CodeIgniter Development · Cambridge · Cambridgeshire · Based in Gravesend
CodeIgniter Development in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
Lean, fast CodeIgniter web applications and APIs for Cambridge and Cambridgeshire businesses, plus expert support, maintenance, modernisation and rescue of existing CodeIgniter (CI3/CI4) systems. Built sensibly, kept running long-term, delivered by a UK team you actually speak to.
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CodeIgniter is for lean, fast builds, and for keeping existing apps alive.
CodeIgniter is a lightweight PHP framework. Where some frameworks give you everything and ask you to learn all of it before you build anything, CodeIgniter does the opposite: a small footprint, very little configuration, and just enough structure to build a clean web application or API quickly. For the right kind of project, that leanness is the whole point. You get something working sooner, hosting requirements stay modest, and the codebase stays small enough that anyone competent can read it.
The other half of the story is legacy. CodeIgniter has been around long enough that a great many business applications were built on it, and a lot of those systems are still doing essential work today. When the original developer moves on, those CI3 and CI4 applications still need someone to support, secure, upgrade and extend them. For a place like Cambridge, with its dense cluster of technology, research and life-sciences companies, that mix is common: lean internal tools that need building fast, and older operational systems that quietly run the business and cannot simply be thrown away. Both are exactly what CodeIgniter, and our support work around it, is for.
Lean web apps, built fast
When you need a focused application working quickly without the overhead of a heavyweight framework, CodeIgniter is hard to beat. Small footprint, fast to stand up, and easy to host. Ideal for tools where time-to-working matters more than a large feature surface you may never use.
Legacy CI support and rescue
The work we are asked for most: taking on an existing CodeIgniter application after the original developer has gone. We audit it, stabilise it, secure it, and keep it running, whether it is a tidy CI4 build or an old CI3 system held together by hope and a single person who left.
REST APIs and integrations
CodeIgniter is a practical choice for a focused API that needs to serve a mobile app, a front end, or a third-party system without ceremony. When the integration is well-defined and the scope is contained, a lean CI build delivers it quickly and keeps it easy to maintain.
Internal tools and admin panels
Back-office screens, data-entry tools, reporting dashboards and the unglamorous internal software that keeps an operation running. CodeIgniter gives these a sensible structure without a steep learning curve, which keeps both build cost and ongoing support cost down.
CI3 to CI4 modernisation
Moving an older CodeIgniter 3 application onto CodeIgniter 4 and a modern PHP version is a migration, not a switch. We plan it carefully, preserve the business logic that often lives only in the old code, and get you onto a supported, maintainable footing without a risky big-bang rewrite.
Securing and updating older PHP code
Many legacy CodeIgniter applications are stuck on outdated PHP, with input handling and security practices that have aged badly. We bring them up to a current, supported PHP version, fix the obvious risks, and put the application back on safe ground without rewriting what already works.
Extending an app you already rely on
If your CodeIgniter system does its job but needs a new feature, a new integration, or a tidy-up, we extend it in keeping with how it was built. Pragmatic additions to a working application, not an excuse to sell you a rebuild you do not need.
Laravel vs CodeIgniter vs WordPress
We build in CodeIgniter, Laravel, and WordPress. We are not going to recommend one over the others just to win a project. The right framework depends on the problem, and picking the wrong one is one of the most expensive mistakes a project can make. CodeIgniter shines when you want a lean, fast build, or when you already have a CodeIgniter application that needs supporting. Here is an honest comparison of when each is the right choice.
| Situation | CodeIgniter | Laravel | WordPress |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lean web app, fast turnaround, modest scope | ✓ Best fit | Can be overkill | Depends on content |
| Supporting or rescuing an existing CodeIgniter app | ✓ Best fit | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Focused REST API with contained scope | ✓ Strong fit | ✓ Strong fit | Not suited |
| Large, complex application with deep business logic | Possible, gets heavy | ✓ Best fit | Not suited |
| Multi-tenant SaaS with rich ecosystem needs | Possible | ✓ Best fit | Not suited |
| Content-led site with editorial workflow | Not suited | Possible but heavy | ✓ Best fit |
| Modest hosting footprint and low overhead | ✓ Best fit | Heavier | Plugin-dependent |
| Heavy background processing and scheduled jobs | Manual effort | ✓ Best fit | Not suited |
If you are not sure which applies to your project, describe the problem and we will tell you what we would reach for and why, even if the honest answer is that a different framework suits you better.
