Custom Mobile Apps
iOS and Android, built from scratch for how teams work in the field.
Custom Software · North Carolina
Custom software for businesses that have outgrown generic tools.
Cairn Digital Studio designs and builds mobile apps, web products, and the internal platforms that replace spreadsheets, group texts, and tribal knowledge. Every project begins with a diagnosis of how your work actually happens.
What We Build
One studio. Full capability.
Six ways Cairn turns how your team already works into software built for exactly that.
Websites & Web Products
Marketing sites to full web applications. Performance and craft.
Operations Platforms
Internal tools replacing spreadsheets, texts, and tribal knowledge.
Client Portals
Real-time visibility for your clients. Transparency as a retention tool.
Reporting & Analytics
Field data into clean records, dashboards, and defensible documentation.
Integrations
Connecting payroll, scheduling, dispatch, and compliance into one source of truth.
Shipped Work
GranvilleBlue
The Granville County Democratic Party needed to reach members and volunteers across a rural county in two languages, on the device already in everyone's pocket. Cairn designed and built GranvilleBlue: a bilingual English and Spanish mobile app with event listings, push notifications, and a content system the party manages itself.
It shipped to the App Store, and the county party now runs its own communications without a developer on call. That last part is the point. Cairn builds things clients can own.
Languages
English + Spanish
Platform
iOS, live on the App Store
Client capability
Self-managed content & push notifications
How We Work
Every project starts with a diagnosis.
Software built on a guess fails quietly and expensively. Cairn works in three phases, each with a clear price and a clear outcome.
01
Discovery
A short diagnostic. Two to three weeks inside your operation: how work actually happens, where information breaks down, what is worth building first.
You receive a written Findings Brief you own outright. It is useful whether or not we build together.
02
Build
Fixed scope, fixed price, milestone-gated. You see working software at every milestone, and payments follow progress.
Everything documented and handoff-ready. The product is yours, including the code.
03
Sustain
After launch, a monthly retainer covers maintenance, iteration, and strategic support, with a direct line to the person who built it.
The relationship compounds. Cairn learns your business, and the software keeps pace as it changes.
Fixed pricing. Cairn quotes each phase as a fixed fee before it begins. You know the number on day one, and it holds.
The Studio
Small on purpose.
Cairn is led by Jon Fitts, a designer and developer based in Oxford, North Carolina. Jon has spent his career building software for training, evaluation, and civic life, and he runs Cairn with a small number of clients at a time.
That structure is deliberate. The person who hears your problem on the first call is the person who designs the product, writes the code, and answers the phone after launch. Decisions get made in days. And when Cairn leaves, your team is more capable than when we arrived, with documentation and ownership to match.
A cairn is a stack of stones placed to mark the trail. Every stone deliberate. Nothing there by accident.
Questions
Asked before, answered plainly.
What does a custom app cost?
That depends on what is being built. A focused marketing site can be a four-figure project. Custom apps and internal platforms for small and mid-sized businesses typically land between $20,000 and $35,000, and larger platforms run higher. Every project is quoted as a fixed price before work begins, so you know the number on day one.
How long does a project take?
Discovery takes two to three weeks. Most builds take two to four months depending on scope, with working software visible at every milestone along the way.
Who will I actually work with?
Jon Fitts, the founder. The person you meet on the first call is the person who designs the product and writes the code. There is no account manager between you and the work.
Do you work outside North Carolina?
Yes. Cairn is based in Granville County, North Carolina, and works with clients anywhere. Most clients are in the Raleigh-Durham area and the Southeast.
I already know what I want built. Can we skip Discovery?
Every Cairn project starts with Discovery. It is short, and it produces a written Findings Brief you own outright. The strongest builds begin with a clear diagnosis, and clients are often surprised by what surfaces. If your idea holds up under examination, you will know it, and so will we.
Contact
Start with a conversation.
Tell us what is not working: the spreadsheet that runs your business, the reports nobody can find, the tool your team works around instead of with. One email is enough. You will get an honest read on whether Cairn is the right fit, usually within two business days.
jon@cairndigital.studio