Experience as a Service
Bananacode is a software development company based in San José, Costa Rica. We work with startups and companies to create MVPs, robust applications, clickable prototypes with excellent usability and user experience.
You can outsource your products with us, on the same time zone, good english spoken team, solid development and UX/UI level.
Let's make things happen together!
Focus
Portfolio
Sports Sonar, Delfino.cr, FIFCO, San Pellegrino Essenza, Loyalshift, Teledolar, Nikkos Yogurt, ICICOR, TD+
Avenida
Avenida is an Ecommerce as a Service platform, where any entrepreneur can start selling their products in few hours
The challenge of this project was to create a very smooth process to start shopping online. The main goal was to provide the best user experience in order to convert users into real sales. There are different flows and options that allow the user to always find what he needs.
Sports Sonar
We have been helping the SAT based startup Sports Sonar, to create all the different development behind their technology and the applications for their first clients. Right now Sonar is working with School Districts and we are working on the new products for Alamodome and San Antonio Spurs
Delfino.cr
Delfino.cr is a digital newspaper with a paid subscribers business model.
We have developed the platform using a headless wordpress with ReactJS on the front. It has a newsletter system where more than 36K people receive filtered topics everyday on their inbox and it allows subscribers to listen the same content on podcast while they drive to their jobs, go on the bus or just don't want to read at all.
Reviews
the project
Web Dev for Software & Data Engineering Firm
"They met all our goals and expectations and were good value for our money."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm the CEO of a software factory, and we offer staff augmentation services for other software firms.
What challenges were you trying to address with Banancode?
They developed our website, our blog, and other microservices for the site.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They used Javascript and HTML to develop the website as well as Python for some of the microservices.
What is the team composition?
We worked with three people: a designer, a developer, and a project manager.
How did you come to work with Banancode?
I found them by chance at a conference and checked out their website. When this project came up, I decided to give them a try. We were looking to collaborate with a young team that had the ability to solve problems with the newest technologies. They have all these skills and their portfolio reflected that.
How much have you invested in them?
We've spent about $6,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We collaborated from March–May 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We had two main KPIs, one was to improve our design to a pixel-perfect level, and the second was to achieve success in publishing our content ourselves. Both goals were met completely.
How did Banancode perform from a project management standpoint?
They used agile methodologies, and that worked perfectly for us.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They met all our goals and expectations and were good value for our money.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They could work more on making their company more well-known. I met them by chance and know they'd have plenty of interest if they promoted their work more.
the project
E-Commerce Dev & Marketing for Menstrual Products Store
"Without the website we wouldn’t have grown as we have now."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm the owner of a menstrual products store.
What challenges were you trying to address with Banancode?
They developed our e-commerce, and have also helped us with social media, digital marketing campaigns, design, and more.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They used Magento.
What is the team composition?
We worked with about 5 people.
How did you come to work with Banancode?
I did some online research, they seemed like a great choice for us because they work with several startups, they have a great accompaniment process, and good prices.
How much have you invested in them?
We’ve invested about $15,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We have been working with them for about two years.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Their work has been essential for our business, without the website we wouldn’t have grown as we have now. Our sales grew exponentially after having e-commerce development done.
How did Banancode perform from a project management standpoint?
We used different tools for communications and project management, like Discord, we have meetings every month. So I don’t have any complaints in that regard.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The e-commerce development was outstanding. They’re a very young and innovative company.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I couldn’t say anything.
the project
E-Commerce Development for Startup
"Their experience working with e-commerce systems is amazing."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
We are a startup with the idea to give the opportunity to small businesses to have their small e-commerce store without spending money and in just a few hours I am the CTO of this startup.
For what projects/services did your company hire Bananacode, and what were your goals?
We wanted to build an e-commerce platform that will also let us create small stories inside and give access to different small companies to manage their catalog, sales, clients, analytics, etc, we hired Bananacode to design and build this entire platform
How did you select Bananacode and what were the deciding factors?
They have big experience developing e-commerce solutions using Magento2 which was the technology we wanted to use to develop this idea.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
We worked using an agile process, where we had deliverables every week, they first designed the site then started with the development, me as CTO was in charged on thinking about how we would solve some of the biggest e-commerce challenges this project had and they got in charge of implementing them.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
We were a small team of: 1 designer from Bananacode 1 magento2 developer from Banacode 1 CTO (me)
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
We are still working on improving the project every day, since we launched two months ago, from a development perspective, the implementation has behaved amazingly, we are still working on improving the platform number of clients.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.
We used Discord as channel of communication and Trello to keep every deliverable organized, also we used Notion to keep documentation and notes of the project.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Their experience working with e-commerce systems is amazing, also they are really organized and have a great client service, it feels like working with friends.
Are there any areas for improvement?
From a general perspective all good, but well there are always areas of improvement in every company.
the project
Web App Development, Testing & Deployment for Custom App Co
“I was most impressed with their testing abilities.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the founder and CEO of Motus Apps. We develop custom web and mobile applications for clients.
