CodigoDelSur

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company has developed the technology for creating an animated emoji from a person's pictures. We make personalized emoticons from selfies, animating a person's face and turning it into a cartoon. When they communicate with someone, they can then use that image to convey approval and anything else that emoji are used for.

What is your position?

I am the president and co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with CodigoDelSur?

We wanted to create an app that implemented our technology, both for Android and iOS.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Our technology is implemented through the app, having it serve as a frontend. Users can take a picture, select from any of the pictures they've already taken, and see the results. The backend, which is what actually creates emoji, was created by our company. CodigoDelSur's job was to create the Android and iOS versions of the app.

We wanted our app to be available in several languages. We wrote menus in English and had them translated by one of my colleagues in Chinese. CodigoDelSur translated them into Spanish, opening 3 big markets for us.

How did you come to work with CodigoDelSur?

We put out ads on guru.com. We found CodigoDelSur and went through an initial review. Things looked pretty good, so we decided to select them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost was $20,000, for both the Android and iOS versions.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with CodigoDelSur in January of 2016. The work was completed in March. I would like to work with CodigoDelSur in the future, but our company is evolving, so we may start to do this development in-house, or opt out of the app space. Our plans are not determined yet, but if we ever need app work, we will choose CodigoDelSur once again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We made an online user-study with around 200 participants. People were generally happy with the app. They did point out some improvements to be made in terms of design and technology, but the overall satisfaction was good.

The ratings on the Play Store and the Apple Store have been between 4 and 5, which I find to be a good range.

How did CodigoDelSur perform from a project management standpoint?

CodigoDelSur was a good company to work with. We had regular meetings through Skype, even though they're based in a different time zone.

What distinguishes CodigoDelSur from other providers?

I found Codigo del Sur to be very professional. They wrote good-quality code, which will make it easy to maintain the apps. The quality of their code is definitely better than average for developers in the United States and around the globe.

Is there anything CodigoDelSur could have improved or done differently?

As a startup, we have very tight deadlines. It was no problem for me to prioritize and get things done, but this is more difficult to do with a contracted company. Their schedule and commitments are more diverse, so they won't be able to drop everything on the client's behalf. We needed to get the product ready for the Chinese New Year. We would have liked it if CodigoDelSur worked through weekends in order to get things done, but that is hard to do, given their other commitments. As we're expanding our startup, we are taking into account that contractors won't have the same level of urgency for a project as the people in the company. This is more of a highlight for the difference between a contractor and an employee, than a critique for CodigoDelSur.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are an app development company focused strictly on iOS development for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. We have two branches: one is aimed at the consumer market, for which we have around 26 apps in the store, while the other is aimed at custom development for other companies. We have a team of five or six contractors working for clients.

What is your position?

I am the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with CodigoDelSur?

I needed help with iOS development. After doing some research, I found that their team had a good foundation for that. I needed help for both sides of my business.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

I initially started our work on one project, and then I brought in CodigoDelSur for other projects.

How did you come to work with CodigoDelSur?

I found them online. CodigoDelSur had a good presence on elance.com. They had good referrals, so a lot of the research had been done for me. We went through a few interviews, and I decided to use them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The annual cost of their services was between $50,000-100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around three years ago. We're not working together at the moment because my company has been focusing more on consumer apps. I work with direct contractors, but if I get the chance, I'll contact CodigoDelSur again for sure.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They provided good quality work. It's not the best I've seen, but it's definitely above average. I especially appreciate their project management and communication. CodigoDelSur offered consistently good results. Overall, I had a good experience with them.

What distinguishes CodigoDelSur from other providers?

The people I worked with stood out in terms of communication, friendliness, and professionalism. They were conscientious and very consistent. I could talk to them every day and had a very professional experience.

Is there anything CodigoDelSur could have improved or done differently?

In development, it's always a matter of getting the best possible coders in order to have as little reworks as possible and eliminate quality issues. When I started working with CodigoDelSur, iOS was a newer technology. They're now much more mature, so I expect that they have even more qualified resources. I did have some connectivity problems with them in terms of communication channels.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a mobile app developer specializing in photo and video slideshow apps. We've been in business for three years.

