Make Real
Mahbub Rahman
Mahbub RahmanFull-Stack & AI Engineer
Available for new projects (Only 1 Spot)

One Developer.Output of a Team.

I build production-grade SaaS and AI applications for US startups — moving you past fragile AI wrappers to real, scalable products.

View My Work
Companies shipped
0+
Faster than a team
0×
Years building
0+
Verified reviews
0%

Trusted by 18+ companies across the World

EarlyBirdLabs
Tucker Enterprise
Heraclius
Hue Capital
Rita Group
3rd-i
Academy Pro
JCI - Just Checking In
Black Opal Life
Soberin40
The Coolcat Cooler
EarlyBirdLabs
Tucker Enterprise
Heraclius
Hue Capital
Rita Group
3rd-i
Academy Pro
JCI - Just Checking In
Black Opal Life
Soberin40
The Coolcat Cooler
EarlyBirdLabs
Tucker Enterprise
Heraclius
Hue Capital
Rita Group
3rd-i
Academy Pro
JCI - Just Checking In
Black Opal Life
Soberin40
The Coolcat Cooler

WHY FOUNDERS COME TO ME

Development is broken.You already know this.
THE COST

"It shouldn't cost this much."

You paid $8,000 for a feature that took six weeks and still has bugs. Every change becomes a negotiation. Every invoice is a surprise.

Agency Avg: $150–250/hr
THE TIMELINE

"Two weeks" means two months.

You've heard "it's almost done" so many times it stopped meaning anything. Your competitors shipped three features while your backlog didn't move.

Avg Delay: 2.4× the estimate
THE ACCOUNTABILITY

Nobody actually owns it.

The frontend blames the backend. The PM blames the spec. You're paying four people and nobody is responsible. When something breaks, you get excuses—not fixes.

0 people with full ownership

THE ADVANTAGE

I'm not a team replacement.I'm your unfair advantage.

Six years building real products. Fluent in AI tools that make me 3–4× faster than a solo developer working the old way. When something breaks, I fix it. No tickets. No hand-offs. No blame chains.

I

You get the actual person.

When you message me, I answer. When something breaks, I'm the one who fixes it — not a junior who's never seen the codebase. I don't have a support queue. I have clients, and I treat you like one.

×4

I use power tools.

AI handles the repetitive 60% of development so I can focus entirely on the 40% that requires real engineering judgment. You get the output of a small team at the cost of one person.

→

Your project actually moves.

No meetings about meetings. No wondering what's happening. Weekly progress updates — not because I have to, but because I know that's what trust looks like. You tell me what you need. I build it. You see it.

WHAT CLIENTS SAY

Don't take my word for it.Take theirs.

Every review below is verified on LinkedIn. Click the badge to read the original recommendation.

Alan Gracia
Alan Gracia
Co-founder, EarlyBirdLabs
"He brings a sense of ownership to every project that you simply can't hire for."
I highly recommend Mahbub as a software development lead. He is proactive, detail-oriented, and consistently ensures both technical and business requirements are clearly understood and properly executed. Mahbub is diligent about identifying and addressing issues early, even before they escalate into larger problems, which keeps projects on track and teams aligned. His ability to balance strong technical leadership with practical business awareness makes him a reliable and effective lead on complex projects. Beyond execution, Mahbub brings a strong sense of ownership to every project he leads. He communicates clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, sets realistic expectations, and holds the team to a high standard without creating unnecessary friction.
Jerlisa Fontaine
Jerlisa Fontaine
Founder, Hue Capital
"Mahbub is truly a life saver. He's honest, transparent, and efficient — and he cares that the code is actually good."
Mahbub is truly a life saver. His ability to take on challenging tasks and complete them in a sufficient timeline has been truly beneficial to the growth of our product. He is honest, transparent and efficient in his style of work. Many developers focus on just getting a task done. Mahbub focuses on ensuring all code is quality code so that when any other engineer is working on the platform, they won't have to freight confusion.
Michael A.
Michael A.
CTO, Rita Group
"I've worked with a lot of developers. Mahbub listens differently. He understands the problem, then solves it — not the other way around."
Mahbub is an experienced technologist with his expertise spanning beyond Software Engineering. At his core, Mahbub is a technical problem solver. Mahbub is able to carefully listen to and deeply understand a problem, and then reverse engineer his way into multiple optimal solutions. I've greatly enjoyed how he always brought my team and I into his process and we were able to reach success together. His technical prowess, problem solving skills, and collaborative working style make him a unique technologist. I'd work with Mahbub any day of the week.
Matthew Tauber
Matthew Tauber
Engineering Manager, EarlyBirdLabs
"When provided with clear requirements, working with Mahbub is a seamless process. Minimal oversight required."
Mahbub is a highly capable full-stack developer with strong expertise in TypeScript and the ability to independently build and ship complete web and mobile applications. I managed Mahbub directly on a couple of projects, where he consistently delivered high-quality work across the full stack, including frontend, backend, and integrations. He is also very proficient with WordPress and Python, making him versatile across both modern app development and more traditional platforms. When provided with a solid Figma design and clear requirements, working with Mahbub is a seamless process — he translates designs into clean, reliable implementations efficiently and with minimal oversight.

