Marketplace Software Development
Two-Sided. Matched. Shipped.
We build two-sided marketplaces and platform businesses for founders across the US, UK, and Australia. We built and shipped FlyHire, a two-sided recruitment marketplace with AI matching and native apps, Mebag, a marketplace layer above online retailers, and JBUJB, a multi-restaurant discovery platform. The matching layer, the trust layer, and the payments layer are the hard parts, and we've built all three.
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Why Marketplaces Are Harder Than They Look
A marketplace is two products glued together by a matching layer, and you have to fill both sides at once. Most fail on the parts a demo never shows.
The cold-start problem
You need sellers to attract buyers and buyers to attract sellers. A platform that only works once it has critical mass is a platform that never launches.
Two products, not one
The buyer side and the seller side need different workflows, dashboards, and permissions. Build one well and the other as an afterthought, and half your users leave.
Matching is the product
If the platform surfaces the wrong matches, nothing else matters. Keyword search is the default failure mode; real matching ranks genuine fit on structured criteria.
Payments, payouts, and trust
Holding a buyer payment, taking a fee, paying out sellers, handling refunds and disputes, and making strangers trust each other: this is where marketplaces get into real trouble.
Marketplace Software Development Services
Each block: the problem in your words, what we build, and the outcome.
Two-Sided Platform Builds
"We keep building one side and neglecting the other." We build the buyer side, the seller side, and the matching layer between them as one deliberate scope, the way we built FlyHire.
Matching & Discovery Engines
"Our search surfaces the wrong results." We build AI matching on structured criteria, discovery and listings, and recommendation, like the matching in FlyHire and the discovery in Mebag and JBUJB.
Marketplace Payments & Payouts
"Money moves three ways and we can't reconcile it." We build split payments, platform fees, seller payouts, escrow, refunds, and disputes as their own workstream, with reconciliation built in.
Trust, Reviews & Moderation
"Users don't trust each other yet." We build verified profiles and credentials, ratings and reviews, reporting and moderation tools, and messaging that keeps a record, the way FlyHire verified candidates.
How a Marketplace Build Actually Runs
Drawn from building FlyHire, Mebag, and JBUJB, not a generic diagram.
Both Sides, and the Match
We map who is on each side, what a good match looks like, and how the transaction completes, before any screen is designed.
Cold-Start Strategy
We build so you can seed one side manually and launch in a single region or category, rather than needing critical mass on day one.
Matching Logic Design
The criteria that define a genuine match get modelled as structured data, so the matching layer ranks fit instead of matching keywords.
Staged, Fixed-Price Build
We build in stages with a working demo every week, both sides and the matching layer together. Fixed price means scope surprises are our problem.
Payments & Trust
Split payments, payouts, refunds, and disputes are built with reconciliation, alongside verification, reviews, and moderation.
Launch & Liquidity Support
After launch we watch match rate, fill rate, and drop-off on each side, because a marketplace's health is a set of ratios, not a single number.
Marketplaces & Platforms We've Built
A live two-sided recruitment marketplace, a marketplace layer above retailers, and a multi-restaurant discovery platform.
FlyHire: A Two-Sided Recruitment Marketplace, Shipped
FlyHire connects candidates and employers through AI matching on structured criteria, one-click apply, an auto-updating smart résumé, verified credentials, an employer dashboard with vetted applicants, interview scheduling, and messaging. Teamseven built the candidate side, the employer side, and the matching layer between them from the ground up.
It ships as native iOS and Android apps and a web platform, and remains live on both stores. That engagement is complete and the client now runs it with an in-house team.
Mebag: A Marketplace Layer Above Every Online Store
Mebag is a universal shopping cart for the open web: users save products from any retailer, track price drops, and buy across multiple stores in a single checkout. We built the checkout orchestration layer and the OpenAI-powered discovery engine. It's a marketplace position that is neither retailer nor storefront but the layer above both. The engagement is currently on hold, resuming September 2026.
