Rudi Louw.

What I do

What I build

I’m an independent developer who also designs. That means one person takes your project from idea to working product, with technical choices that serve the way it looks, reads and feels. Custom development comes first. WordPress and Elementor are still part of what I do, where they’re the right tool.

01

Custom websites

Designed and built from scratch, never bent out of a template.

I design and build websites around what you actually need to say and do, then make them fast, accessible and easy to keep up to date. Most are built in Next.js and TypeScript and hosted on Vercel. Where WordPress and Elementor are the better fit for your team, I build in those too.

Problems I solve

  • A site that looks like everyone else’s and says nothing in particular
  • Slow pages, poor mobile experience, weak search visibility
  • An old WordPress site that needs a considered rebuild, without losing the rankings it has earned
  • Next.js
  • TypeScript
  • WordPress
  • Elementor Pro
  • SEO foundations
See Grand Safari →

02

Web applications & business tools

The plumbing that turns an idea into something people can sign up for and pay for.

Accounts, databases, payments and AI-assisted workflows, built to be simple to use and honest about what they do. MotivAI is a good example: a guided intake, careful AI drafting and a submission-ready PDF, with credits and payments behind it.

Problems I solve

  • A manual process that should be a tool
  • An idea that needs a working first version, with sign-in and payments
  • Using AI sensibly, with a human in control of the result
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Supabase
  • PostgreSQL
  • Payments
  • AI-assisted workflows
See MotivAI →

03

iOS apps

Native apps in Swift and SwiftUI, from first screen to App Store release.

I build iPhone and iPad apps the way Apple intends: native, quick and tidy. That includes the parts that make an app feel finished, such as background checks, push notifications, iCloud sync and in-app purchases, and the App Store release process itself.

Problems I solve

  • A service that belongs in people’s pockets, not behind a login page
  • Reminders and alerts that actually arrive when they should
  • Getting an app through App Store review and into users’ hands
  • Swift
  • SwiftUI
  • CloudKit
  • Push notifications
  • StoreKit
  • App Store release
See GunStatus →

04

Publishing platforms, content systems & integrations

Editorial tools and the systems behind them, for publishers who need more than a blog.

I know newsrooms from the inside, and I build for them: custom content systems, scheduled publishing, feeds and sitemaps, data and third-party integrations, hosting and architecture that stays up. The Coastal runs on a platform I built and maintain.

Problems I solve

  • A CMS that fights your editors instead of helping them
  • Content that has to move between systems, feeds and partners
  • A publication that needs to launch properly and scale
  • Custom CMS
  • Editorial workflow
  • Feeds & sitemaps
  • APIs & integrations
  • Hosting & architecture
See The Coastal →

05

Ongoing support & development

Sites and apps keep needing work. I stay on it.

After launch I can look after your site or app: updates, fixes, speed, security hygiene and new features, with one person who already knows how it was built. That includes the WordPress and Elementor sites I have built over the years, and sites that someone else built.

Problems I solve

  • A site no one is looking after
  • Small changes that wait weeks for an agency to get to them
  • A WordPress site that has become slow or fragile
  • Maintenance
  • Performance
  • WordPress
  • New features
  • Hosting

How I work

One person,
start to finish

  1. 01

    Talk

    We start with what you need to achieve and who it is for. I ask a lot of questions, and I’ll tell you if I think something is the wrong idea.

  2. 02

    Shape

    I propose an approach, a scope and a plan, and show you how it will look and behave before everything is built.

  3. 03

    Build

    I build in working steps you can click through along the way, so there are no surprises at the end.

  4. 04

    Launch & look after

    I handle launch, hosting set-up and handover, and stay on afterwards if you want me to.

WordPress, still

I’ve built and looked after WordPress and Elementor Pro websites for years, and for plenty of businesses they’re still the right answer: a team that wants to edit its own pages, a familiar admin and a sensible budget. I’ll tell you honestly whether WordPress or custom code suits your project, and I’m equally happy to rebuild, speed up or look after a site that already exists.

Start a project

Got
something
to build?

A site that needs to be better, an app that needs to exist, a platform that has outgrown its tools. Tell me what it is and I’ll tell you honestly how I’d approach it.

hi@rudilouw.com

or email hi@rudilouw.com