behaviors. Our modules ship in separate repositories, identifiable, portable, and maintainable independently from the rest of the system.
And when a technology has to be chosen, we choose the one that solves the project’s problem, not the one that shines on a slide. Python, Flutter, Vue.js, PostgreSQL: our stack is stable, proven in production on our own software, and mastered in depth. We don’t switch frameworks because fashion changed.
Product
Software nobody uses isn’t software. It’s a cost.
On Melimelo, we learned the hard way that adoption can’t be decreed. That a failed onboarding kills retention in the first week. That the third feature added is often the one that drowns the first two. That a user who doesn’t get the product’s value in 30 seconds deletes it and never comes back.
Those lessons, paid for on our own products with our own users, shape our approach on every project. We don’t build in silence for six months to deliver a finished product nobody has seen. We frame a tight scope, build in short cycles, ship testable versions at every iteration, and adjust based on real feedback. Before adding a feature, we check it will be used. Before shipping a screen, we make sure it will be understood.
Commitment
“We turn down projects. Not out of arrogance: if we take a project we can’t handle properly, we’ll deliver it badly, frustrate the client and damage our reputation. The day we can no longer guarantee the level on every project, we’ll stop growing. That day hasn’t come.”
Fabien Maquin
Co-founder & CEO, Krafter
FAQ
These principles speak to you? Client or investor, let’s talk.
Tell us about your projectWhat you can expect (and not expect) from Krafter.
Because our model rests on the quality of each person involved, not on the volume of projects handled. Every project is handled directly by the founders. Growing would mean hiring, delegating, and accepting variable quality. That’s not what we want, for our clients or for our products.
Through service revenue. Krafter has been bootstrapped since its creation in 2021. Client work generates the revenue that funds the development and growth of our own software. No debt, no fundraising to date.
No. The studio is organized so both activities coexist. Client projects are planned and delivered against clear commitments. Product development takes the remaining time. And in practice, the experience gained on our products speeds up and improves client projects, not the other way around.
No. If a project falls outside our technical scope, if the budget doesn’t match the requested scope, or if we don’t have the bandwidth to handle it properly, we say so from the first conversation. We’d rather recommend a peer than deliver work below our standards.
Each product has its own model. Melimelo runs on freemium (monthly or annual subscription). Trottr is subscription-based SaaS. Kascade and Smashr are used internally for now. The medium-term goal is for product revenue to take a growing share of the studio’s overall revenue.
Let’s build a product people → actually use
A 30-minute call with a founder. Answer within 24/48h. Pitch deck optional.