How to Evaluate a Software Development Company as a Non-Technical Founder

Choosing a software development company is one of the biggest decisions a non-technical founder makes. You may receive five proposals ranging from $20,000 to $200,000 for the same product, and every agency sounds equally convincing. Many founders have also been burned before and cannot afford another failed build.

The good news is that you do not need a technical background to tell a reliable partner from a risky one. There are several crucial signs that show if a company is a reliable partner. These signs can be revealed in a conversation before any contract is signed and a single line of code is written.

This first conversation shapes your entire project. Asking the right questions upfront helps you avoid expensive rewrites and cost overruns later. It is the decision-making process that ensures you avoid software rewrites and cost overruns afterwards.

Our team prepared a 10-question checklist for you to ask the software development company you choose. You can use this checklist to vet any software company or development team.

So, here is our list of questions and answers you should or should not receive.

1. Do I own the code? Where is it stored?

The best option is when you have your private GitHub repository where the code is saved. The code should be stored under your account on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket.

Ask the following questions:

• Can I export the code?
• Are there any platform-locked code components?
• Is the code stored under my GitHub (GitLab, Bitbucket) account?

You should own the entire product, with no components locked in.

Code access alone is not enough. Make sure your contract explicitly states that you own the source code, intellectual property, and documentation.

Note that some vendors may suggest a no-code solution. It can work for quickly validating an idea, but treat it as a temporary stage, not a foundation. You may save time and money in the short term, yet when you outgrow the platform, you cannot take the flows, the UI/UX design, and the business logic with you. Such benefits exist in custom software development services, where you own the entire solution rather than separate features.

2. What is the realistic timeline? How do you divide it into milestones?

Your software development company should propose specific milestones in your marketplace or SaaS solution. It should be a plan, not vague estimates. The plan can be modified, but it sets a clear structure to help you and your team see results by week 2, week 6, and week 8, for example.

Ask the following questions:

• What are your milestones? How often do you set them?
• How often do you provide working demos with details on progress?
• What happens if milestones fail or cannot be achieved?
• Who manages the milestone failure and how?

The set milestones are very important. With them, you can see the development process progressing toward specific results.

3. How do you handle business-critical features, such as payments and authentication?

Every product has features where a failure directly costs you money, data, or user trust. In marketplaces and SaaS products, the two that appear in almost every MVP are payments and authentication: one moves money, the other guards access to accounts and data.

That is why we use them as examples below. Apply the same scrutiny to whatever is business-critical in your product, a booking flow, a bidding system, or document storage. A subtle bug in such features, whether introduced by an inexperienced developer or by unsupervised AI-generated code, is costly to fix and undermines user trust.

As for payments, ask the following questions:

• Which payment provider will you integrate: Stripe or a leading local payment gateway?
• If you use a custom solution, which and why?
• What if the operation fails or is executed twice?

If your vendor describes the operations as stable and performed exactly once, or idempotent, it’s a green flag. For example, if payment is successful and the user tries to pay again, the result should be a message that the payment has already been processed, regardless of how many times the user tries to pay.

In Codica’s practice, we use Stripe, and that’s for a reason. It is a robust, fast, and secure payment integration that helps handle even the most complex payment operations. If a client asks, we also integrate leading local payment gateways. The choice is always based on handling complex payments and security.

As for authentication, ask the following questions:

• Do you include two-factor authentication?
• How does authentication actually work to ensure security?

The answers must be specific. Red flags include vague answers and overreliance on AI without human supervision.

4. What do you include in the scope, and what do you include in a phase “later”?

Your tech vendor should explicitly outline what goes into the project scope and what gets done when developing version two or more of your product.

Ask the following questions:

• What exactly is in scope and in budget, and what is out of scope for the current version of the product?
• Do you conduct product discovery before embarking on large-scale development? Do you create prototypes at this stage?
• Can I see a feature list for the solution, including flow for every user role and including integrations?
• Who is responsible for delivering the full agreed scope, so nothing is assumed but left undone?

If your software development company is experienced, it will provide you with such a list.

For example, at Codica, we provide not only feature lists but also ordinary or clickable prototypes. You can see the prototyped version of your solution and understand what each button does and how the user flow is organized.

5. How do you host the solution, and what are the other expenses, monthly or yearly?

Hosting is not only about where your software runs. It is the environment that determines its stability, security, and a noticeable share of your monthly costs.

Ask the following questions:

• Which cloud provider and hosting setup do you recommend for my product, and why?
• What will the total infrastructure cost be at launch, and how will it change as we grow from hundreds to thousands of users?
• Which infrastructure costs are included in your estimate, and which will I pay directly — hosting, database, and third-party services such as search, email, or file storage?
• Will the cloud and service accounts be registered under my company, so I can control billing and access?
• How do you monitor infrastructure spending, and what happens if the costs suddenly spike?

At Codica, we recommend using AWS and GCP for hosting. Their features are versatile and flexible as your product scales, and their pricing is predictable. We use these infrastructures to host solutions for future growth and security.

6. How do you monitor the system, and how will I know when something breaks?

Monitoring is a core part of any production system. When something breaks, your team should learn about it from automated alerts within minutes, not from customer complaints. Downtime you discover late costs both revenue and reputation.

Ask the following questions:

• Is error tracking and monitoring (for example, Sentry) set up from day one, and is it included in the estimate?
• What exactly do you monitor: application errors, uptime, and performance?
• How are alerts routed, and who is the first to respond when something goes wrong?
• Will I have access to the monitoring dashboards and logs, and how long are the logs retained?
• How do you catch silent failures, when a feature stops working without throwing a visible error?
• Do I keep full access to the monitoring tools if our cooperation ends?