How we approach a CodeIgniter project
Whether we are building something lean from scratch or taking over an application someone else wrote, the framework being lightweight does not mean the thinking should be. A CodeIgniter project still lives or dies on how well it was scoped, how the data is modelled, and whether anyone bothered to understand the existing code before changing it. Here is what we pay attention to, and the stages a build or a rescue actually moves through.
Audit before we touch anything
On an existing CodeIgniter application, the first job is understanding what is actually there. We read the code, check the PHP version and dependencies, and assess the security posture before we change a line. You cannot safely extend what you have not understood.
Understanding the real requirement
Most briefs describe a solution someone has already half-designed. We dig into the underlying problem first, because the leanest sensible CodeIgniter build follows from what the business actually needs, not from the first feature list.
Sound data architecture
The database schema is a decision you live with for years, lean framework or not. We design it deliberately, because retrofitting a bad data model into a growing application is one of the most expensive corrections in software.
Integrations mapped early
Most operational software has to talk to something else: a payment provider, a finance system, an API. We identify every integration up front so none of them become a nasty surprise late in a build that was meant to be quick.
Maintainable by anyone competent
We keep CodeIgniter code readable and conventional so you are never locked into a single developer. The whole point of a lean framework is that the next person can pick it up quickly, and we make sure that stays true.
Security and PHP version built in
Input validation, sensible data handling, and a current, supported PHP version are part of the work from the start, not a hardening pass bolted on at the end. On legacy systems, getting off an unsupported PHP version is often the single most valuable thing we do.
From first conversation to long-term support
We run CodeIgniter projects in clear stages so you always know where things stand, what is being decided, and what comes next. Because you deal directly with Rob and Jason rather than an account manager, there is no layer of translation between what you ask for and what gets built. This is the same process whether you are in Cambridge, London, or anywhere else in the UK, and it adapts cleanly whether we are building new or rescuing something existing.
- Discovery, audit and scopingFor a new build we get to the bottom of what the application needs to do. For an existing one we audit the code, the PHP version and the security posture first. The output is a clear scope and a fixed-price proposal based on what we actually find, not a placeholder estimate.
- Architecture and planningWe design the data model and application structure for a new build, or plan the safest route, support, upgrade, or CI3-to-CI4 migration, for an existing one. This is where the decisions that determine long-term maintainability get made deliberately.
- Build or remediate in working incrementsWe develop against a staging environment you can access throughout, so you see real progress rather than waiting for a single big reveal. On a rescue, we stabilise and secure first, then improve, so risk comes down early.
- Testing and quality assuranceThorough testing of the workflows your users actually follow, plus automated tests around the logic that matters most. We test the awkward edge cases, not just the happy path that always demos well.
- Deployment and go-liveA controlled deployment to production with a clear plan and sensible rollback, with particular care where an existing live system is being changed underneath users who depend on it.
- Handover and ongoing supportDocumentation, access, and a straightforward handover, followed by whatever support arrangement suits you, from occasional changes to a regular development retainer. Keeping CodeIgniter applications patched and on a supported PHP version is exactly the kind of long-term work we take on.
We have maintained our own production software, CoreCRM, since 2011.
CoreCRM, our own CRM product, has been in continuous production use since 2011. It is built on Laravel rather than CodeIgniter, but the point it proves applies to any framework: we build PHP software designed to be maintained and depended upon for well over a decade, through multiple language and framework versions, not just for the length of a single project. That long-term discipline, careful upgrades, real maintenance, and code anyone competent can read, is exactly what a long-lived CodeIgniter application needs, and exactly what our support work provides.
A Kent team trusted with national operational software
Telegraph Media Group, Hearst Communications, CDS Global, AX Paris, Motel Rocks
These are not the typical clients of a regional development agency. They are the kind of businesses that usually work with large London firms. They work with us because the technical depth is there and the overhead is not, and because they get the founders directly rather than a managed account. Distance has never been the issue: most of our work has been delivered remotely for years.
