Atara SoftwareStart a project
// Software consultancy · Durban, KZN

Custom software, built in Durban.

We're a small senior software studio based in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. We design and ship custom web, mobile and back-end systems for South African businesses that need real engineering — payment integrations, POS platforms, logistics tooling — not a templated website. We work fixed-price where we can, transparent time-and-materials when we can't, and you get senior engineers from day one, not a sales team and a hand-off.

// 01 —   Capabilities

Engineering across the whole stack.

We’re a small senior team. You get the people who design the system also writing the code — not a sales team and a hand-off.

  • 01 / 06

    Web applications

    Production React, Next.js and Vue 3 apps — from internal tools to customer-facing platforms used by thousands of staff every day.

  • 02 / 06

    Mobile applications

    Cross-platform iOS and Android with Capacitor, Ionic and React Native. Native Swift where it has to be native.

  • 03 / 06

    Back-end & APIs

    Node, TypeScript and serverless on AWS. Auth, payments, multi-tenancy and the boring infrastructure that has to never fail.

  • 04 / 06

    Payments & POS

    Card-present and online payments — ecentric, Paymentus, terminal integrations, reconciliation. We've shipped this in production.

  • 05 / 06

    Cloud & DevOps

    Serverless on AWS (SST), Terraform-managed infrastructure, deploy pipelines that engineers actually trust.

  • 06 / 06

    Product engineering

    We work as an extension of your product team. Discovery, scope, prototypes, then build — without the agency-vs-client adversarial dance.

// 03 —   Selected work

Things we’ve shipped.

A selection of recent engagements. Some clients we can’t name — so we’ve described the shape of the work instead.

01 / 05Retail · Payments

A high-volume retail POS platform

Vue 3 + serverless platform powering thousands of daily transactions across a national footprint of stores. Integrated card-present payments, offline-first checkout, and a multi-app frontend monorepo serving counter, kitchen and back-office surfaces.

/> Outcome

Sub-second checkout, multi-store rollout, terminal-integrated payments across multiple acquirers.

/> Stack
  • Vue 3
  • Turborepo
  • SST
  • AWS
  • TypeScript
  • Capacitor
02 / 05Logistics · Mobile

An on-road delivery & dispatch platform

Driver mobile app, dispatcher dashboard and reporting platform for a national logistics operator. Offline-tolerant route execution, real-time tracking and proof of delivery, plus a Next.js operations console.

/> Outcome

Hundreds of active drivers, real-time visibility across the fleet, faster route closeout.

/> Stack
  • Ionic
  • Capacitor
  • Next.js
  • Node
  • PostgreSQL
03 / 05Enterprise · Global

A global asset tracking platform

Multi-tenant web platform tracking high-value equipment movement worldwide between operating companies. Continent-scale routing, complex multi-party permissioning, audit trails, and integrations into enterprise ERP and payment workflows.

/> Outcome

Deployed across continents and operating companies, with reconciliation time cut substantially.

/> Stack
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Terraform
  • AWS
  • Global edge
04 / 05Med-Tech · Education

A clinical learning platform for healthcare professionals

Evidence-based video-lecture platform for doctors, nurses and medical students across the Nordics. Custom video pipeline, gamification and student-teacher interaction over a 7-specialty content library, with editorial workflows that map every lecture to current clinical guidelines.

/> Outcome

90,000+ active learners across Scandinavia; 700,000+ feedback responses at a 96/100 average score across 375+ lectures.

/> Stack
  • Vue
  • Node
  • PostgreSQL
  • Video pipeline
  • i18n
05 / 05Cross-border · Auto Arbitrage

A cross-border vehicle import & arbitrage calculator

A live arbitrage platform for UK → Ireland used-car imports. Ingests current UK listings, runs the full landed-cost calculation (purchase price + VRT + VAT + shipping + customs) against current Irish sale prices, applies live FX, and surfaces only the listings with positive net profit. Angular front-end over a PHP/MySQL back-end.

/> Outcome

Turned cross-border car importing from a gut-feel hunt into a sorted live list of every currently-listed vehicle scored on landed cost, sale price and net ROI.

/> Stack
  • Angular
  • PHP
  • MySQL
  • Scraping
  • FX rates
// 04 —   Discover → operate

Boring on the outside. Rigorous on the inside.

We’re not your agency. We’re your engineering team for the duration — code in your repo from day one, decisions in writing, no quarter-long surprises.

  1. 01

    Discover

    A short paid engagement to understand the problem, users, constraints and the existing technical reality. Output: a written scope you can read in 15 minutes.

    [1–2 wks]
  2. 02

    Prototype

    We build the risky part first — the integration, the workflow, the bit nobody's sure about — in working code, not slides.

    [2–4 wks]
  3. 03

    Build

    Weekly demos, code in your repo from day one, decisions in writing. No quarter-long surprises.

    [Ongoing]
  4. 04

    Operate

    We stay on as your team for ongoing development, on-call and the long tail of small improvements that compound into a great product.

    [Months+]
// 05 —   Stack we live in
Next.js
React 19
Vue 3
TypeScript
Node
Tailwind
Capacitor
Ionic
Swift
SST
AWS
Terraform
PostgreSQL
Firebase
GraphQL
REST
Next.js
React 19
Vue 3
TypeScript
Node
Tailwind
Capacitor
Ionic
Swift
SST
AWS
Terraform
PostgreSQL
Firebase
GraphQL
REST
// FAQ —   Questions, answered

Working with us, from Durban.

Q01
Do you work with Durban-based clients in person?
Yes. We're based in Durban and meet on-site or in our offices for discovery and key milestones. Day-to-day development is remote-first so you get senior people, not whoever happens to be in the office.
Q02
What does a typical engagement cost?
Discovery is a fixed-price ~1–2 week paid engagement (a written scope you can read in 15 minutes). Build phases are either fixed-price per milestone or month-to-month team-based, whichever fits your risk tolerance.
Q03
Can you replace an existing vendor?
Often, yes. We've taken over inherited codebases more than once. We start with a written audit, a risk-ranked backlog and a 30-day plan before touching anything important in production.
// 06 —   Start a project

Got a build in mind?

Tell us about it. A paragraph is enough — we’ll come back within a day with whether we’re the right fit, and a sensible next step.

info@atarasoftware.co.zaChat on WhatsApp060 531 1495
/> Based in
South Africa
/> Working
Worldwide, remote-first
/> Timezone
SAST, UTC+2 — 1–2 hours ahead of the UK year-round
/> Hours
Mon–Fri, 08:00–18:00 SAST
/> Engagements
Project · Retainer · Fractional team
/> Reply within
~1 business day