Frontend to backend, one owner
Hiring rounds often take weeks before anyone writes real code. What you usually need is one person who can own the architecture and the delivery from the first week.
Discovery stays short and specific: users, data, and risks. After that we build the critical path first and strengthen it from there.
If that sounds like your situation, Arcode is set up for founders and teams needing full-stack ownership. UI, APIs, auth, payments, and infrastructure delivered as a coherent product system.
What you get
- Complete product delivery
- API and database design
- Auth, billing, and realtime
- Maintainable TypeScript codebases
- One studio accountable for the result
- Design and engineering on the same schedule
- Support available after launch
How engagement works
As your full stack developer, we run a shared backlog, design reviews, and engineering sprints, and you keep one point of contact throughout.
- 01
Discover
Goals, constraints, data sources, and success metrics, all settled before we touch architecture or prompts. The work for teams in Chicago stays tied to the outcome you asked for.
- 02
Design
System design, AI/tool boundaries, interface direction, and interaction prototypes. You see progress on the critical path every week.
- 03
Build
Modern stack, clean architecture, evaluated AI behavior, and iterative demos you can react to. Nothing here waits on a handover between separate teams.
- 04
Launch
Ship, monitor, harden, and keep improving models, tools, and product after go-live. On full stack development projects we favour practical architecture over trendy defaults.
How we build it, and why
The stack is chosen per project, not applied from a template. For full stack developer work these are the defaults, and the reason each one is on the list.
- React
- the component model most teams can already hire for and maintain
- Next.js
- server rendering and static generation in one framework, so marketing pages stay fast and app routes stay dynamic
- Node.js
- one language across the stack, so context does not get lost at the boundary
- NestJS
- structure and dependency injection on the backend, which keeps a growing API from turning into a pile of route handlers
- Stripe
- payments, subscriptions, and the tax and invoicing edge cases you do not want to build
What the first weeks look like
- Days 1-3
Context and constraints
Codebase, deploy path, and what "done" means for the full stack development. Short, because the useful version of this is specific.
- Week 1
First shipped slice
Something real goes out in the first week — complete product delivery rather than a setup ticket.
- Weeks 2-6
Build to the milestone
Pull requests, reviews, and weekly demos. You see the work as it happens rather than at a handover meeting.
- Handover
Documented and transferable
Runbooks, architecture notes, and a walkthrough, so the work does not depend on us still being here.
Weighing up your options
There are three realistic ways to get this built. Each is the right answer for someone.
A solo freelancer
Cheapest per hour and fine for a contained task. The risk on full stack development is breadth — one person covering design, backend, infrastructure, and launch usually means one of them is weak, and there is no cover when they are unavailable.
A local agency in Chicago
Same timezone and a face to meet, which genuinely matters for some teams. You are also paying Chicago enterprises hiring for dependable full-stack delivery. rates for the whole team including the layers that never touch your full stack development, and a local shortlist is a small shortlist.
Arcode
A small senior team. The people who scope the full stack development write the code, you get weekly demos instead of status decks, and the engagement ends when the thing is live and handed over.
Work we have shipped
Happy Kids Dental
Frontend · CMS
Pediatric dental site with services, patient resources, and appointment-focused UX.
Code Band clinic product using Next.js, Tailwind, Redux Toolkit, Video.js, and Strapi for content and scheduling flows.
- · Pediatric service pages
- · Patient resource content
- · Appointment scheduling UX
- · Strapi-managed content
Next.js · Tailwind · Redux Toolkit · Strapi · Video.js
Vigorant
Frontend · Accessibility
Accessible web app with reusable components, Redux Toolkit state, and Strapi integration.
Code Band product built with React, Next.js, Tailwind, and Redux Toolkit, focused on accessibility and maintainable UI patterns.
- · Accessibility-first UI
- · Reusable component system
- · Efficient Redux Toolkit logic
- · Strapi-backed content
Next.js · React · Tailwind · Redux Toolkit · Strapi
Quickee UI Library
Design system · Tailwind
Tailwind component library for React and Next.js with reusable UI patterns inspired by Tailwind UI.
Code Band component kit providing a variety of production-ready Tailwind components with Redux-friendly patterns for React and Next.js apps.
- · Reusable Tailwind components
- · React and Next.js ready
- · Consistent interaction patterns
- · Faster UI assembly across projects
React · Next.js · Tailwind · Redux
Working with teams in Chicago
Chicago enterprises hiring for dependable full-stack delivery. We work with clients in Chicago remotely and keep overlapping hours in CST/CDT. We usually collaborate in English.
How we work with Chicago teams
Chicago is ten to eleven hours behind us, so our late afternoon is your morning. That is enough for a daily sync window, with the rest handled in writing so nobody waits on a call to get unblocked.
What Chicago clients usually need
Chicago work leans towards established companies rather than early-stage startups: logistics, insurance, trading-adjacent tooling, and internal platforms that need rebuilding without disrupting the business running on them.
Contracts, data, and compliance
Migrations here usually need a parallel-running period and a rollback plan rather than a cutover date. We invoice in USD under US contractor agreements with IP assignment, and scope SOC 2 evidence in where procurement asks for it.