Across that work we use the framework that fits the job. CodeIgniter is what we reach for when a project calls for a lean, fast build, or when an existing CodeIgniter application needs supporting and modernising rather than replacing. The ability to pick up unfamiliar PHP code, understand it quickly, and keep it running responsibly is exactly the skill that long-lived business software depends on.
- Telegraph Media Group: custom operational software built on PHP, maintained and extended over years
- Hearst Communications: bespoke systems development for a global publishing operation
- CDS Global: multi-year PHP development engagement on business-critical operational software
- AX Paris: bespoke ERP-style back-office connecting Shopify to warehouse and despatch workflows. Case study.
- Motel Rocks: integration middleware connecting Shopify to Oracle NetSuite and 3PL providers. Case study.
Working with Cambridge and Cambridgeshire businesses
Cambridge is one of the most concentrated technology and research economies in the country. The cluster around the university and the science parks spans software, life sciences, biotech, hardware and deep-tech, alongside a strong base of professional, education and agri-tech businesses across the wider Cambridgeshire region. That mix produces a constant need for practical software: internal tools, data-handling applications, focused APIs, and the operational systems that sit behind research, trading and administration. A lot of it is exactly the lean, get-it-working kind of work CodeIgniter suits, and a lot of it is older CodeIgniter software still doing its job and needing a steady hand.
We are not local to Cambridge, and we are not going to pretend otherwise: Gravesend is around 100 miles away. What we offer instead is a genuinely senior UK team, working entirely in-house with no offshore arm, available to you directly rather than through layers of account management. For legacy CodeIgniter work in particular, that matters: picking up someone else's code responsibly is a job for experienced people, not a junior team you never meet.
In practice that distance changes nothing about the quality of the work. Most of our projects, including for national clients, are delivered remotely with regular video calls and a shared staging environment you can see progress on. We come over to Cambridge for a kick-off workshop or a key milestone when being in the room genuinely helps, and otherwise we keep the overhead, and your costs, sensibly low.
How to choose a CodeIgniter developer in Cambridge
Whether you end up working with us, a local Cambridge agency, or a freelancer, these are the questions worth asking before you commit, especially if the work involves an existing application someone else built. The answers tell you a lot about what you are actually buying.
Who actually writes the code?
Some agencies pitch with senior people and deliver via juniors or offshore teams you never meet. That is risky on a legacy rescue, where judgement matters most. Ask directly who will work on your application and who you call when something breaks. At Dev Partners it is the founders and an in-house UK team, with no offshore.
Will they take on legacy code?
Plenty of developers only want greenfield builds and quietly steer you toward a rebuild. Ask whether they will genuinely support and improve an existing CodeIgniter application, including an older CI3 one. We take on inherited codebases regularly and start with an honest audit, not a sales pitch for starting over.
Is the framework choice honest?
A developer who recommends CodeIgniter for everything, or insists everything must be Laravel, is selling rather than advising. The right partner will tell you when a lean CodeIgniter build is ideal, when Laravel suits a more complex application, and when WordPress fits a content site, and will explain why.
How do they handle handover?
You should never be locked in by code only one person understands, which is often exactly how legacy CodeIgniter trouble starts. Ask about documentation, coding standards, and what happens if you want to bring the work in-house. Conventional, readable CodeIgniter is the answer.
What does ongoing support look like?
An application is not finished at launch, and a legacy one needs continual care. Ask how they keep PHP versions current, how they handle security updates, what their position is on CI3-to-CI4 upgrades, and what a support or retainer arrangement actually costs. Vague answers here become expensive later.
How do they scope and price?
A low headline figure that grows through change requests is not a bargain. Ask how they scope, whether you get a fixed price, and what is and is not included. On legacy work, a fixed-price audit first is the honest approach. We scope carefully and quote a fixed price based on what we actually find.
What our clients say
20 clients. A few of their words.
A well-rounded team, ensuring a full suite of expertise & resource is always available. CDS Global have seen the successful completion of major projects over the years where Dev Partners' ability to grasp the underlying business needs to provide a future-proof solution has been invaluable.
We have worked with Jason & his team to develop our Shopify store, and the experience was outstanding from start to finish. The design is clean, modern, and perfectly aligned with our brand identity, while the build is fast, responsive, and easy to manage on the backend. They clearly understood our vision and delivered a store we're genuinely proud of. Highly recommend to any brand looking for a top-quality Shopify partner.
