Sanne Klaver
Anyone with experience of this new API gateway? I've done a comparison with our current stack.
App development Native iOS & Android Real-time messaging
A community app that keeps people coming back
More than a noticeboard with chat. A community app where profiles, groups, content feeds, events and notifications work together to create daily engagement, for members, fans, peers or employees.
Community app Live · 1,247 members
SK
JV
Joris van Dijk
Live event tonight at 20:00 on scalable microservices, who's joining?
MO
Manon Ouwens
New article in #data-engineering: pipelines that actually scale.
Why a custom community app
WhatsApp groups and Slack get crowded. A custom app scales with you.
Most communities grow organically on a free platform until it starts to chafe. Notifications drown, content can't be found, members leave. A custom community app solves this with a structure that keeps your audience together: themed channels, searchable archives, targeted notifications and a brand experience that suits your association, brand or professional community.
We have been building community apps since 2018 for sports federations, student associations, industry bodies and internal employee platforms. Every community has different mechanics that work: an open feed suits brand fans, moderated groups suit healthcare professionals, gated event spaces suit event attendees.
Our approach
How we build a community app that people actually use
Building a community app is not the same as cloning a feed. You design engagement from the very first design conversation. This is the approach we have refined over 30+ projects:
1
Member research workshop
We speak with 5-8 prospective members before the first line of code. What does your audience prefer to ask in an app rather than a Google search? That is the core circle.
2
Designing engagement loops
Which trigger brings someone back three times a week? Push notifications, a weekly digest, gamification, knowledge events: we choose 2 loops that fit behaviour, not 8 that nobody uses.
3
MVP in 8-12 weeks
Profiles, feed, channels, notifications, search and moderation. Native iOS and Android (React Native or Flutter, depending on team fit). Live with your first 50 to 100 members.
4
Iteration on cohort data
DAU, retention curves, creator-to-member ratio. We measure where members drop off and build targeted improvements there. Not feature bingo, but feature impact.
5
Scaling: events, payments, integrations
Live streaming, ticketing, paid memberships, Slack/Teams bridges, single sign-on with your existing CRM or LMS. We add these when your members start asking for them.
6
Maintenance and growth team
Store updates, security patches, performance tuning, feature pipeline. We stay involved for as long as your community keeps growing.
What's included
The building blocks of every community app
👤
Profiles and roles
Rich profiles with expertise tags, roles (member / moderator / partner), a badge system and privacy controls. An onboarding flow that takes 30 seconds to complete.
💬
Feed, groups and threads
Structured discussions with thematic channels, pinned posts, replies, reactions, mentions, and search that keeps older threads discoverable.
🔔
Push and in-app notifications
Granular control: per channel, per event type, per time slot. A community app that pings too often loses members in week two.
🎤
Events and live
RSVPs, calendar sync, live-stream embedding, in-app Q&A and automatic reminders. Suitable for both physical meetups and webinars.
🎯
Moderation tools
Report flow, hide, delete and ban permissions, automated keyword filters and optional AI content flagging. Managed in a dashboard, not in the mobile app.
💳
Paid memberships
Tiers, subscriptions, gated content and one-off purchases. Stripe or Mollie as the payment backbone, with automatic invoicing and a cancellation flow.
What we do differently
Not yet sure about a large project?
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →We build for retention, not download counts
A community app with 50,000 downloads and 200 active members has failed. A community app with 1,500 downloads and 800 weekly active members is a success. From day one, we design for the second.
In practice, every project starts with a retention target (a DAU/MAU ratio or a weekly active target), not a feature list. We then choose the functionality that best serves that goal.
- Native performance: no webview app where scrolling feels jerky. iOS and Android at the same quality.
- Ownership of data and content: you keep the community and the member list. No lock-in to a platform.
- Modular foundation: add events, switch on payments, or introduce a marketplace later, without a rebuild.
- Privacy by design: a GDPR-compliant foundation, encrypted member data, and anonymity for sensitive communities.
- Branded experience: colours, fonts, name and domain are yours. No Appfront logo in your app.
Who it's for
Communities we have built for, or are a good match for
Sports federations and clubs
Match calendars, scouting modules, membership registers and club feeds. Integrated with KNVB, NHV or comparable data.
Industry federations
Professional communities that share knowledge, maintain certifications and organise events. CRM integration with a membership database.
Student associations
Activity feed, committees, ticketing for drinks and symposia, sponsor content and an event photo archive.
Internal staff apps
An engagement tool for field staff without an office. Product news, peer recognition and training content.
Patient or healthcare communities
Moderated peer-support platforms with a privacy-first architecture. Anonymity, expert Q&A and structured knowledge.
Brand or fan communities
Customer loyalty, beta testers and super-users you don't want to lose to a third-party social platform.
Frequently asked questions
An answer to what you're probably wondering
How much does it cost to build a community app?
An MVP build (profiles, feed, channels, notifications, basic moderation) typically falls between €40,000 and €80,000. A more extensive app (events, payments, native video, integrations) runs to €150,000 to €250,000. We work with fixed prices per phase, not open-ended budgets.
How long does it take to go live?
Our MVPs typically reach the app stores within 8-12 weeks. This is followed by 2-3 months of iteration based on real usage data. A fully featured version is ready after 6-9 months.
Native or hybrid? Flutter, React Native, Swift/Kotlin?
For around 80% of community apps, React Native or Flutter is the right choice (one codebase, native performance, fast iteration). For apps with intensive real-time video or AR, we opt for native. We'll discuss this in the first session based on your requirements.
How do you handle moderation?
We build the moderation dashboard, and you staff it. Optionally, we can integrate AI content flagging (toxic language detection, spam filters). For sensitive communities, we work with a 24-hour response SLA via an external partner.
What if the community doesn't grow?
That's why we start with member research. If 5-8 conversations reveal no reason for people to return daily, we advise against building. We have turned down pitches where we knew a community app wouldn't work, and that is the right advice.
Do you work with our existing CRM, LMS or CMS?
Yes. Single sign-on with SAML/OAuth, webhook integrations and custom API integrations are building-block work we have been doing since 2018. Send us your stack and we'll tell you how.
Ready to get started
Tell us what your community needs to achieve
The first conversation is free: 45 minutes about your target audience, your goals and which type of community app suits them. No vague advice. You leave the conversation with a direction, a rough scope and an initial budget indication.
- 30+ community apps live in the stores since 2018
- Native performance on iOS and Android
- You retain ownership of your data, member list and codebase
- Fixed price per phase, no open-ended hour counting
- Maintenance and growth team after launch