For web agencies

Your development team, outsourced

White-label web development for agencies and communication studios: from a brochure site to custom business software.
You keep the client. I write the code. The client never knows I exist.

Available immediately · 10 days/month · 250–350 €/day

Availability updated Aug 27, 2026

Book 30 minutes

I am Mario Merola, a freelance web developer, VAT registered in Italy. For over 15 years I have been building websites, web applications and integrations — and I do it also on behalf of other agencies: they pass me the work they cannot cover in-house and I build it under their name.

That covers the complex project — an internal system, a bespoke e-commerce, an ERP integration — but also the everyday work that clogs your team at the worst moment: the brochure site due in two weeks, the campaign landing page, the HTML email that has to survive Outlook, the old client that needs updating.

The model is always the same: I join the project on Monday, work inside your tuo repository, and hand over code your team can maintain without calling me.

I work remotely with agencies across Europe. I am in the Central European time zone, so the working day overlaps with the UK and the rest of the continent.

What I cost

The price is on the page, because your time is worth more than three emails to find it out

Day rate

250–350 €

per day · 8-hour day

Final price: nothing added at the end. I work under the Italian flat-rate scheme, so no VAT applies.

Where you land in the range depends on three things:

  • how complex the work is and how detailed the brief;
  • urgency and delivery constraints;
  • whether we are working on existing code written by someone else (always more).
On retainer

250 €

per day · rate fixed at the bottom of the range

You reserve a fixed block of days each month and pay the bottom of the range, whatever the work turns out to be. In return you get priority in the queue: your tickets go ahead of everyone else. It is the right shape if you have clients on maintenance and need a predictable cost to quote against.

What I non do not bill you for

The time I spend reading the brief and preparing your quote.
Catch-up calls under 30 minutes.
Bugs in code I wrote, for 30 days after delivery.

Invoiced from an Italian VAT-registered business, payable 30 days from invoice date. On fixed-price projects: 30% up front, balance on delivery.

I work alone. Better you hear it now.

I am not a software house with twenty people: I am one developer. If you are weighing up a technical partner that is the first thing you want to know, so I am not making you find it out on the third call.

What you get out of it
  • You always speak to the person writing the code. No account manager mistranslating the requirements.
  • No internal handovers, no junior quietly put on your project.
  • Whoever gives you the estimate is the one who has to meet it: the estimates come out more honest.
  • Low overheads, so rates a structured company cannot match.
How I take the risk off you
  • The code sits in your repository from the first commit, not in some private repo of mine. If I vanish, the work is already yours.
  • Documentation updated at every milestone, not at the end: technical README, deployment notes, credentials and access.
  • No project is held hostage. At any point another developer can pick it up from the documentation, without having to call me.
  • A cap on parallel projects: if I do not have the days I say so and turn the work down. Better a no today than a delay in two months.

If you need a supplier with a 24/7 SLA and an on-call team, I am not the right person — and I will tell you on the first call, not once the contract is signed.

How working together goes

Four steps, no surprises

01
Technical brief

You send requirements, wireframes and access. If the brief has gaps I tell you straight away with the right questions, instead of quoting blind.

02
Quote and NDA

Detailed quote within two working days, with estimated days and a stated margin of error. I sign an NDA before receiving any access.

03
Build and updates

Git in your repo, a branch per feature, agreed milestones. One written update a week, always the same day. Delays are flagged in advance, not once the deadline has passed.

04
Delivery and warranty

Full handover with documentation and deployment notes. 30 days of warranty on bugs in my code, no argument and no invoice.

What I build for agencies

From a brochure site to custom business software, on the same terms

Brochure sites and landing pages

From design to live site: pixel-perfect from Figma, XD or PSD, clean HTML/CSS, genuinely responsive at every breakpoint, performance and Core Web Vitals. This is the work that clogs your team in the worst weeks.

Dynamic sites and members areas

Sites the client can edit, multilingual, with complex forms, members areas, bookings and catalogues. A simple admin panel, designed for a client who is not technical.

HTML email and newsletters

Email templates that genuinely survive Outlook: table structure, inline CSS, fallbacks, dark mode, tested on the main clients. Uploaded and configured on Brevo, Mailchimp, MailUp or your own ESP.

Custom WordPress

Themes from scratch, custom plugins, Custom Post Types, Gutenberg blocks, REST API integration. Author of two plugins published on the official WordPress.org directory.