What is your position?

I am one of the founders of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with CodigoDelSur?

We needed an extra developer on our team.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

CodigoDelSur worked on iOS development for us on a few projects. One of those was an app called Sharalike, which was an existing project at the time when they took over the development. On another project, they started the app development from scratch, proving to us that they could both work with existing code as well as start a project from scratch. We were assigned an iOS developer as well as a project manager for our work.

How did you come to work with CodigoDelSur?

We initially met them during a trip in Boston. We started talking about our needs and about their pricing. We decided to give them a try and ended up working with CodigoDelSur for more than a year.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

CodigoDelSur's pricing is $45 per hour. Their work is full-time.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them a year and two months ago. Our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They were just one of the developers in our team, so it's hard to measure their success exactly. From when we started to work with them until now, we've gained another million downloads on our app. It has been a success, of which CodigoDelSur was definitely a part.

How did CodigoDelSur perform from a project management standpoint?

Technologically speaking, they are good. Their English level is also good enough for us to work with them. Language barriers can be a pain with offshore developers. We've never met them face-to-face, except for their owner, whom I met in Boston. There was never a need for us to fly to Uruguay or to have one of their developers come here. I wish I could have done that, but we had neither the time nor the money and ultimately didn't need to.

What distinguishes CodigoDelSur from other providers?

They are a professional company. They've always made both a manager and a developer available for us to conference with. Having the developer as an active part of the team was great.

Is there anything CodigoDelSur could have improved or done differently?

They could be more flexible. At one point, we wanted to reduce the scope of the project, which CodigoDelSur had trouble doing because they had no other work which they could assign to our developer part-time. This meant that we had to work with them full-time or not at all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a company founded around products for the active outdoor community. Our first product that we will be bringing to market is a destination discovery and organized activity app for outdoor enthusiasts.

What is your role at the company?

I am the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with CodigoDelSur?

Codigo was approached as our first shot in overseas development in hopes of bringing a product to market following development. We wanted them to build our MVP [minimum viable product] from the ground up after being supplied with design and feature details.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

The scope was large. The app had a wide variety of functionality, some of which was clearly defined, and others of which were pending expertise of a development team.

How did you come to work with CodigoDelSur?

At the time, we were looking at bringing on a domestic CTO. This individual had a past history with Codigo, and they came highly recommended.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We expected the MVP to cost between $20,000 and $30,000, with continued ongoing development if things went as planned.

What is the status of this engagement?

We put a hold on the project with Codigo summer of 2015. We decided to transition to another overseas team with lower rates when the project began to go significantly over budget.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The results were not exactly as expected at the fault of both parties – our and theirs. There were complications with communication that led to the problem of going over budget. Lack of a domestic CTO meant there were misunderstandings in expectations. We were on a very tight budget, and the inability to provide accurate estimates outside of two-week sprints made it difficult to plan from a budget standpoint. In the end, the project just got away from us, and we had to put it on hold.

How did CodigoDelSur perform?

CodigoDelSur performed well with very clearly defined tasks and expectations. Without very clearly defined details, the results were not exactly as expected and time and budget often went over.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve or things you might do differently?

This is a hard question to answer as I think our issues stemmed from many small shortfalls on both sides coming together. I think that if you are a company with a very clear scope, an internal project manager or CTO, and the ability to track and review progress from a code standpoint, they could offer a great solution at a very reasonable price. We were too small and too early stage to provide that. We put the majority of this on them and expected that their experience would provide us with the answers to issues that were still open. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Kindara is a women’s health platform located in Boulder, Colorado. We make devices and apps to help women better manage their reproductive health—getting pregnant, avoiding pregnancy and understanding more about their cycle.

What is your position?

I am the Chief Executive Officer of Kindara.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with CodigoDelSur?

We were looking for someone to build the first version of our app. That was the first time we actually had code written.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They developed our iOS app.

How did you come to work with CodigoDelSur?