Read the Mebag case studyJBUJB: Multi-Restaurant Discovery, Listings, and Ordering
JBUJB is a local-commerce platform we built from the ground up, still live on Google Play. It combines business discovery and listings for restaurants and cafés with QR menus, contactless ordering, and an owner-facing management side, all bilingual in English and French. Multi-tenancy, discovery, and a two-sided owner-and-diner experience in one platform. That engagement is complete and the client now runs it with a local team.
View JBUJB liveBuilding a marketplace?
The next step is a call. We'll ask about your two sides, your matching criteria, and your cold-start plan before we quote anything, and tell you honestly if a marketplace is even the right model.
Book a scoping callThree Ways to Engage Us
A pre-launch founder, a funded team scaling liquidity, and a team stuck with a lopsided platform need different things. Pick the one that sounds like you.
Technologies We Use for Marketplaces
Selected for search and matching, real-time messaging, native mobile, and payment integration.
Questions About Marketplace Software Development
Have you actually built a two-sided marketplace?
Yes. We built FlyHire, a two-sided recruitment marketplace connecting candidates and employers with AI matching, verified credentials, messaging, and native apps, live on the Apple App Store and Google Play. We also built Mebag, a marketplace layer above online retailers, and JBUJB, a multi-restaurant discovery and ordering platform. Two-sided is where we have real production experience, not theory.
How do you handle the cold-start problem?
The cold-start problem (needing supply to attract demand and demand to attract supply) is a product and go-to-market problem as much as an engineering one. We scope the seller side, the buyer side, and the matching layer deliberately, and we build so you can seed one side manually, run in a single region or category first, and expand from there rather than needing critical mass on day one.
Do you build the matching or discovery layer?
Yes, and it is usually where the value lives. On FlyHire we built AI matching that ranks genuine fit on structured criteria rather than keyword overlap. On JBUJB we built discovery and listings. On Mebag, OpenAI powers product discovery across retailers. We design the matching logic around your domain and what a good match actually means for both sides.
Can you build payments and payouts for a marketplace?
Yes. Marketplace payments mean holding a buyer payment, taking a platform fee, and paying out sellers, often with escrow, refunds, and disputes in the mix. We have built payment orchestration on Mebag and terminal-based payment flows on other platforms. We scope the money movement as its own workstream because it is where marketplaces most often get into trouble.
How do you handle trust and safety between strangers?
Trust is the product in a marketplace. We build verified profiles and credentials (as we did on FlyHire), review and rating systems, reporting and moderation tools, and messaging that keeps a record. What is worth verifying, and how, depends on your domain, which we scope during discovery.
Can you take over a marketplace another team built?
Yes. We offer Legacy Software Modernization and Software Project Rescue. In marketplaces, a common finding is that the platform was built for one side well and the other side as an afterthought, or that payments and payouts were bolted on. We audit what exists and tell you honestly whether to extend, refactor, or rebuild.
Do you build native mobile apps for marketplaces?
Yes. FlyHire ships as native iOS and Android apps plus a web platform, because in a lot of marketplaces the transaction and the messaging happen on a phone. We build native or cross-platform mobile where it earns its place, not by default.
How much does a marketplace build cost, and how long?
Scope drives it. A single-sided directory, a two-sided MVP with matching and messaging, and a full marketplace with payments, payouts, reviews, and native apps are different projects. Everything is fixed-price after a scoping call, and you can get a rough range from our cost calculator first.
Will you tell us if a marketplace is the wrong model?
Yes. Sometimes what a founder describes as a marketplace works better as a managed service, a directory, or a single-vendor platform, at least to start. If that is the honest read, we will say so on the call rather than build you a two-sided platform you have to fill twice.
Building a marketplace?
We've shipped a two-sided one.
We built FlyHire, a live two-sided recruitment marketplace on the App Store and Google Play, plus Mebag and JBUJB. If you're building a platform business and you want both sides and the matching layer built properly, we'd like to hear about it.