E-commerce

Customised WooCommerce, or a bespoke platform when the template runs out: catalogue, variants, B2B price lists, stock, shipping and certified payments (Stripe, PayPal, Nexi, Scalapay).

Business software and web apps

Multi-user business software running in the browser: CRM, order management, e-invoicing, stock, reporting. The project the client asks for and nobody at the agency wants to quote.

APIs and integrations

Documented, versionable REST APIs, JWT/OAuth authentication, integrations with the client's own systems and ERP, CRMs, marketplaces, couriers, e-invoicing and third-party services.

Custom back end

When real application logic is needed: PHP 8, MVC architecture, databases designed properly, RBAC and permissions, caching, queues and scheduled jobs. I also work with Laravel, and with whatever framework you already use.

The work nobody wants

Maintaining legacy projects, security updates, hosting migrations, debugging code inherited from a previous supplier. If you have old clients nobody at the agency will touch, I will take them.

Not seeing what you need? Ask anyway: if it is outside what I do I will say so immediately, rather than costing you two weeks.

What I guarantee partner agencies

The client stays yours

I sign an NDA before receiving access and will never contact the end client without your explicit go-ahead. Where it helps, I introduce myself as part of your team.

Deadlines kept

Milestones agreed and met. If I see a delay coming I say so early, while you can still reorganise with the client.

Documented, maintainable code

PHPDoc, technical README, deployment notes. Your team, or another developer, can pick the project up without trouble.

Communication with a rhythm

Slack, Teams, Notion, ClickUp or whatever you already use. One written update a week, without you having to chase me.

A proper Git workflow

A branch per feature, pull requests in review, semantic commits, staging before production. In your GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket repository.

Security and quality

OWASP Top 10 protection, input validation, parameterised queries. Code that will not become a security problem six months after delivery.

Got a project you cannot cover?

10 days a month available immediately. Send me the requirements: I come back with availability and a quote within two working days.

Book 30 minutes See the portfolio

Or write to me directly: m.merola@mametech.com · +39 339 1037978

Frequently asked questions

You keep the relationship with the end client and pass me the technical brief. I build the back end, the APIs or the whole project without ever contacting the client directly. The work is delivered into your repository and presented to the client under your agency's brand.

My rate runs from 250 to 350 euro per day, for 8-hour days. That is the final figure: I work under the Italian flat-rate scheme, so no VAT is added. Where you land depends on the complexity, the urgency and whether we are working on code someone else wrote. On a monthly retainer the rate stays fixed at 250 euro per day with priority in the queue. I do not bill estimating time, calls under 30 minutes, or bugs in my own code in the first 30 days after delivery.

Yes, I work alone and I say so openly. That is exactly why the code sits in your tuo repository from the first commit and the technical documentation is updated at every milestone, not at the end: if I had to stop, the work done is already yours and another developer can take over from the README, the deployment notes and the access document, without speaking to me. On top of that I do not take on more projects than I can follow: if I do not have the days, I say so and turn the work down.

I sign an NDA on request before receiving any access. It covers confidentiality on the end client's data, on the project and on the commercial relationship, and includes an undertaking not to contact the end client either during or after the work. My business rests on working with you on the next projects, not on burning a channel for the sake of one client.

Front end: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Bootstrap, design integration from Figma/XD/PSD, and HTML email that holds up even on the awkward clients. CMS: WordPress and WooCommerce, custom themes and plugins. Back end: PHP 8.x (Yii2 and Laravel), MySQL, Redis, REST APIs with JWT/OAuth. Integrations: payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Nexi, Scalapay), sending platforms such as Brevo, Mailchimp and MailUp, business systems and ERPs. If your agency already has its own stack, I work in yours.

Yes, and it is a significant part of what I do for agencies: maintaining legacy projects, security updates and debugging code inherited from a previous supplier. On someone else's code I charge the top of the range, because the time spent understanding it is real and I would rather state it up front than discover it halfway through.

Anywhere. I work remotely with agencies across Europe and distance does not change how I operate: Slack, Teams, Git, video calls and updates on a fixed rhythm. Several of my longest collaborations never required a single meeting in person.

I come back with availability and a quote within two working days of receiving the brief. For urgent work, flag the priority in the subject line and I will do what I can to move faster.