RECENT WORK

Built fast.Still running.

Real projects. Real clients. Every hour counted.

Academy Pro
Build: 114h

Academy Pro

Educational institute management system with multi-tenant SaaS architecture, role-based access, reporting dashboards, and a companion mobile app.

Replaced a $40k/year software vendor for 67 schools. Still in daily use.

Next.jsMongoDBFlutterTypeScript
TryOn Live
Build: 25h

TryOn Live

AI-powered virtual try-on Shopify app for clothing and accessories using GCP Vision API for real-time fitting.

Shipped in 25 hours. Live in the Shopify App Store.

ShopifyTypeScriptGCPPostgreSQL
HuCapital
Build: 73h

HuCapital

Social network for creatives and professionals with real-time features, content discovery, and AWS-scaled infrastructure.

Handled launch traffic without a single outage.

ReactNode.jsMySQLAWS
UPMIS
Build: 97h

UPMIS

Local government tax management system handling multi-department workflows, audit trails, and financial reporting.

Deployed across a municipal government. Zero downtime since launch.

ReactNode.jsMongoDB
Prophytes
Build: 85h

Prophytes

Private social media platform for Divine Nine organizations with event management, member directory, and media sharing.

Exclusive community of thousands — built and launched in under 90 hours.

ReactTypeScriptMySQL
JCI — Just Checking In
Build: 32h

JCI — Just Checking In

Mental wellness app combining behavioral science with technology for daily well-being check-ins and progress tracking.

Cross-platform iOS and Android. Shipped in 32 hours.

ReactTypeScriptMongoDBAWS

WHAT I BUILD WITH

The full stack.No hand-offs required.

From database to deployment. I own the whole thing.

FRONTEND
React
Next.js
Flutter
TypeScript
JavaScript
WebGL
BACKEND
Node.js
NestJS
Fastify
Express
AI & DATA
OpenAI
Anthropic
Vercel AI SDK
Pinecone
PostgreSQL
Redis
CLOUD & OPS
AWS
Google Cloud
Vercel
Docker
ECOMMERCE
Shopify
Webflow
Stripe
WordPress

HOW IT WORKS

Simple. No drama.

Three steps. That's genuinely all it is. No agency bloat.

01

We Talk

30 min, free

You walk me through what you're building. I'll tell you honestly if I can help, what it would cost, and the timeline. No pitch deck, just a straight conversation.

02

We Start Small

One defined project

We pick a specific scope with an agreed price. You see exactly how I work before committing to anything ongoing. If you aren't happy, you walk away with a working product.

03

We Keep Going

Ongoing retainer

Once you've seen the value, most clients move to a monthly retainer. Costs stay predictable, deadlines get hit, and problems get solved before they surface.

IS THIS RIGHT FOR YOU?

I'm honest aboutwho I can help.

This works really well for some. For others, I'm genuinely not the right choice. Here's the breakdown.

You'll love this if you...

