NestJS or Fastify, TypeScript strict mode, REST or tRPC. APIs, queues, auth, and deploy — all under one subscription, one engineer, direct line.
- Scope
- Ship
- Iterate
monthly subscription
Who this is for
You have a funded product and a React or Next.js frontend, but nobody on the team owns the backend. You need a senior Node.js engineer who can build the API layer from scratch, wire it to your database, and ship production-ready code on a timeline that doesn't stall your roadmap. A full backend team is too much overhead at this stage. That's the gap I fill.
The pain today
- Your frontend is done but the backend is a blank repo.
- The last Node contractor left no tests, no docs, and no CI/CD.
- Hiring a full backend team adds three months of interviews and $400k in salary before anyone ships.
- TypeScript is in the job description but nobody on the team enforces strict mode.
- Your Node app works locally but falls apart at the first load spike.
The outcome you get
- A complete Node.js backend in TypeScript strict mode, fully tested and documented.
- Auth, queues, observability, and CI/CD shipped with the first milestone.
- OpenAPI docs generated from the codebase and kept in sync on every deploy.
- Daily async updates and a weekly 30-minute call — no waiting a week for a status.
- Everything is yours: work-made-for-hire, NDA standard, cancel anytime.
What a Node.js engagement covers
Node.js development services here cover the full backend surface: REST, GraphQL, or tRPC APIs built with NestJS or Fastify; microservices and event-driven worker pipelines with BullMQ or RabbitMQ; database layer with Prisma, Drizzle, or Mongoose against PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Redis; authentication with Passport, custom JWT, Clerk, or Auth0; testing with Vitest or Jest plus Supertest plus Playwright for integration; observability with structured logging, Sentry, and basic Prometheus; CI/CD with GitHub Actions, Docker, and Pulumi; and deploy to AWS ECS, Fargate, Vercel, Fly.io, or Render.
The default stack is Node 20 plus TypeScript strict plus NestJS or Fastify plus Prisma plus PostgreSQL plus Redis plus Docker plus AWS — with swaps when the domain calls for it. I don't sell a stack; I pick what fits your current scale and your next-12-months traffic.
A complete Node.js backend in TypeScript strict mode, fully tested and documented.
Production proof at both ends of the scale curve
At unicorn scale: bolttech runs NestJS and Node.js across 40+ payment providers, 15+ international markets, and achieved 99.9% platform uptime with zero post-launch critical bugs. bolttech is a $1B+ unicorn backed by Tokio Marine and MetLife. I led the Payment Service — the part of the system where failure has the most visible consequences.
At startup scale: Norte Web Digital's custom CRM runs Node.js plus TypeScript plus PostgreSQL plus the WhatsApp Meta API. It grew their lead base by 500% and processes 250 new leads per day with a 3-to-4-day lead-to-customer cycle. Same stack decisions, different traffic target, different domain logic.
The decisions that hold at 10 users differ from those that hold at 10 million. Part of the discovery call is figuring out which set of trade-offs fits your current stage — and leaving room to grow without a rewrite.
40+: Payment providers integrated.
TypeScript strict mode as the default, not an option
Most Node contractors write TypeScript that is TypeScript in name only — flags disabled, any scattered through the codebase, no strict null checks. I run strict mode on every engagement: strictNullChecks, noImplicitAny, exactOptionalPropertyTypes, and no disable comments without a written rationale.
The practical effect is that bugs the compiler catches never reach production. It also means the codebase is readable six months later by whoever inherits it — or by me when I pick it back up after a month away. TypeScript strict is not a preference here; it is a hard requirement on every Node.js engagement.
Timelines and what to expect month to month
$4,999 per month flat. No hourly billing, no change-order math, no surprise invoice at the end of the sprint.
Typical delivery windows: a REST API with auth and one business domain lands in 3 to 5 weeks. A mid-size Node backend with queues, five domain modules, and frontend integration runs 8 to 12 weeks. A backend-for-frontend wired into an existing React SPA is 3 to 6 weeks depending on the API surface.
I take one customer at a time by design, so the work I take on gets focused attention — not a junior assigned to it while a senior handles the demo. Daily async updates via Linear or Jira. Weekly 30-minute call. 14-day money-back if the first two weeks don't feel right. Cancel month-to-month after that.
When Node.js is the right choice — and when it isn't
Node.js is the right call when the team is TypeScript-everywhere and you want one language from frontend to backend, when the domain is I/O-bound (API orchestration, webhooks, real-time pub/sub), or when the npm ecosystem breadth genuinely helps your use case.
It is less ideal when the workload is CPU-bound computation — heavy image processing, ML inference, or numerical simulations. In those cases the event loop is not the constraint you want to optimize around. I am direct about this during discovery; there is no point starting a project on the wrong runtime.
For PHP-heavy teams with a CRUD-first domain, Laravel is often faster to ship. For ML-adjacent work, Python is outside my core stack and I will say so. The recommendation is written during the first session and you can override it — but I will tell you why I'd choose differently.
Recent proof
A comparable engagement, delivered and documented.
Unified payment orchestration across Asia and Europe
Delivered the payment orchestration platform at bolttech, a $1B+ unicorn, with 40+ integrations across multiple regions.
Read the case studyFrequently asked questions
The questions prospects ask before they book.
A focused REST API with auth and one business domain is usually 3 to 5 weeks. A mid-size backend with queues, 5 domain modules, and frontend integration runs 8 to 12 weeks. Backend-for-frontend wired into an existing React SPA lands in 3 to 6 weeks. These are working timelines, not marketing ranges — they assume daily async updates and a weekly check-in to keep scope tight.
Yes. React and Next.js on the frontend, Node.js or NestJS on the backend. The subscription covers both sides. One engineer owning the full stack removes the integration friction that slows teams down when frontend and backend are separate contractors pointing fingers at each other.
tRPC for monorepo TypeScript projects where the frontend and backend are tightly coupled — the type safety propagates end-to-end with no schema overhead. REST for public APIs or multi-customer scenarios where you want an explicit contract. GraphQL for complex frontends with many data consumers — less common at early startup scale where the added layer rarely pays off yet.
Yes. Socket.IO for most real-time use cases. WS plus a custom protocol for tighter control over the wire format. SSE for simple server-to-customer push. Real-time pub/sub over Redis or a managed service like Ably or Pusher when you want to avoid the ops overhead. The choice depends on connection volume and whether the customer is browser-only or multi-platform.
BullMQ for repeatable or delayed jobs when a queue is already part of the stack — it pairs naturally with Redis and gives you visibility into job state. AWS EventBridge or Vercel Cron for simpler time-based schedules. Every job is logged and monitored the same way any production code is, not set and forgotten.
The subscription is $4,999 per month flat. A mid-level Node.js engineer in the US costs $120k to $180k per year in salary alone — before benefits, recruiting fees, and the 3-month ramp. The subscription covers senior-level work, no overhead, and you can cancel month-to-month. For most startups, it's meaningfully cheaper until you have enough work to justify a full-time hire.
Yes, and it is not optional. strictNullChecks, noImplicitAny, exactOptionalPropertyTypes — all on by default. The short version: bugs the compiler can catch never reach production. It also means the codebase is maintainable by whoever works in it next, which matters when you eventually bring on an internal engineer.