After ongoing issues and delays with our previous developers, we brought in Rob & Jason at Dev Partners to take over all our websites and bespoke software. What a breath of fresh air, fully focused, excellent pre-launch designs and clear communication throughout. Highly recommended.
BPC Energy Ltd turned to Dev Partners for a complete turnkey solution, and they exceeded our expectations. The team handled everything from project management to development and support with real care and attention. They understood what we were aiming for, stayed on top of every detail, and always delivered on schedule with excellent quality.
Working with Dev Partners to redesign and modernise our WMS system: the whole process has been thoroughly professional from the outset and a delight to work with. Cannot recommend enough.
Great agency. Have used Dev Partners for several years and they have built 20+ sites for us, in addition to taking on our legacy websites, upgrading and maintaining. Easy to work with and some great practical ideas to improve our digital offerings.
Jones Hire have been working with Dev Partners on several projects, which have been very successful. They linked our catering database to a new improved website so clients can easily place and update orders, created a custom warehouse picking app to fulfil all our challenging requirements, and are currently developing a custom transport app to streamline our loading and delivery process.
We have been trying to reinvent our website for over 5 years, trying to make it convert and failing each time. Spoke to Rob at Dev Partners, the team helped create our new site and the improvement was instant.
We have been working with Rob and the team for about 10 years now. Dev Partners helped us build a completely bespoke CRM from scratch which manages our daily business and is always well maintained. We have been able to use the system and roll it out in our new franchise branches.
We collaborated with Dev Partners on the front end of a fairly complex telemarketing platform. Rob and Jason took the time to properly understand the moving parts, asked the right questions, and delivered a clean, intuitive interface that's made the system far easier for our team to use.
I have been working with the team at Dev Partners for the last 3 years and we have always been impressed with the speed in which they act on things for us, along with the honest open communication. The team are a valuable and vital part of our supply chain.
We've had a program for our business in the electronic security sector that Dev Partners developed and keep up to date. They've never let us down, always there when needed. Thanks Rob and the team.
Dev Partners have been working with us for just over 2 years. They have significantly upgraded and redesigned our existing web platforms, and always deliver a first class service.
Dev Partners helped us build an event website. The team were very knowledgeable, easy to work with and quick to deliver a high quality product.
Working with Dev Partners has been an exceptional experience. Their team is highly skilled, professional, and committed to delivering results. What truly sets them apart is their communication and transparency; we always felt informed, supported, and confident.
We've worked with Dev Partners a few times to support us on bespoke web build tasks. They're very easy to work with, approachable, and explain the detail in a way that's understandable. A great partner for technical issues at sensible prices.
Excellent customer service backed up with solid experience. As a media business we have had five websites built by Dev Partners. I would certainly recommend them.
Found Dev Partners and they were great, nothing too much trouble. They managed to help us with integrating our old existing system with Shopify.
I've worked with Rob and his team off and on for many years and have always found them to be professional, knowledgeable, and best of all, they listen to their clients and deliver what is required.
We have worked with Dev Partners for 7 years and can highly recommend them for their expertise and excellent customer service.
CodeIgniter development in Cambridge: questions answered
The questions Cambridge and Cambridgeshire businesses ask us most often about CodeIgniter projects, new builds and legacy support alike.
Yes. Dev Partners is based in Gravesend, Kent, and we work with businesses across the whole of the UK, including Cambridge and the wider Cambridgeshire region. CodeIgniter development is delivered remotely as standard, and the distance makes no difference to the quality of the work.
You deal directly with the founders, Rob and Jason, throughout the project. We travel to Cambridge for a kick-off workshop or key milestones when it genuinely adds value, and otherwise keep the overhead low.
CodeIgniter is a lightweight, fast PHP framework. It is a strong choice when you need a lean web application or API built quickly, with a small footprint and very little overhead, where a heavier framework like Laravel would be overkill.
It is also the framework a great many existing business applications were built on, so a large part of our CodeIgniter work is supporting, maintaining and modernising CI3 and CI4 systems that businesses still rely on. For content-led sites WordPress is usually a better fit, and for large, complex applications Laravel often is. We will tell you honestly which one suits your project.
