Connect the system everyone told you could not be connected
A custom integration is purpose built software that keeps two systems in sync when no usable native connector exists: an ERP, a billing platform, a legacy database, or a tool whose only export is a nightly CSV. It runs as a deployed service with explicit field mapping, idempotent writes, retries and error alerting.
Who this is for
You probably need this if…
If none of these sound familiar, you may not need us yet, and we would rather say so now.
Your system can only export a file, and someone imports it by hand every Monday.
A marketplace app exists but syncs the wrong objects in the wrong direction.
Finance and sales disagree about revenue because two systems hold two versions.
A Zapier chain has grown to fourteen steps and fails silently.
Your product database holds the usage data and the CRM has none of it.
Scope
What's included in custom api integrations
Every item below is a deliverable with an owner and a date, not a capability we happen to have.
- 01
Integration design document
Object and field mapping, sync direction, conflict rules and the failure modes we expect, agreed before a line of code is written.
- 02
Private app or service
Scoped credentials, webhook subscriptions and API calls that respect rate limits and use batch endpoints where volume demands it.
- 03
Middleware
A deployed service that owns the sync: idempotent writes, exponential backoff retries, a dead letter queue and logs you can actually search.
- 04
File drop pipelines
For systems that only export: SFTP, S3 or email attachment ingestion with schema validation, row level error reporting and automatic reprocessing.
- 05
Monitoring and alerting
A health dashboard plus Slack or email alerts when a sync fails, so you hear about it from us rather than from a confused rep.
- 06
Runbook and handover
Written operations documentation covering credentials, redeploys, replaying a failed batch and adding a new field.
Process
How a integrations and apis project runs
6 stages over 3 to 8 weeks. You get a written plan before stage one, and a named owner on our side throughout.
Systems audit
Week 1We document both ends: what the source can actually emit, its auth model, its rate limits, and what the destination expects.
Mapping and contract
Week 1Field by field mapping, sync direction and conflict resolution. This is where most integration projects quietly fail, so it gets written down and signed.
Build in staging
Weeks 2 to 3Developed against a sandbox loaded with production shaped test data. Nothing touches your live systems yet.
Backfill and reconciliation
Week 3Historical records synced, then reconciled against the source with a discrepancy report you review before cutover.
Cutover and monitoring
Week 4Live behind alerting, and we watch the first full cycle end to end with you on the call.
Support window
Weeks 5 to 8Thirty days of included monitoring and fixes, then an optional maintenance plan covering API version changes.
Commercials
Timeline and cost
Custom Integrations and API Development starts at $7,500 and typically takes 3 to 8 weeks. Scoped per system. Maintenance plans from $900/month.
That figure is a starting point, not an estimate we revise upward later. The first week of every engagement is a scoping week that ends with a fixed fee and a fixed date. If the scope turns out to be smaller than we assumed, the fee goes down.
We do not bill by the hour for project work. Hourly billing pays us to be slow, and it makes your budget a function of our efficiency rather than of your requirements.
FAQ
custom API integrations questions
Direct answers. If yours is not here, ask us and we will add it.
Can I sync a system if it only exports a CSV?
Yes. A file export is a perfectly workable integration source. We ingest the file from SFTP, an S3 bucket, a shared drive or an email attachment, validate it against an expected schema, map each column to a destination field, and upsert records on a deduplication key. Rows that fail validation are reported individually rather than silently dropped.
When do I need a custom integration instead of a marketplace app?
Use the app when it syncs the objects you need in the direction you need. Build custom when it is one directional and you need two way, when it does not support custom objects, when business logic has to sit between the systems, or when the system is not on a marketplace at all. We will tell you when the off the shelf app is the better answer.
What kinds of systems can be integrated?
Anything that can expose data: REST and GraphQL APIs, SOAP endpoints, SQL databases, warehouses such as Snowflake and BigQuery, ERPs including NetSuite and SAP, billing platforms such as Stripe and Chargebee, and systems whose only interface is a scheduled file export. If it can emit a row, it can be connected.
Where does the integration run, and who owns it?
You own it. We deploy to your infrastructure by default, under your accounts and credentials, and the source code goes to your repository. If you would rather not operate it we host and maintain it on a monthly plan, but the code and the data stay yours either way.
How do you prevent duplicate records during a sync?
Every sync is keyed on a stable external identifier stored in a dedicated field, never on an email address. Writes are upserts against that key and are idempotent, so replaying a batch cannot create duplicates. Where a record has no stable key we agree a matching rule with you and log every match for review.
Related
Often scoped together
CRM Data Migration
Salesforce, Pipedrive, Dynamics, Zoho or a decade of spreadsheets, migrated with owners, associations and activity intact.
CRM data migration →AI Automation and Agent Development
Agents and automations aimed at one expensive manual process, with evaluation and guardrails built in.
AI automation →Full Stack Web Application Development
Customer portals, internal tools and SaaS products on a stack your team can hire for.
full stack web application development →
Next step
Start with a conversation about integrations and apis.
A short call, no deck. We will tell you what we would do, roughly what it costs, and whether you actually need us, sometimes the answer is that you do not.