A developer you can actually rely on.
I'm Akshay — a freelance web developer based in Kerala, India, with six years building websites and web apps for clients in UAE, Dubai, Australia, Qatar and beyond.
I know what it feels like to spend tens of thousands on a website that doesn't rank, doesn't convert, and gets ignored when you ask for an update. That's why I work the way I do — directly, honestly, and on Indian Standard Time when the rest of the world is mostly asleep.
SHIPPING
SERVED
Why I work this way.
The first website I built was for my uncle's small shop in Kerala. It took me a weekend, looked terrible, and made him stop fielding the same five questions on the phone every morning. That was the moment I understood what a website is actually for.
Six years later, I've worked at agencies, with VC-backed startups, and as a freelancer. The agencies taught me how to deliver under pressure. The startups taught me how to make decisions when nobody knows the right answer. Freelancing taught me what most clients secretly want: a developer they can pick up the phone and talk to.
The market is full of two extremes — agencies that charge fifty thousand dirhams to communicate via JIRA tickets, and freelancers who undercut by ninety percent and then quietly disappear after the second milestone. Neither one is what most small businesses need.
What you actually need is the same thing my uncle needed: someone who builds a thing that works, explains it in plain language, and picks up when you message them on Sunday. That's the practice I've built — and the only one I want to keep building.
Six principles I actually run on.
Reply, even when there's no good answer.
The worst freelancer behaviour isn't bad work — it's silence. I'd rather send a "still thinking, no update yet" message than make someone wonder if I exist.
Pick the boring stack.
React, Next.js, Tailwind, Postgres. Nothing exciting. Boring tech means your site will still be maintainable in five years when I'm long out of the picture.
SEO isn't a phase, it's architecture.
I refuse to build a site that needs "SEO done to it" afterwards. Schema, semantic HTML, Core Web Vitals — these are decisions at line one, not week six.
Build less, finish more.
Half of every brief is wishful thinking. I'll always argue for shipping the version that solves the actual problem, not the imagined one — and adding the rest later.
Your code, your account.
I deploy under your accounts, hand over credentials, and document the setup. If you ever want to take it elsewhere, the only thing you'll need from me is permission to use my name as a reference.
Charge fairly, refund without fuss.
If a project isn't working — wrong fit, scope changed, life happened — I refund the unworked portion. Trust costs more than money to rebuild.
The tools I reach for every day.
Frontend
- ›React 18
- ›Next.js 14+
- ›TypeScript
- ›Tailwind CSS
- ›Framer Motion
- ›Astro · Svelte
Backend
- ›Node.js · Express
- ›Next.js API routes
- ›PHP · Laravel
- ›PostgreSQL
- ›MongoDB
- ›Redis
CMS & Commerce
- ›Sanity · Contentful
- ›WordPress · ACF
- ›Shopify · Liquid
- ›Strapi · Payload
- ›Stripe · Razorpay
Infra & Performance
- ›Vercel · Cloudflare
- ›AWS Amplify
- ›Docker · GitHub Actions
- ›Lighthouse · CWV
- ›Sentry · PostHog
Six years on, still finding the work fun.
Built my uncle's shop website over a weekend
WordPress, a stock theme, and three days of YouTube tutorials. It saved him an hour a day on the phone. I was sold.
Junior dev at a Kochi web agency
Learned to ship under client deadlines and discovered that "WordPress" is mostly debugging other people's plugins. Built ~25 sites in 18 months.
Switched to React + Next.js full-time
Joined an early-stage startup as the second engineer. Built the marketing site, the dashboard, and most of the billing flow.
Shipped my first project for a Dubai client
A boutique site for a Jumeirah-based interiors firm. WhatsApp-first communication, total project ran on India / UAE time zones. Still live, still ranking.
Left full-time work to focus on independent clients
Started building specifically for Gulf NRIs, Kerala SMBs, and global founders. Built the freelance practice that's now my full-time work.
Shipped projects across UAE, India, Australia, Qatar
Athletes Gym Qatar, ADL99 Sydney, Sydney Removalist, and a dozen smaller builds. First year working with referrals only.
Currently accepting two new projects this quarter
Focused on Next.js builds, performance audits, and long-term maintenance retainers. Still picking up the WhatsApp messages.
The best website is the one your client actually remembers to update. Everything else is just engineering.
Working with me is great for some — not all.
Great fit if you need…
- A senior developer who handles the project end-to-end, no handoffs
- Fast, honest communication — WhatsApp / email / call, your choice
- A site that actually ranks on Google — not just one that "looks SEO'd"
- Someone who'll still be around six months later for maintenance
- Honest scoping — including telling you when you don't need what you asked for
Maybe not the fit if you want…
- A dedicated team of designers, copywriters, project managers and QA
- The absolute cheapest quote you can find (try freelancer marketplaces)
- 50-page proposals, formal RFPs, or month-long discovery phases
- Mobile native apps (iOS/Android) — I focus on web, and only recommend partners I trust
- Marketing strategy, paid ads, SEO content writing — I build the platform, not the campaign
Built with industry-standard tools
You probably have a project in mind.
If you've read this far, we should probably talk. Free consultation, no commitment — and I read every WhatsApp message myself.