  • ●Are running a business that needs real development but can't justify a full team
  • ●Are tired of agencies that overpromise and underdeliver
  • ●Need someone who owns problems, not just closes tickets
  • ●Know that cheap, fast, and good usually means picking two

This won't work if you...

  • ●Need 10+ developers working full-time in a physical office
  • ●Change your core requirements every few days
  • ●Need someone in 8 hours of meetings per week
  • ●Are not willing to stay involved and provide feedback

LET ME BE STRAIGHT WITH YOU

A few honest thingsmost devs won't say.
01 —
"I'm not a miracle worker."

I can't compress three months of work into one week. But I can do in two weeks what most developers take six. It's not magic — it's focus.

02 —
"AI helps. But I do the work."

Tools make me significantly faster at the repetitive parts, but they don't replace six years of product judgment and architecture experience.

03 —
"I take 3–5 clients. Not 50."

I'm not scaling a freelance empire. I take a small number of clients and actually focus on them. When I reach capacity, I'll tell you directly.

04 —
"Your involvement matters."

The projects that go well are the ones where we both show up. I build it. You own it. We're partners, not strangers.

INVESTMENT

World-class craft.Transparent pricing.

No hidden fees, no padded hours. Just high-end engineering for startups that want things done right the first time.

Project Work

For defined scopes and specific milestones.

$800to$25k+
Fixed price based on scope
  • 01Clear, upfront technical scoping
  • 02Small fixes & updates ($800–$2.5k)
  • 03New features & MVP chunks ($2.5k–$8k)
  • 04Full 0-to-1 product builds ($8k+)
  • 05One structured revision round included
MOST POPULAR

Monthly Retainer

Continuous partnership & momentum.

$3,2kto$5k
For 30 to 50 hours/month
  • 01Guaranteed monthly engineering bandwidth
  • 02Priority response (same business day)
  • 03Ongoing maintenance & infrastructure ops
  • 04Rolling scope — unused hours carry over
  • 05Direct Slack/Discord access to me

COMMON QUESTIONS

Questions peoplealways ask me.

If something isn't covered here, ask it on the call.

Honestly, this is a fair concern. I've been doing this for six years and it hasn't been an issue — I don't take on more than I can handle, which means I always have margin for the unexpected.

That said, I'm transparent with clients about my schedule. If something comes up, you'll hear from me immediately — not after a week of silence. I'd rather have an uncomfortable conversation early than let a project slip without explanation.

I work with US-based clients specifically, so my working hours are structured around US time zones (ET/CT primarily). You won't be waiting a day for a response because of a timezone gap. Same-day responses are the norm, not the exception.

Yes — completely. Everything I build for you is yours. You get full source code, full ownership, no licensing fees, no strings attached. I transfer all repositories to your accounts when the project completes. This is non-negotiable and I'm happy to put it in the contract in plain language.

We talk about it before I go over — not after. If a project is tracking larger than the 50-hour retainer covers, I'll flag it early, explain what's driving it, and we agree on how to handle it together. No surprise invoices. Ever.

Yes — that's actually one of the main reasons clients move to a monthly retainer. Shipping is the beginning, not the end. Bugs happen. Requirements evolve. Infrastructure needs monitoring. I offer ongoing maintenance as part of retainer engagements, and as a separate arrangement for project-based clients.

Scope changes happen on every project — that's not a problem, it's just reality. The process is: we identify the change, I estimate the impact on timeline and cost, we decide together whether to include it now or phase it later. Nothing gets added silently. Nothing gets billed without agreement. The spec is a living document, not a contract to hide behind.

A US-based agency at $150–250/hr will cost you $24,000–$40,000 for the same project I'd build in a fraction of that. A cheaper offshore team often means miscommunication, timezone friction, and code you can't maintain later.

What I offer is the middle path: US-aligned working hours, direct communication, six years of real product experience, and pricing that doesn't require a funding round. That's the actual value proposition — not that I'm the cheapest, but that you get genuine quality without the agency overhead.

READY?

Let's buildsomething real.

30 minutes. No pitch. No pressure. Just an honest conversation about your project and whether I can actually help.

✓ Free 30-min call✓ No commitment✓ You'll know after 1 chat