We went through an extensive selection process. Getting someone to build the first version of our software was crucial. I remember that my criteria were cost, reputation, previous work and the ability to speak English well. And of course, we wanted someone we could establish a good working relationship with. I felt that Codigo met all these criteria. They seemed easy to work with and their cost was much less than what we would have had to pay in the US. I also liked their previous work. That’s basically why we selected them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The first version cost somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000. Overall, we probably spent close to $200,000 working with CodigoDelSur. They did around twenty-five versions of the app for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April of 2012. The first version of the iOS app was delivered in the next month. They were the lead developer and architect of the project all the way through December of 2014. The project is now complete and we are no longer working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did CodigoDelSur perform from a project management standpoint?

The project turned out really well, although some problems did surface. After such a long development time, we ended up with a bunch of technical debt, which we are still fixing. That happens when you’re making a prototype and adding on more and more features. They did help us become one of the top 20 medical apps in the country. From that perspective, CodigoDelSur was rock-solid and helped us get to where we needed to go for much less than we would have paid otherwise.

What distinguishes CodigoDelSur from other providers?

They were very easy to work with. They had a positive attitude, were willing to solve problems, get work done and take ownership of the project.

Is there anything CodigoDelSur could have improved or done differently?

The one thing I think they could have done better would have been providing more training for their developers. Swift came out as a new language for iOS halfway through our time working with Codigo, and I was hammering on them to get their developers trained on the new technology. Unfortunately, they didn’t want to pull their developers off work that was generating money to get them trained. They would have had to take them out a week at a time for training, during which time the company would not have been making any money from their work. They were reluctant to do that. That’s ultimately a big part of why we stopped using them. The technologies that their developers were using were not the most current ones.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company produces a social video app, and we're based in Los Angeles, California.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with CodigoDelSur?

We needed them to develop the app for us.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Initially, they developed the app for iOS and then for Android. At first, we did a true MVP [minimum viable product], and then they built the app out from that.

How did you come to work with CodigoDelSur?

I wasn't in charge of the selection process, but I needed someone I could work closely with. I had outsourced before, and it wasn't a good experience. I was getting frustrated. Codigo had been talking with someone else here, and it was through that person that I came to know them. They were very impressive in demonstrating their desire to get the job of working on our app. We did an initial test with them, and they proved themselves by going well above what we expected.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We have spent somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 working with Codigo.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in April a year ago [2014], and the first working version was delivered in July [2014]. Right now, the project is on hold.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics, or other feedback from your work with CodigoDelSur?

They are diligent, persistent, and met our deadlines. They were very good.

What distinguishes CodigoDelSur from other providers?

CodigoDelSur delivered on the engineering. They did the work in a clean and very straightforward manner. They were able to problem solve and handle a complicated piece of technology. When presented with problems, Codigo became a big part of the solution.

Is there anything CodigoDelSur could have improved or done differently?

I'd like them to be a little faster. For the resource they were providing, they did an excellent job. But, of course, everyone wants things done faster. They did a great job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of ROAR823, a faith-based technology platform that mobilizes believers and churches to unite in Scripture-centered prayer, coordinated fasting, and purposeful generosity to advance God’s Kingdom and bring hope, healing, and practical support to people and causes around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire CodigoDelSur to accomplish for ROAR823?

We hired CodigoDelSur for design, frontend and backend development, and project management.

SOLUTION

Can you describe the scope of work CodigoDelSur handled for your faith-based technology platform?

CodigoDelSur has provided end-to-end product design and software development services for ROAR823, including UX/UI design, front- and backend development, database architecture, authentication, payment integration, campaign management, administrative tools, responsive web development, and deployment preparation for Apple, Android, and web. The team has delivered a production-ready faith-based platform supporting Scripture-centered prayer campaigns, coordinated fasting, crowdfunding, and organizational administration.

CodigoDelSur has built the ROAR823 platform entirely from scratch, including the UX/UI, frontend web application, backend services, database architecture, authentication, campaign management, administrative dashboard, prayer engagement features, reporting tools, and scalable cloud infrastructure. In addition to custom software development, they’ve integrated the platform with numerous third-party services to create a production-ready ecosystem.

What is the team composition?

We work with 2–5 teammates from CodigoDelSur.

How did you come to work with CodigoDelSur?

I found CodigoDelSur through an online search. I’ve worked in IT, so I appreciated that all the resources connected to the needs of my build could be found in one company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with CodigoDelSur in March 2026, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes of the project or engagement?

