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Mainsail WorksOpen to projects

Software small enough to care about.

Mainsail Works is an independent software practice. We design and build products end to end - our own, and a small number for other people.

Practice
Independent practice
Focus
Product design & full-stack engineering
Status
Open to select projects

Things we've made

Own products · 02

01 / Shipped

Hidden Australia

A field guide to the country's best local cafes, stays, wineries, national parks and hidden gems - over 25,000 spots across every state and territory.

Built to be the single reference for the spots worth the detour, not another lifestyle feed to scroll past.

25,000+ spots mapped

Explore the app

Where it's up to

  1. Sketch
  2. Building
  3. Beta
  4. ShippedNow

02 / Beta

Patch Quest

An eye-patching app that turns daily treatment into a heroic quest - kids earn the reward you set as they hit their patching goals.

Built to make the least fun part of a day feel like the most fun part.

Explore the concept

Where it's up to

  1. Sketch
  2. Building
  3. BetaNow
  4. Shipped

In the works

A few more small tools are taking shape. One useful idea at a time.

About

Built small, on purpose.

We design, build, and ship every product ourselves - which means fewer meetings, fewer handoffs, and a much shorter distance between an idea and something you can actually use. Patch Quest and Hidden Australia are the proof: both designed, built, and shipped end to end.

That same practice is available to a small number of outside projects each year - a fixed-scope build, a stretch of part-time engineering, or a close read of something that already exists.

Product design
Interface, interaction, and the words in between.
Full-stack engineering
The screen, the server, and the unglamorous parts that hold it together.
Mobile & web
Native where it earns its keep, web where it doesn't.
Systems that age well
Written to be read by whoever picks it up next.

Services

A few ways to work together.

  1. 01

    Product builds

    A focused app or feature, scoped and shipped end to end - from the first sketch to something real in people's hands.

    Good forFounders and small teams with a defined idea

    ProofThis is exactly how Patch Quest and Hidden Australia were made - sketch to shipped.

  2. 02

    Part-time engineering

    Ongoing senior help on a set number of days a month, for teams who need steady hands without committing to a full-time hire.

    Good forTeams between hires, or without a senior lead

    ProofThe same judgment we apply to our own products day to day, on your schedule.

  3. 03

    Audits & second opinions

    A close look at an existing product or codebase, with clear, honest notes on what to fix first and why.

    Good forAnyone inheriting something they didn't write

    ProofThe same standard we hold our own shipped work to, turned on yours.

Not sure which of these fits, or something else in mind? Send a short note - what it is, roughly when, and any budget you have in mind - and we'll tell you plainly if it's a fit. Tell us about it ↗