Rider app
Pickup and drop-off with map and saved places, fare estimate before booking, vehicle class selection, live driver tracking, in-app payment or cash, ratings, and trip history.
Ride-hailing is a real-time matching problem wearing a mobile app. The visible product is simple; the difficulty is assigning the right driver in under a few seconds, holding accurate positions for thousands of vehicles, and computing a fare both parties accept afterwards.
We build the dispatch and fare engine as the core, then the apps around it — because a beautiful rider app on top of poor matching produces long waits and cancelled rides.
What the platform is made of
Driver app
Online/offline toggle, ride offers with countdown, navigation handoff, trip states, earnings and shift summary, and document expiry reminders.
Dispatch and admin
Live fleet map, manual dispatch override, driver onboarding and document verification, zones, fare rules, surge control, disputes, and payouts.
Core features we build
- Proximity and ETA-based driver matching with configurable radius expansion
- Fare engine: base fare, distance, time, waiting, zone surcharges, and tolls
- Surge or peak pricing with rules you control and disclose
- Scheduled and recurring bookings
- Live tracking with adaptive location sampling to protect driver battery
- Cash and card payment, with driver cash ledger reconciliation
- Driver document management with expiry blocking
- Safety features: share trip, emergency contact, and trip recording flags
- Corporate accounts with monthly billing and cost centres
- Cancellation policy with fees and abuse detection
What drives the cost
We quote every build individually because these factors move the number more than any feature list does:
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Fleet size and concurrency | Real-time location for thousands of vehicles changes the infrastructure design |
| Fare complexity | Zone rules, surge, and corporate contracts each add logic |
| Payment methods | Cash reconciliation is more work than card-only, not less |
| Regulatory features | Some markets require specific reporting, licensing checks, or data retention |
| Vehicle classes | Each adds pricing and matching rules |
| Safety and compliance | Trip sharing, recording, and emergency flows add scope |
Send your feature list and you get a fixed written price within 24 hours, with the scope it covers and a delivery date.
Typical stack
FlutterNode.jsPostgreSQLPostGISRedisWebSocketsMapboxFirebase
How we deliver
- 1Scoping call and written quote
Same day. Fixed price, fixed feature list, and a delivery date agreed before we start.
- 2Design
Clickable screens for every surface. Unlimited revisions before development begins.
- 3Build with daily visibility
A staging build you can open any day, and senior engineers reachable on WhatsApp.
- 4QA on real devices
Tested on the mid-range phones your users actually own, not just flagships.
- 5Launch
Store submission, production infrastructure, and go-live support.
- 6Handover
Full source code, documentation, and credentials. Thirty days of bug fixes included.
Questions, answered.
How does driver matching work?
Candidate drivers are found by proximity within a search radius that expands if nobody accepts, ranked by estimated time of arrival rather than straight-line distance, and offered the ride with a short acceptance countdown. Admin can override manually. The parameters are configurable because the right settings differ between a dense city and a spread-out one.
Can it handle cash payments?
Yes, and in many markets it must. Each driver has a cash ledger showing fares collected, commission owed, and what must be settled, reconciled per shift with variances flagged. Cash is a first-class flow rather than an afterthought.
Do you build surge pricing?
Yes, with rules you define — demand-to-supply ratio, time of day, or zone-based multipliers — and with clear disclosure to the rider before booking. We build the mechanism; whether and how you use it is a commercial and, in some markets, a regulatory decision.
Will constant location tracking drain driver phone batteries?
It will if built naively. We use adaptive sampling — frequent updates during an active trip, sparse updates while idle — plus platform-appropriate background location handling. Battery drain is one of the main reasons drivers abandon a platform, so it is treated as a core requirement.
Can we start with a smaller version?
Yes. A dispatch-only system for an existing taxi fleet, with a driver app and admin panel but bookings taken by phone, is a much smaller build and often the right first step. Rider app and self-service booking can follow once dispatch is working.
Six things we put in writing.
Not values on a wall — contract terms. Ask any other supplier to match them line by line.
A price in 24 hours
Send a brief, get a fixed written price and a delivery date the next working day. Free, no obligation, and the scope document is yours to keep even if you go elsewhere.
The price does not move
Fixed, not an estimate. If scope changes we re-quote in writing and you approve before we build it. You will never open a surprise invoice.
Half on delivery
50% to start, 50% when it is live and you are satisfied. You never fund the whole project up front.
Unlimited design revisions
We do not write production code until you approve the screens. Changing your mind at that stage costs nothing.
You own everything
Full source code, design files and credentials on delivery. No licence, no platform fee, nothing that stops another developer taking over.
30 days of fixes included
Free bug fixing for a month after launch, then an optional retainer only if you want one.
Every one of these is in the agreement before you pay anything. See how we evidence our claims →
Free quote
Tell us what you're building.
A paragraph is enough to start. You get a scoping conversation and a fixed written price with a delivery date within 24 hours — free, and yours to keep whether or not you go ahead with us.
- A senior engineer replies, not a salesperson
- Written quote inside 24 hours
- NDA before you send anything sensitive — just ask
- No obligation, no follow-up sequence
Prefer to talk now? WhatsApp +92 300 097 0544 or hello@qalmax.com.
Get your taxi & ride-hailing app scoped.
Fixed price, written delivery date, and full code ownership.