This FAQ gives you quick, clear answers to the questions we hear most often – from pricing and timelines to the platforms we build for and what it’s like to work with our team.
If you don’t find your question here, scroll to the bottom – we make it easy to reach out.
We specialize in building internal business apps – tools your workforce uses to get work done, especially in the field. These apps often replace paper, modernize clunky workflows, or help teams capture and access the right data while working in the field.
Some of our apps are used across entire industries, while others are designed for our clients’ clients, like the dental lab app we created to simplify order tracking and communication. We’ve also built healthcare apps that are used by patients and providers.
We specialize in developing apps for iOS, Android and the web. We build cross-platform apps, native apps, progressive web apps (PWAs), low-code apps and APIs. The iOS and Android apps we develop are eligible to be published on the app store.
Absolutely. We provide UI and UX design as part of all our software development projects.
We sure do. For projects where a low-code solution is the right fit, we recommend from a number of no-code and low-code tools, including:
Maybe. Our minimum budget for fix-it projects is $15,000. The code also needs to be written in a language we support. If you are interested, please reach out to talk to our team. Here are some important things to know when hiring a company to fix your app.
Yes, we have a great deal of experience integrating custom apps with a wide range of third-party services and enterprise systems. In particular, EHR software (Allscripts/Veradigm, Epic), payment gateways (Stripe, Square), inventory management software and various propriety software and APIs used by our clients.
Our team can integrate third-party APIs to allow data synchronization, trigger workflows and enhance functionality. If your software doesn’t have an API, we can develop a custom API to connect systems efficiently. Whether you need real-time data sharing, automated invoicing, or customer portal integration, we can tailor the app to work smoothly with your existing tools.
Yes! We provide ongoing maintenance and support to ensure your app remains secure, up-to-date and running smoothly. Our support services include:
We offer maintenance plans based on your needs, whether it’s regular updates and enhancements, or as-needed maintenance. Let’s discuss a plan that works best for your business!
Yes, but not to replace our team. We use AI as a powerful assistant throughout our process: to explore design ideas, write or review small blocks of code, draft test cases and generate helpful documentation. It helps us move faster.
That said, AI doesn’t build the app. Nor could it right now. At Big Fish, the vast majority of code is still written by real humans, and every AI-generated suggestion is reviewed and refined by an experienced developer or designer.
We believe AI is a tool. It’s only as good as the team behind it. And that’s where we come in.
We don’t assume AI is always right, and it isn’t. Every AI-assisted output is reviewed and refined by our team. That includes code, test cases and even documentation. We use it as a support tool, not a decision-maker. You still need human judgment to know if the result is good.
In theory, you can ask AI to write parts of software – but in practice, it’s not that simple. Most software requires architecture decisions, integrations with other software, nuanced business logic and definitely testing.
AI can assist with code generation or provide ideas, but it still needs an experienced developer to guide it and check the work. Otherwise, you risk building something that may not scale well, or that does not work as expected.
That said, AI is improving quickly! We see a future where AI can do more and better when it comes to building software. But for the foreseeable future, you will still need a knowledgeable human to steer it, help it and provide quality assurance.
Yes, but in specific, thoughtful ways. For example, we might use AI to draft documentation, generate ideas for test cases, brainstorm or write small blocks of code. And anything AI generates is always reviewed by a real human with deep context on your project.
Our prices start at $5000 for simple progressive web apps. More extensive software development projects range from $25,000 to $75,000. Highly complex, multi-platform apps will increase in price from there. We wrote a blog post with more detail: How Much Does a Custom App Cost.
Yes, we do fixed price when the scope is also fixed and clearly defined. For highly complex projects that span many months, or when the scope can’t be defined upfront, fixed price is not a good fit. We’ll let you know ahead of time if we think this is the case.
Expect it to take 1 to 4 months to develop your app. Highly complex projects may take longer. For more on this topic read our full breakdown: How Long Does it Take to Develop and App.
AI assistants take on the repetitive communication and coordination work that slows teams down. They can answer routine questions, gather information, schedule and follow up, update systems, and move tasks forward without constant human oversight. Each assistant is designed around your actual processes so it fits into your day-to-day operations instead of creating new steps for your team.
Most assistants are designed and deployed within a few weeks. We start with a focused discovery session to understand your workflows and outcomes. From there we design, build, test, and roll out the assistant in a clear sequence so you always know what is happening and what to expect. The goal is to get something reliable into your hands quickly and continue improving it as your needs evolve.
Our projects start at $3,000. The exact cost depends on what the assistant needs to do, how many workflows it supports, and whether it connects to third party APIs. Most client projects land between $3,000 and $10,000. The higher end typically covers more complex assistants that manage multiple flows and deeper system integrations.
We have extensive experience designing and developing field service apps. That is to say, apps that are used by a dispersed workforce – in the field. We’ve developed custom apps for construction companies, healthcare organizations, utilities, logistics companies…and more.
We do, please take a look at Our Portfolio to see what we’ve designed and developed for our clients. We also have a Behance profile that showcases some of our software designs.
While we don’t sign NDAs as a prerequisite to an initial conversation, we do have an NDA we can provide before follow-up conversations if the project is a good fit for our team.
If you’re concerned about protecting your app idea we wrote some thoughts and advice in our blog.
Yes. We sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) as part of any healthcare software development project where protected health information is involved. We take our role seriously and follow HIPAA best practices throughout the development process.
Yes, we have clients who are subject to HIPAA and whose software and business processes must be HIPAA-compliant. Over the years we’ve done a great deal of work for companies in the healthcare industry. We’ve published more details about some of those projects in our portfolio: software to enable in-home visits from physicians, iOS app for health insurance company, patient-referral app for a healthcare non-profit, software platform used by hospitals.
Yes. We understand that some organizations prefer their data not leave the United States – for security, compliance, or simply peace of mind. We specifically work with cloud providers that offer U.S.-based data centers and, in the case of healthcare apps, are willing to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
It’s also worth noting that our entire team, including all of our developers, is located in the United States. We do not outsource or hire overseas developers.
We work with companies in operations-heavy industries like utilities, logistics, healthcare and construction. Most of our clients have complex operations and are looking for better ways to manage work in the field, reduce manual processes, facilitate communication among a dispersed workforce and provide access to cloud-based data in real-time.
We do not outsource locally or abroad. Software design and development is our specialty. Our company founder wrote an article in our blog about why we don’t outsource, which you can read to learn more about our take on this topic.
Our headquarters is in Tampa and we work remotely with clients across Florida (including Orlando and Miami) and throughout the United States. Discovery calls, project planning and software delivery all happen seamlessly thanks to our proven remote process and 100% U.S. team. You’ll always work directly with our in-house team, no handoffs or offshoring.
No we do not. Our entire team (including all of our developers) is located in the United States.
It may be necessary to for us to visit your office as part of a consulting engagement. But, sending our team to your location for ongoing work is not necessary, and not part of our culture at Big Fish.
We do not. Big Fish is a team for hire and we do not participate in profit share, equity deals or other similar arrangements.
Please contact us if your question was not answered.
Big Fish is an AI and software studio in Tampa, Florida.
Big Fish Software Studio
3030 N Rocky Point Drive W, Suite 150
Tampa, Florida 33607