Lean custom web applications, internal tools and admin panels, REST APIs and integrations, and focused line-of-business systems where a fast, no-frills build matters. Just as importantly, we take on existing CodeIgniter applications that need supporting, extending, securing, upgrading from CI3 to CI4, or rescuing after the original developer has moved on.
Cambridge has a deep technology, life sciences and research economy, and a lot of that sector runs on practical operational software that CodeIgniter handles well.
Yes, and it is one of the things we are asked for most. We take over existing CodeIgniter codebases regularly, including older CI3 applications whose original developer has long since gone. We start with a proper code audit, give you an honest assessment of the quality, the security posture and any technical debt, and then work to whatever scope makes sense.
That might be stabilising it, securing it, upgrading it, or planning a managed move to CI4 or another framework. We tell you what you actually have before committing to any work, rather than reaching for a rebuild by default.
Often, yes, but it depends. CodeIgniter 4 is a substantial rework rather than a drop-in upgrade, so moving from CI3 is a migration project, not a switch you flip. If your CI3 application is stable and you are on a supported PHP version, there may be no urgency.
If you are stuck on an old PHP version, hitting security or maintainability limits, or struggling to find people who will touch the code, a planned CI4 migration is usually worth it. We assess your specific application and give you a straight recommendation, including the honest option of leaving it alone.
It depends on the scope. Because CodeIgniter is lean, a focused application or API can often be built quickly and cost less than the equivalent on a heavier framework, with builds starting from a few thousand pounds.
Support and rescue work on an existing application usually begins with a fixed-price audit so you know what you are dealing with, after which we quote properly for the work or set up a sensible retainer. We scope carefully and give you a fixed-price proposal based on what we actually find, not an estimate designed to win the work and adjust later.
Almost all of our project work is delivered remotely, and that has been true for years across our entire client base, including national names. The quality of a CodeIgniter application has nothing to do with where the developer is sitting when they write it.
We run regular video calls, share progress on a staging environment you can access, and stay reachable directly. Cambridge is around 100 miles from Gravesend; we travel up when a workshop or milestone genuinely benefits from being in the room, and otherwise keep the overhead, and your costs, low.
No. Dev Partners has been a 100% UK in-house team since we were founded in 2008. There is no offshore arm and no subcontracting of the build. The people who scope your project are the people who write the code and the people you can call when something needs attention.
For Cambridge clients that matters especially on legacy work: picking up an unfamiliar CodeIgniter codebase responsibly is a job for experienced people, and you get a genuinely senior UK team without the cost structure of a large London or regional agency.
Yes. CodeIgniter 4 is actively maintained and built for modern PHP, and CodeIgniter 3 received long-term maintenance support to ease the transition. For new lean builds CI4 is a perfectly sound, well-supported choice.
For existing CI3 applications, the framework being maintained is exactly why an orderly upgrade path exists. The risk on legacy systems is almost never the framework itself; it is unmaintained custom code and outdated PHP versions, which is precisely what our support and modernisation work addresses.
CoreCRM is our own CRM product, built on Laravel and in continuous production use since 2011. It is relevant to CodeIgniter work because it is direct evidence that we build and maintain serious PHP software over the long term, not just for the length of a project.
The disciplines that keep CoreCRM reliable for well over a decade, sound data design, careful upgrades and real maintenance, are exactly the disciplines a long-lived CodeIgniter application needs, and they are the same regardless of which PHP framework the code happens to use.
CodeIgniter project in Cambridge or Cambridgeshire? Talk to us.
Describe the problem and we will tell you whether CodeIgniter is the right tool and what it would involve.
A new lean build, a focused API, or an existing CodeIgniter application that needs supporting, upgrading or rescuing; we give you an honest view on approach and cost before any work starts. You speak directly to the founders, not an account manager, and the team doing the work is fully UK-based and in-house.
We can also help with:
- Lean custom CodeIgniter web applications
- REST API development and integrations
- Support and rescue of existing CI3/CI4 applications
- CodeIgniter 3 to CodeIgniter 4 migrations
- Securing and updating older PHP codebases
- Ongoing CodeIgniter development retainers and support
We reply to all enquiries within one working day.
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