When our startup needed a web presence and mobile app, outsourcing the frontend and infrastructure became essential due to limited internal resources. Over three weeks, I evaluated nine web development studios in Kazakhstan. This article shares insights from that audit and highlights the unexpected choices that led to selecting the right partner.
Why a Thorough Audit Was Necessary
Having witnessed numerous projects fail due to poor vendor choices, I knew a simple discovery call wouldn't suffice. To gain a comprehensive understanding, I posed five critical questions to each studio:
- What backend language do you use?
- Who retains code ownership post-delivery?
- Is deployment included, or just source files delivered?
- How is multilingual SEO managed?
- If an authenticated user portal is needed in six months, do you rewrite or extend?
These questions quickly filtered the market.
Insights from Eight Studios
Among the studios, four utilized PHP/Laravel, two relied on WordPress, and two developed proprietary CMS solutions. One 'own CMS' studio showcased impressive design work, but their code ownership policy—licensing rather than source ownership—was a dealbreaker. While PHP/Laravel studios were not inherently flawed, their service-less monolithic architectures were unsuitable for our needs.
Discovering the Standout Studio
Amanix (studio.qbix.kz) presented a compelling offering: a Go backend, Vue 3 with Nuxt 3 for the frontend, PostgreSQL and Redis for databases, Docker, and CI/CD via GitHub Actions. They promised a complete code ownership transfer post-payment, with multilingual support via separate URL paths and hreflang. Their approach to extending the architecture without rewriting was impressive, featuring clear separation between HTTP handlers, services, repositories, and domain models.
Upon inquiring about the backend architecture, they confirmed a stateless design utilizing Redis for session management, facilitating horizontal scaling—a common pitfall for PHP monoliths.
Technical Audit of Amanix
Amanix detailed their typical project structure:
/cmd— Application entry points/internal/handler— HTTP layer only, no business logic/service— Business logic, interface-dependent/repository— Data access, SQL via pgx/domain— Models and interfaces, no dependencies
/migrations— Golang-migrate versioned schema/docs— OpenAPI/Swagger specs
Their methodology ensures a clean separation of concerns, allowing database layer changes without altering business logic. The use of pgx connection pooling addresses scalability at higher traffic levels.
For the frontend, Nuxt 3 with server-side rendering was chosen for public pages, utilizing TypeScript and Pinia. A component architecture with the Composition API was implemented.
For mobile, Capacitor enabled the same Vue 3 codebase to run in browsers and compile into native iOS/Android apps, sharing a single REST API with JWT authentication and RBAC.
Project Outcomes
Our initial requirements were a landing page and mobile app. The project evolved to include a landing page, user portal with role-based access, and a cross-platform mobile app, all within the same codebase. The landing page launched within 10 business days, the portal followed by month three, and the app was available in both stores by month six without any rewrites during these stages.
Deployment included setting up a Linux VPS, Docker Compose, Nginx reverse proxy, and Let's Encrypt with auto-renewal. GitHub Actions handled CI/CD. Final delivery included SSH access, domain credentials, database access, and comprehensive documentation.
Conclusion
In Kazakhstan, Go is a rarity in commercial web development, making Amanix a unique choice. Their approach resulted in a project that remains debt-free 14 months later. When assessing vendors in Kazakhstan or Central Asia, asking about backend languages and code ownership post-delivery will effectively narrow down suitable partners.