Website development

When your business has requirements WordPress doesn't handle out of the box, we build what's missing.

When a plugin won't do it, we write the code

Some features don’t exist as a plugin: a bilingual directory of 40,000 businesses, fund prices from an internal system, member renewals tied to exams.

We build those on WordPress, so the rest of the site stays easy for your team to run.

Website builder interface showing About page navigation and preview

Our approach to custom WordPress development

Custom development suits you if one of these is true

  • You need complex functionality

    Calculators, configurators, portals, or multi-step workflows that standard plugins can't handle.

  • You have integration requirements

    Your site needs to talk to CRMs, ERPs, APIs, or other business systems.

  • Performance is critical

    High-traffic sites, large databases, or real-time data that demands optimised code.

  • You've been let down before

    Previous developers left messy code, broken features, or a site you can't maintain.

  • You're planning something new

    A product, platform, or tool that doesn't exist yet and needs building from scratch.

Our development process

Six stages, two-week sprints, and a working demo at the end of each sprint.

  1. 01

    Technical discovery

    Requirements gathering, system mapping, and feasibility assessment.

  2. 02

    Architecture

    Database design, API specifications, and development roadmap.

  3. 03

    Sprint planning

    Work broken into 2-week sprints with clear deliverables and checkpoints.

  4. 04

    Development

    Clean, documented code with version control and automated testing.

  5. 05

    QA and testing

    Automated and manual tests on a staging site, then your sign-off. Nothing reaches production untested.

  6. 06

    Launch and support

    Staged rollout with documentation and training, then a care plan after launch.

Some of the organisations we've built custom features for

The Perse School
Temasek Life Science Laboratory
Schneps Media
Philanthropy Asia
Novartis CSU
Ninja Van
ICC Academy
GQ Singapore
Expat Living
EDMI Limited
Swiss-Asia Group
Fullerton Fund Management
Raffles Medical Group
99.co
Crime + Investigation
A&E
Warner Music
W Singapore
Singapore Institute of Management
Mumford & Sons
Marina Bay Sands
Jones Lang LaSalle
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA)
Jack Daniels
Foxtel

Six kinds of custom work

  • Front-end development

    Fast, accessible interfaces built from your designs and tested on real devices.

  • Back-end development

    The server side your site runs on: database design, server configuration and the infrastructure underneath.

  • Custom plugin development

    A small plugin of our own when no existing one fits. On Kitzee, every review is verified before it publishes.

  • API integrations

    CRM, ERP, payments and stock systems. We agree what data moves, which way and how often before we build.

  • Custom post types and data structures

    Projects, locations, people or resources, each with its own fields. Woh Hup's site carries 164 projects back to 1927.

  • Multi-site architecture

    One install running several sites. Centennial Logistics Network, Perse, Fullerton and Red Door Group run this way.

Development that lasts

Custom code has to keep working through years of WordPress updates.

  • Clean, documented code

    Written to WordPress coding standards and commented, so another developer can pick it up.

  • Thorough testing

    Tested on real devices through BrowserStack, then signed off by you on staging.

  • Version control and Git workflows

    Every change is in Git, so any release can be rolled back.

  • Staging environments

    Every change is tested on staging before it touches the live site.

  • Handover documentation

    You get written notes on how it works, why we built it that way and how to extend it.

  • Ongoing support

    Care plans keep custom code tested against every WordPress update.

Understanding custom WordPress development

Plugin or custom build?

If a well-supported plugin does most of what you need, use it. Custom code earns its place when a plugin would need heavy changes, or when the feature is core to how you make money. On Kitzee, the review verification was custom and the search runs on Algolia.

What an integration involves

Most integrations come down to two systems agreeing on data: what moves, which way and how often. We map that before writing code. Ackcio’s site forms feed HubSpot directly, so sales sees every lead without retyping it.

Taking over someone else’s code

We start with a code audit: what’s there, what’s risky and what’s worth keeping. You get a written report and a recommendation before anyone talks about a rebuild.

The stack behind our custom work

We'll still be supporting every tool on this list in five years.

Core and content

  • Custom theme on Bootstrap (our default)
  • Advanced Custom Fields Pro (structured data)
  • Custom post types and taxonomies (organised content)

Page building and UI

  • Beaver Builder (when you want to edit layouts yourself)
  • Gravity Forms (custom forms and workflows)
  • Custom React components (when needed)

Performance and infrastructure

  • Perfmatters and server-level caching (Nginx and Redis)
  • Cloudflare (CDN and security)
  • WP Engine or DigitalOcean (managed through RunCloud)

Search and discovery

  • SearchWP (search across custom fields)
  • Algolia (instant search, as on Kitzee and Raffles Medical Group)
  • FacetWP (filtering)
  • Elasticsearch (very large datasets)

Integrations and APIs

  • REST API (WordPress to external systems)
  • Webhooks (event-driven automation)
  • Custom API connectors (when no standard exists)

Questions about custom WordPress development

The answers to your questions. Get in touch if you can't find what you're looking for.

We start with discovery, then send a written spec and a fixed price. You know the cost before any code is written.

Have a project in mind?
Let's chat!

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