Our biggest measurable outcome has been moving from vision to reality. Before working with CodigoDelSur, ROAR823 existed as a concept with detailed requirements. By the end of the project, we had a fully functional, production-ready platform with custom UX/UI, secure user authentication, campaign management, payment processing, cloud infrastructure, and integrations with the services we needed to operate. We also completed the work necessary to prepare for the web launch and future Apple and Android releases. The project has involved building a completely custom SaaS platform rather than modifying an existing product, making the successful delivery of the core platform and supporting infrastructure a significant milestone.

Since we’re still in the pre-launch phase, our success metrics have focused on development progress rather than customer adoption. We’ve measured the successful completion of major features, integrations, testing, and deployment readiness. Once the platform launches publicly, we’ll track metrics such as user registrations, campaign creation, donations processed, uptime, and overall platform engagement.

How did CodigoDelSur perform from a project management standpoint?

CodigoDelSur manages the project using Teamwork, which gives us excellent visibility into progress. We track milestones, feature completion, bug fixes, testing, and deployment readiness throughout the project. Every task is documented, assigned, and updated. We also have regular meetings with the project manager and developers to review progress and discuss next steps. That level of transparency makes it easy to see where we are in the project at any given time and helps keep development moving forward.

What did you find most impressive or unique about them?

What impresses me most is CodigoDelSur’s ability to serve as a complete product development partner. They bring together UX/UI designers, frontend and backend engineers, and project management into one coordinated team. Having all those disciplines working together makes it much easier to build a complex platform from the ground up. I always feel like everyone understands the bigger picture rather than working in isolated silos.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I recognize that ROAR823 has evolved significantly during development, and I appreciate that the team has remained focused on delivering a high-quality platform rather than cutting corners to meet an original deadline.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The project is taking longer than originally planned, but I don’t believe that tells the whole story. ROAR823 is a complex platform built entirely from scratch. As development has progressed, we’ve continued refining features and expanding functionality. CodigoDelSur maintains strong communication, provides regular updates through Teamwork and scheduled meetings, and is transparent about progress and any challenges along the way.

Having worked for many years in IT as a Scrum master, I don’t feel like the timeline slip is avoidable or shows any reflection of a poorly managed project. This is just the way of things in IT sometimes. What’s more important is having a team that can effectively navigate these types of challenges, and CodigoDelSur does that very well. That’s what experience does: it evolves the plan and keeps driving toward success.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CEO of a beauty & cosmetics company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sale of skincare products and services

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire CodigoDelSur to accomplish?

• Design and development of the skincare mobile platform.

SOLUTION

How did you find CodigoDelSur?

Online Search

Why did you select CodigoDelSur over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from CodigoDelSur were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

CDS is responsible for end-to-end product execution of the skincare mobile app v1.0 and early Phase 2,0 paid version - operating as the primary delivery partner across design, frontend, backend integration, and release management.

Production mobile app builds; UX-accurate UI implementation; scalable frontend architecture; API integration layer; authentication and state management; analytics and event tracking; notification system; QA-tested releases; App Store submission assets; technical documentation; sprint reports; handover materials.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Fully designed feature set, production-grade early dev build, consistent sprint cadence, to-budget cost and schedule control, back end integration on track, design originality exceptional

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

CDS demonstrated exceptional flexibility and control on a highly innovative, design-heavy program, adapting rapidly to evolving requirements, coordinating design and engineering seamlessly, maintaining sprint discipline, and delivering predictable progress despite ambiguity, IP constraints, and continuous iteration—providing strong execution confidence throughout the engagement.

What was your primary form of communication with CodigoDelSur?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

What’s most impressive, and genuinely rare, is CDS's ability to execute highly innovative, design-heavy projects retaining critical overall operational control.

Most project management teams collapse when requirements evolve. CDS hasn't. CDS has remianed structured while flexing intelligently, absorbing changing requirements, protecting core features, maintaining steady progress, and translating creative intent into world-class UI/UX.