The only acceptable answer is: “Yes, error tracking and monitoring are set up from day one.” If you hear “we’ll add monitoring later,” treat it as a red flag. By the time it is added, the first failures will have already reached your customers.

7. How do you handle fixes when something is broken?

If something breaks, someone has to fix it, and your software development company is responsible for that.

Ask the following questions:

• Who is responsible for bug fixes after launch?
• Is post-launch included in the solution budget, or is it billed as a separate contract?
• How long does it take your agency to respond to a failure?
• What is my backup plan if I stop working with your agency?

You should have a plan B for fixes and not rely on a single agency unless your agency provides guarantees in this regard. If there is no one to fix your solution, you are a step away from an emergency and potential loss of customers.

8. How will my solution grow after version one?

You should not be locked in version one. Your solution should be built for growth. The development method should support this growth and scalability.

Ask the following questions:

• Which architecture do you use to build my product?
• What’s the realistic cost and timeline for adding a new feature?
• How do I modify or migrate my solution if I outgrow the current version?
• Do you keep dependencies up to date as technologies evolve?
• How do you avoid technical debt, and are there any trade-offs?

Realistically, there are always trade-offs, and you get technical debt. If a vendor denies that any trade-offs exist, it may be a red flag. It might mean they do not set realistic development goals, or they over-polish the solution and miss deadlines.

What matters is that technical debt stays under control and does not hold your solution back, and that the first version attracts customers rather than scares them away.

It does matter which technologies your development team uses. But even with top-notch technologies, you may be locked in version one. Therefore, always ask your team about the future work on your solution, say in a year, or when you plan to extend your business. The answer must be clear.

At Codica, we design modular, scalable architectures. For complex marketplaces, where it fits the product, we apply the MACH architecture. It is a proven modular approach in which components are independent but work together as part of a single solution. This gives components independence while preventing the solution from failing completely if one component breaks.

9. How do we communicate and collaborate on the solution?

How deeply you are involved in the project is your choice. The agency should support your preferred level of involvement and offer a convenient schedule for progress discussions.

Ask the following questions:

• What communication channels will we use for contact: Slack, email, calls?
• If I need changes or adjustments, is it possible to update the requirements?
• How much time do I spend on progress discussions each week or month?
• If I am busy or cannot respond, will the project keep on track?

You can stay heavily involved in the process, or hand it over to your vendor and step back. Choose what works for you, but keep a healthy balance of control. Either way, make sure these expectations are explicitly agreed upon with your team.

At Codica, we adapt to the communication channels you prefer and offer more or less involvement in the development process, based on your preferences and actual business needs.

10. How do you test the solution?

This question reveals how the team prevents hidden bugs from reaching production. Ensure that your team's Definition of Done (DoD) includes testing, not just code.

Ask the following questions:

• What percentage of tests are automated vs. manual?
• How do you ensure adding one feature does not lead to the failure of the others?
• How do you track, prioritize, and fix bugs post-launch? Is it a separate bill?
• Are there separate environments for development, staging, and production?

Tests should be a mix of manual and automated ones. Regression testing should be included in the process. Also, separate environments are necessary to avoid testing bugs in production.

Common pitfalls when vetting a software company

Rushing or skipping important steps when vetting a company is one of the most common mistakes founders make. Below are the pitfalls we see most often, and how to avoid them.

• Choosing based on price alone. Cheaper does not mean quality. A lower price can hide a lack of experience or the need for expensive add-ons later.

• Ignoring code and intellectual property ownership. Never assume you will own the final product. Your contract must explicitly verify that you own the final source code, intellectual property, and documentation.

• Skipping or rushing reference checks. Never rely solely on a company’s portfolio. Ask for and contact past clients who have completed similar projects. It will help you gauge actual performance, turnover rates, and reliability.

• Lack of clear requirement scoping. Define exactly which features are in scope and which are out of scope, or included in version two. Otherwise, you and the vendor risk getting constant scope creep and missed deadlines.

• Overlooking security and compliance. Do not assume security. Make it clear which security and compliance protocols and standards your software company follows.

• Ignoring ongoing monitoring and maintenance. Support, constant monitoring and updates are necessary for your product’s growth. Agree upon these explicitly in the Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Summary checklist to ask a software development company with example answers

How Codica works with non-tech founders building for growth

We provide the necessary guidance from day one until launch and support. It is a partnership built on guidance and transparency. Our team provides answers to all your questions about product discovery, prototyping, design, development, testing, launch, fixes, updates, and support.

One special thing about Codica’s approach is its work with non-tech founders, providing them with comprehensive guidance and transparent processes. No unexpected costs, just a streamlined process, polished over 11 years in business.

Our team has various stories under the hood when building solutions for non-tech founders. We helped a fitness company, an adventure company, auto parts companies, and more.

For example, one of the founders turned to us with an idea of building a peer-to-peer marketplace for golfers. The idea is simple, but the implementation had nuances. The founder wanted the platform to follow their values of sustainability, inclusivity, and security.

Hence, we addressed the problem with the best business and tech approaches available today in the custom dev industry. By adding specific shipping integrations and the OpenAI API, we ensured reliable, swift delivery of products peer-to-peer and that messages on the platform complied with the marketplace rules.

The platform now serves golfers across Australia and helps them get available gear and accessories from beginners and seasoned peers.

Knowing both the tech and business sides of the development process, we speak to tech-savvy and non-tech founders in their language, understanding the business and tech needs of both.

If you have a product idea and you do not know anything about tech, we are eager to help you. We will guide you through the process and create a solution that is built to scale.

Check out our portfolio and feel free to contact us with any questions about your project.