A studio that builds websites that work
Big agencies are slow to decide, and a single freelancer can struggle with the full breadth of a product. A studio-sized team sits comfortably between the two.
Design and engineering share one backlog, so the visuals never drift away from what can realistically ship on time.
If that sounds like your situation, Arcode is set up for brands comparing web development agencies. Arcode works as a focused web development agency, so strategy, design systems, and engineering all sit with one partner.
What you get
- Brand and product websites
- SEO-ready architecture
- Conversion-focused UX
- Ongoing iteration support
- One studio accountable for the result
- Design and engineering on the same schedule
- Support available after launch
How engagement works
As your web development agency, 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. You see progress on the critical path every week.
- 02
Design
System design, AI/tool boundaries, interface direction, and interaction prototypes. Nothing here waits on a handover between separate teams.
- 03
Build
Modern stack, clean architecture, evaluated AI behavior, and iterative demos you can react to. On web development projects we favour practical architecture over trendy defaults.
- 04
Launch
Ship, monitor, harden, and keep improving models, tools, and product after go-live. The work for teams in Edinburgh stays tied to the outcome you asked for.
How we build it, and why
The stack is chosen per project, not applied from a template. For web development agency work these are the defaults, and the reason each one is on the list.
- Next.js
- server rendering and static generation in one framework, so marketing pages stay fast and app routes stay dynamic
- React
- the component model most teams can already hire for and maintain
- Tailwind
- design decisions stay in the markup, so the CSS does not grow faster than the product
- CMS
- editable content, so routine copy changes never queue behind engineering
- Analytics
- instrumentation from day one, because you cannot improve what nobody measured
What the first weeks look like
- Week 1
Scope and architecture
Users, data, integrations, and constraints, ending in a written plan for the web development that you approve before anyone opens an editor.
- Weeks 2-3
Design the critical path
The screens that carry the product, prototyped and clickable. Design and engineering review together, so nothing gets drawn that cannot ship.
- Weeks 4-8
Build in weekly slices
Every week ends with something on a real URL. brand and product websites lands early, because the rest of the plan depends on it working.
- Launch
Ship, measure, hand over
Release, monitoring, analytics, and a documented handover, so your team can carry it without calling us.
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 web 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 Edinburgh
Same timezone and a face to meet, which genuinely matters for some teams. You are also paying Edinburgh product companies valuing clean engineering and AI. rates for the whole team including the layers that never touch your web development, and a local shortlist is a small shortlist.
Arcode
A small senior team. The people who scope the web 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
Prism Goals
Frontend · Strapi CMS
Accountability platform with dashboards, weekly check-ins, admin tooling, and progress analytics.
Goal tracking product with Typeform check-ins, admin panel, and Strapi-backed content.
- · Goals and values dashboard
- · Weekly check-in integrations
- · Admin user management
- · Progress analytics
Next.js · TypeScript · Material UI · Strapi · Axios
Brain CMS
Frontend · Firebase · Analytics
Multi-module enterprise CMS with documents, calendars, video, and advanced analytics.
Content and operations system spanning enterprise modules with Firebase and rich media tooling.
- · Multi-module business domains
- · PDF and document management
- · Advanced charting suites
- · Calendar and media workflows
React · Redux Saga · Firebase · Chart.js · Video.js
Lengju Deildin
Realtime frontend · GraphQL
Live football league experience with sockets, GraphQL, and YouTube stream widgets.
Automated league app built at Stellar Stack with live scores, widgets, and stream integrations for higher fan engagement.
- · Realtime score updates
- · YouTube live widgets
- · GraphQL data layer
- · Automated league data views
React · GraphQL · Apollo · WebSockets · Firebase
Working with teams in Edinburgh
Edinburgh product companies valuing clean engineering and AI. We work with clients in Edinburgh remotely and keep overlapping hours in GMT/BST. We usually collaborate in English.
How we work with Edinburgh teams
Edinburgh runs on GMT/BST, giving us a full overlapping day. Written updates land before your morning, so the first thing you read is what moved since you logged off.
What Edinburgh clients usually need
Edinburgh briefs cluster around SaaS and fintech — Scotland's financial sector pulls a lot of product work with it — alongside university-adjacent research tools that need to become real software.
Contracts, data, and compliance
Financial-sector clients bring security questionnaires and DPAs early, so we handle those upfront and keep personal data in UK or EU regions by default. We invoice in GBP.