Are there any areas for improvement or something CodigoDelSur could have done differently?

nothing to date - expecting the QA process to be equally robust

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of Tred, a consumer software company that makes it easy to bookmark anything, including links, videos, Instagram posts, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CodigoDelSur?

We hired CodigoDelSur to build an MVP for Tred.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CodigoDelSur reviewed what we needed to bring Tred to life and helped shape our first version. The MVP is now up and running, with the basics in place: you can create an account, log in, reset your password, and start organizing your digital life. Tred works on both desktop and mobile, and includes a simple, responsive design that makes it easy to save and revisit content anytime.

We’ve also set up a quick-save system—both in the app and via text. Just send a link or a note to our number, and it’ll land in your Tred inbox with a fun little reply. From there, you can decide what it belongs to: add it to an existing Tred or start a new one. There’s a private space called the backlog where everything goes first, and you can organize from there.

Treds themselves can be public or private, and they’re easy to share with others—either as a link or by inviting someone to collaborate. There’s a basic search feature to help you find what you’ve saved, and we’ve built in support too: if you get stuck, you can text our help number directly from the site.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager and two developers, one front-end and one back-end.

How did you come to work with CodigoDelSur?

I found CodigoDelSur on a tech job marketplace. We had mutual people in our network, and I was able to verify their authenticity. I also liked their setup for staffing and project management. We were just a few time zones apart, so we had a lot of opportunities to connect during the workday.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2025, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The acceptance criteria of tasks from the sprints is the main measurable outcome of the project. The acceptance criteria mostly describe what needs to be done. When we review together, we confirm that it does what we specified.

How did CodigoDelSur perform from a project management standpoint?

CodigoDelSur has excellent project management and is on time and responsive. We use Slack mostly, together with two connects per week and one sprint review every other week. We originally aimed for four sprints, then launched, and continue iterating now with feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CodigoDelSur is very well organized, and the communication is great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a few instances where items in sprint reviews didn't work and were rejected. This is normal in development, but it was still frustrating.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of an AI solutions company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company is a forward-thinking tech company dedicated to developing and delivering cutting-edge AI-powered solutions that revolutionize everyday experiences across industries. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire CodigoDelSur to accomplish?

• Development of a custom keyboard for iOS and Android

SOLUTION

How did you find CodigoDelSur?

Upwork.com

Why did you select CodigoDelSur over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• After shortlisting few, they were the most professional and understanding

How many teammates from CodigoDelSur were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

CódigoDelSur was hired to help design and develop a proof of concept (POC) for a keyboard app that allows users to insert brand logos like emojis. Their involvement was focused on visual exploration, product strategy, and high-fidelity design, not engineering or full app development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

One of the most valuable outcomes of working with CódigoDelSur was the clarity their work brought to my idea. Through their detailed design process and exploration of the concept, I realized that my initial vision for the app wasn’t technically feasible in the way I had imagined. This insight saved me significant time, effort, and investment down the line. Their team didn’t just deliver beautiful branding and a slick prototype — they helped me refine the concept and see the bigger picture. That strategic value alone made the collaboration a success.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Their project management was smooth, professional, and well-organized from start to finish. They set clear timelines, communicated milestones up front, and delivered everything exactly as promised. Even when I had last-minute questions or changes, they were flexible and responsive — always taking the time to understand my needs and provide thoughtful feedback. I appreciated how structured the process felt without being rigid. It gave me confidence that the project was in good hands.

What was your primary form of communication with CodigoDelSur?

Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

What impressed me most about CódigoDelSur was their ability to take an abstract idea and translate it into something real, visual, and polished — all while challenging my assumptions in a constructive way. They didn’t just follow instructions; they thought critically about the concept and offered insights that completely changed how I approached the product. Their design skills are top-notch, but it’s their strategic thinking and collaborative mindset that truly set them apart.

Are there any areas for improvement or something CodigoDelSur could have done differently?

Overall, I was very satisfied with the collaboration. If I had to mention one area for improvement, it would be setting clearer expectations early on about technical limitations — especially regarding what would and wouldn’t be possible to implement on a system level. That said, this wasn’t entirely their responsibility, and once those limitations became clear, they were transparent and supportive in helping me reframe the concept. I appreciated their honesty and guidance throughout.