Hire a Full-Stack Developer

Most web projects don't fail because one layer was badly written. They fail in the gaps between layers: the API that doesn't quite match what the frontend needs, the database that wasn't designed for the reports the business asks for later, the app that worked on a laptop and broke on the server. A freelance full-stack developer closes those gaps by owning every layer, from the database to the interface to the deploy.

I'm Umer Farooq, an independent full-stack developer who has spent 9+ years building and modernizing business systems. I work on the backend in PHP (Laravel and CodeIgniter) and Node.js, on the frontend in React, Next.js, Vue and Angular, on data in MySQL and PostgreSQL, and on the servers the whole thing runs on. I'm based in Islamabad, Pakistan and work with clients remotely.

Why hire one full-stack developer

When the backend and frontend are split between two freelancers, a lot of the project turns into coordination: who changes the API, who waits for whom, whose bug it is. With one person owning the full stack:

• Decisions get made once. The data model, the API shape and the screens are designed together, so a feature doesn't need three rounds of back-and-forth.
• Bugs don't bounce. If something breaks between the browser and the database, the person who built both ends finds it.
• Nothing is left "for someone else". Deployment, environment settings, backups and the first live check are part of the job, not an afterthought.
• You have one point of contact who understands the whole system, not just their slice of it.

The stack I work across

• PHP backends: Laravel for new builds and rewrites, PHP 8, and CodeIgniter or CakePHP when I'm working on an existing system that already runs the business.
• Node.js: APIs and services where JavaScript on the server is the better fit.
• React and Next.js: single-page apps, staff dashboards and admin panels, with TypeScript where it helps.
• Vue and Angular: when a project already uses them, or they suit the team better. On simpler sites, server-rendered Blade with Alpine.js and Tailwind is often all you need.
• Databases: relational schema design in MySQL and PostgreSQL, written with the reports and permissions the business will need later in mind.
• APIs and integrations: REST APIs for separate frontends and mobile apps, plus payment and messaging services such as Stripe, Razorpay and Twilio.
• Servers and deployment: VPS servers, Docker, Apache, cPanel and shared hosting. I can deploy into the hosting you already have.

If you specifically need a Laravel developer, for an existing Laravel app, a version upgrade or extra senior help on a Laravel team, see hire a Laravel developer. This page is about owning a whole product, whatever the stack.

End-to-end ownership, layer by layer

Here's what "full stack" means on a typical project I take on:

1. Database. I start with the data model: what the business tracks, who can see what, and what has to be reported on. Getting this right early is cheaper than any later fix.
2. Backend and API. Business rules, authentication, roles and permissions, background jobs and integrations, with tests around the parts that handle money or important records.
3. Frontend. The screens people actually use, whether that's a React or Next.js dashboard, a Vue or Angular app, or server-rendered pages. Built against the API I wrote, so the two fit.
4. Deployment. Setting up the server or hosting, environment configuration, database migrations and caching, then checking the live app myself.
5. After launch. Handover notes so you're never locked in to me, and ongoing changes if you want them.

You can bring me in for one layer, but the work goes faster when I can see all of them.

Full-stack work I've done

These are real systems, described here the same way as on their case study pages:

• Farabi Clinics ERP (2024 to present). The clearest example of full-stack work: a Next.js admin dashboard on top of a Laravel 11 API and MySQL, handling clinic bookings, insurance and pharmacy across branches. I worked on both ends, the API (including its rewrite to support multiple tenants, two languages and multiple currencies) and the dashboard itself.
• Webrino. A cloud ERP and CRM for wholesale, distribution and manufacturing businesses: enquiries, RFQs, quotations, orders and invoices, with a React resource planner on a CakePHP/Drupal backend and Stripe and Razorpay payments. I worked on it as a full-stack ERP developer.
• School ERP (since 2025). A Vite frontend on a modular Laravel backend that runs a multi-branch school: admissions, attendance, timetables, exams, fees and push notifications. I'm the sole developer of the current codebase.
• Jimmy Aja. An HR and office-automation ERP with 40+ business modules, built on CodeIgniter (HMVC) with a jQuery and Bootstrap frontend. I worked on it as a full-stack developer.
• Flow Tool Works. My own suite of 44+ free developer tools, built with React, Vite and Supabase, with an SEO landing page for each tool.
• Momentum Engineering (in progress). Product catalog, live search and a WhatsApp inquiry flow for a heavy-machinery seller, with Alpine.js and Tailwind on the front and Laravel 13 behind it. I own the whole build.
• Multi-Tenant CRM (early stage). A personal SaaS experiment where each customer gets an automatically provisioned, isolated MySQL database, managed through a Filament 4 admin on Laravel 12.

Earlier, until Oct 2026, I led the NitroTickets rebuild from CodeIgniter to Laravel.

Choosing a stack for your project

I don't push one framework onto every project. The right choice depends on what you already have and who will maintain it:

• You already have a working system. Usually the best move is to improve what's there, not start over. If it's an old PHP or CodeIgniter app, see legacy application modernization and CodeIgniter to Laravel migration.
• You're starting fresh with lots of business rules. A Laravel API with a React or Next.js frontend is a reliable default for ERPs, dashboards and SaaS products.
• Your team already knows a stack. I'll work in it, so the people who maintain the code after me can read it.
• You need something small and fast. Server-rendered pages are often quicker to build and cheaper to host than a separate single-page app.

Book a quick call

Tell me what you're building, or which part of your current system keeps causing trouble. A 30-minute call is enough to decide whether a full-stack developer is what you need and what a sensible first step looks like.

Schedule a call, or if you'd rather write it down first, use the contact form.