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How to do a software rewrite
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About this service
Build scalable, maintainable software with our experienced engineering teams. We deliver high-quality code and best practices that help your product succeed.
Go to serviceSoftware engineering
Staff engineers who join your team to improve how you build
Brownfield experts
Lead by example
Plan our exit from day one
We don't just improve your software, we care about the team as well
We work on software that already has users, history, and opinions. The kind where every change can break something, and “just rewrite it” is not an option. Our staff engineers join your team to unlock progress again.
We love legacy
Most of our work happens in brownfield and legacy systems. Code that has been around and accumulated debt, but still needs to perform. Cleaning up what matters while shipping real features gives us the thrills.
Leading staff engineers
Our engineers lead by doing. They write code, improve systems and refine processes. Since 2008, we have been cleaning up codebases. We join with a clear plan to leave and when we are done, the waters are calmer, the team is stronger, and progress is predictable again.
Our engineering playing field
We take on projects that make your product more robust. When the tech outgrows the team, we step in.
Backend engineering
Our developers join your team, take on tickets and lead by example. They dive into infrastructure, refactor APIs, improve performance, build CI/CD pipelines and make your backend something your team can rely on.
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Ready to talk?
Ready to build a backend your product can rely on?
Frontend engineering
We modernise legacy frontends, clean up design systems, and fix performance and accessibility. We bridge design and engineering so what ships matches what was imagined, and users actually love using it.
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Ready to talk?
Want a frontend that users love and your team can maintain?
Data & AI projects
We help teams make smart use of data and AI. Not for the hype, but for real impact. Whether it is setting up pipelines, integrating generative AI, or applying machine learning where it makes sense.
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Ready to talk?
Looking to put data and AI to work in your product?
Mobile projects
We build and improve mobile applications with the same quality-first approach we bring to web. Native or cross-platform, we focus on performance, reliability, and a great user experience.
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Ready to talk?
Ready to ship a mobile app your users keep coming back to?
Our approach
“We join with a clear plan to leave. When we are done, the waters are calmer, the team is stronger, and progress is predictable again.”
Why companies call us in
You don't call us when everything's going great. You call us when things kind of work, but don't feel right anymore. When progress feels heavier than it should.
“Our product is full of bugs.”
“Our AI prototype works in a notebook but not in production.”
“Together with madewithlove, we created a high standard of quality which includes consistent, readable, well-documented, and tested code which we would like to keep for years.”
Sven Houtmeyers, Technical Lead (CTO) at Publiq
“We keep rewriting instead of improving.”
“Our app crashes on older devices and we’re losing users.”
“We always feel that madewithlove is thinking about what is best for MinersAI. They truly become part of the team and ensure that transitions happen with a thoughtful, long-term plan.”
Mason Dykstra, CTO & Co-Founder at MinersAI
“Users sign up but don’t stick around.”
“We’re dealing with legacy systems nobody fully understands.”
Happy clients
We've embedded staff engineers with dozens of SaaS teams to improve live software, mentor developers, and make progress sustainable.
Fixform
Keeping buildings and spaces in good, safe and clean condition
After their technical co-founder departed unexpectedly, we stepped in with two staff engineers to build a quality-first MVP using Inertia.js, Vue, and Laravel. We established robust CI/CD pipelines, implemented comprehensive testing, and mentored the team through knowledge transfer.
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We help our clients succeed
You will not see companies like Amazon among our past clients. You will, however, see the names that will soon rock the SaaS world because we helped them predict risks and avoid failure.
“If you can tell VCs, ‘we are working with madewithlove’ they already know it will be quality because they have also used madewithlove to do, for example, audits.”
Thomas Vanhumbeeck
Cofounder & CEO, FixForm
“We now have stable and performant products that users love, so the impact of the collaboration is well proven.”
Sven Houtmeyers
Technical Lead (CTO), Publiq
“Madewithlove was the only party advising us to refactor instead of starting over. With hindsight, this was the right choice. Our customers started feeling the difference right away and didn’t have to wait 9 months or longer for improvements.”
Steven Debrauwere
CEO, Contractify
FROM 150+ SAAS AUDITS
1 in 4 SaaS teams give all engineers production access
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Our latest thinking on software quality, team dynamics, and the craft of building better products.
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Your codebase is a palimpsest
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Parallelise yourself with Git worktrees
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Need engineering muscle?
Whether you need staff engineers to strengthen your team, help untangling a legacy codebase, or a fresh perspective on your architecture. We're ready to dig in.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about working with our staff engineers.
We don't take over but we join. Our engineers embed directly into your team, pairing with your developers, reviewing architecture, and introducing better practices. The goal isn't to replace anyone. It's to leave your team stronger than we found them.
Very direct. If something is broken, unclear, or slowing the team down, we say it out loud. Always respectfully, never theatrically. Clear problems are easier to fix than polite misunderstandings.
No. We are pragmatic rather than dogmatic. We do not impose frameworks for the sake of consistency or fashion. We work with your existing stack, constraints, and team.
Mostly SaaS startups and scale-ups that have found product-market fit but struggle to scale their product or team. We often step in when internal teams are stretched thin or early technical decisions start slowing things down.
We do both, but our sweet spot is brownfield development. Improving and evolving existing software. Whether it is modernising a legacy codebase or untangling a complex monolith, we bring structure and calm to environments where the pressure is highest.
Almost never. Most teams do not need a big rewrite. They need fewer fires, better predictability, and clearer ownership. We focus on stabilising what matters first, then improving quality where it actually pays off.
We are technology-agnostic, but most of our projects use modern web stacks such as React, Vue, Laravel, Symfony, and Node.js. We also handle infrastructure, cloud environments, and data and AI integrations.
Most engagements last between 6 and 18 months. We stay as long as we add real value. Long enough to fix structural issues, mentor your team, and make progress sustainable.
We begin with an honest conversation about your challenges, technical, organisational, or both. From there, we may do a short audit or technical due diligence to clarify the situation and define next steps. Once aligned, we embed and start improving things immediately.