What challenge were you trying to address with Bananacode?
We had a particular client project, and Bananacode’s resources and tech stack were set up well to be able to help us with that. We contracted them as a development arm of Motus Apps to help us develop this particular project.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Bananacode helped us develop a web app. It was a customized system for scheduling teaching sessions to occur across multiple instructors and multiple classrooms. The tech stack was Node.js and React with MongoDB, which they were able to adapt to easily due to their knowledge base. My team started the project, and they were able to help us develop the last 80% of it. They also helped us tremendously in the testing and deployment of the app.
What is the team composition?
We worked with between 5–6 people.
How did you come to work with Bananacode?
I became aware of them sometime last year through a mutual friend whose company has also used them and seen good results. I keep the names and numbers of people like that close at hand, so when I had a project, I reached out to Bananacode.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent about $10,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our work together was from early March through the end of April or early May 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The shining star of their organization is their tester. He actually uncovered a great number of bugs that even we had not found out about as of yet. The vast majority of these bugs were preexisting in the system that we asked them to build on top of. He was able to help us work through a lot of the inefficiencies of the system and make some great recommendations that Bananacode built on top of.
How did Bananacode perform from a project management standpoint?
We did not exceed the budget by any significant amount, nor did we go over on schedule, so both of those were very well-contained. In the course of doing what they had to do, they discovered inefficiencies in the preexisting system, so any missed deadlines were justified. Communication was good and on par with what I would expect.
From a project management standpoint, I thought Pedro (CEO & Co-Founder) did a great job of assembling the right sized team for the project and setting up the proper communication channels. We used Discord, and that worked well. They were all very attentive and responded in what I consider to be a very adequate amount of time. They answered all of our questions.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I was most impressed with their testing abilities. They have a top-notch tester, and I’d absolutely use them again just to have access to him.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Toward the end of the project, they had the same issue that almost every engineer I’ve ever worked with has had: they wanted to try and solve the problem themselves. From a project management standpoint, I’ve always appreciated when my engineers work on an issue or a roadblock for a day or so, and if they can’t get it, they send it to me and let me deal with it. It would’ve been better for them to come to me as quickly as possible when they had an issue as opposed to trying to bulldoze through it themselves.
the project
Web Development for Design & Advertising Agency
"Being able to offer our services in conjunction with theirs has brought an added value to our services."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am the CEO of a design and advertising agency.
What challenges were you trying to address with Bananacode?
We engaged them for development services.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We’ve had a range of different projects with Banan in projects that require web development, including landing pages and web apps. The team has used Wordpress and PHP.
What is the team composition?
I have worked directly with 3 people.
How did you come to work with Bananacode?
They were referred to us by one of our employees.
How much have you invested in them?
We typically spend between $3,000–$4,500 per project.
What is the status of this engagement?
We first met with Bananacode about two years ago but it wasn’t until last year that we engaged with the goal of creating a sort of corporate alliance between our companies and to define projects we could take on together.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The engagement has been great. Being able to offer our services in conjunction with theirs has brought an added value to our services.
How did Bananacode perform from a project management standpoint?
We use a project management tool called Didcot, which allows us to organize our projects very neatly. As for deadlines, we have had a couple of delays, but most of them were for changes made by the client, though some others for inaccurate calculations from their side.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Bananacode knows the market and new technologies very well. They’re able to provide great orientation and consulting to clients, and help them to find the best option for them.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They could improve with deadlines and plan the calendar ahead with more caution. They could also integrate better with the client’s team to better understand the changes made along the road.
the project
Web Development for Startup Incubator
"Our collaboration has been great."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CEO of a digital media and startup incubator.
What challenge were you trying to address with Bananacode?
The team at Bananacode developed our website that allows for content management and integrates with subscription payment systems.
What was the scope of their involvement?
For the website, the team used React, Mailchimp, and other technologies.
What is the team composition?
We worked with a team of 4.
How did you come to work with Bananacode?
My partner found Bananacode. They made a proposal and offered improvements to our previous platform.
Their team created several landing pages for us. After that, they earned our trust, and we continued expanding our collaboration.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested around $100,000–$150,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our engagement with Bananacode started about two years ago.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Our collaboration has been great. As in every development project, we’ve had a couple of setbacks, but they have a great service. The team always responds to our feedback and manages to solve everything timely.
How did Bananacode perform from a project management standpoint?
The team used a project management tool for tracking. We also used emails and direct communication.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The team at Bananacode has a great attitude. They’re always willing to collaborate and find solutions.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We had a few delivery delays. Some of them were caused by changes we made at the last moment, but they could also improve in that area.
The team produced a pixel-perfect website, impressing the partner with their ability and experience in the industry. The partner company is now able to update and maintain their blog and content calendar on their own, able to navigate the site easily. The agile development processes added value.