The partner B2B leaders call when the software has to work.
For over ten years, companies have brought us the projects they can’t afford to get wrong: new software that has to ship, aging systems that have to be modernized, and now, AI that has to show a return.
We’ve always been the team you call for the hard stuff.
We’ve always been the team you call for the hard stuff.
Co-Founders Nick and Mike cut their teeth in enterprise health-tech, where the software has to work. In 2015 they launched The Gnar on a simple idea: a senior team with the right amount of process can deliver high-quality work fast.
The job has been the same ever since. Build something new a client couldn’t build alone, or modernize the codebase holding them back. A decade of shipping both made us a trusted innovation partner for companies like AARP Foundation, WHOOP, and Mass General Brigham.
The tools change. The core is the same.
The tools change. The core is the same.
Then the tools changed. We rebuilt delivery around AI with Context-Driven Development, as a Claude Select Services Partner. The core didn’t: senior people, disciplined process, and guarantees with teeth.
Clients
What We Do
One standard of delivery.
Every engagement is delivered by senior US-based engineers through AI-Native delivery, and every build carries the triple guarantee.
Application modernization
Codebase audits, rebuilds, migrations and ERP or order-management replacements, starting with a free read of your existing code.
Learn moreAI transformation
Strategy and workshops, workflow automation, custom agents, enterprise AI integration and forward deployed engineers, from a Claude Select Services Partner.
Learn moreProduct engineering
Strategy, design, web, mobile, integrations and AI features, built by senior US engineers at a fixed milestone price.
Learn moreWhy Trust The Gnar?
We put the risk
on our side of the table.
After seeing 20x growth in our user base and meaningful revenue, we’ve seen Qeepsake mature from a product into a thriving business. Jeff McNeil, Qeepsake.
Our Team
Nicholas Maloney
Co-Founder
Mike Stone
Co-Founder
Pete Whiting
Head of Sales
Become A Gnar Team Member
If you’re obsessed with building high-quality, no-nonsense software, The Gnar might be the place for you.
Join Our Team
Nicholas Maloney Co-Founder
With over 20 years of engineering experience and leadership, Nick guides The Gnar’s technical solutions. His experience spans large enterprise organizations with heavy regulation and compliance requirements to small, nimble startups launching their product to market. In all scenarios his mindset is the same: creating simple, scalable solutions to complex problems that deliver reliable results without unnecessary complexity.
Mike Stone Co-Founder
Mike oversees operations and project delivery at The Gnar, backed by over a decade of software engineering experience and multiple startup co-founding roles. His background as a professional athlete instilled a deep understanding of high-performing teams, which he applies to building cohesive engineering groups that deliver practical solutions with reliable execution. This team-first approach ensures clients receive solution-oriented collaboration, stay aligned on priorities to avoid wasted effort, and achieve consistent on-time delivery across projects of any complexity.
Pete Whiting Head of Sales
Pete has been with Gnar from the beginning and brings his experience as management consultant and tech executive to lead all sales and client service activities. He loves working with prospects and clients to build great custom software solutions. Pete has a BS and MS in Materials Science and Engineering from Brown University and his MBA from UCLA Anderson.
Buyers
Who We Work With
No matter your industry, if you’ve got a gnarly software problem, we’re ready to tackle it.
A legacy system slowing you down
An old ERP, an order management system, or a custom app that one person understands. Nobody wants to touch it, and everything new you need waits on it.
- Legacy software modernization
- ERP and order management system modernization
- Replatforming onto modern infrastructure
- Codebase audits
You need to use AI, you’re just not sure where
There is pressure to do something with AI. There are pilots, and manual work between systems. Nobody can say what is ready or where to start.
- AI strategy and workshops
- Data engineering and integration for AI
- AI automation
- Custom AI agents and agentic solutions
You need to speed your roadmap up, not move your deadline
You need senior engineers now, not after a six-month hiring search. Or you cannot tell whether the code you have is any good.
- Embedded engineering teams
- Codebase audits
- Software consulting and architecture
You have a prototype, and you want it to become real
Your Lovable, Replit or Cursor prototype found its first users. It has no infrastructure, security, testing or monitoring, and it is about to break.
- Hardening AI-generated prototypes for production
- MVP and prototype development
- Web application development
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? Talk to us.
Unlike most custom software development companies, we put guarantees behind our claims. Guaranteed outcomes: if we don’t deliver what we promised, you don’t pay for it. Guaranteed price: no hourly billing that spirals into surprise invoices. Guaranteed quality: a 12-month bug-free warranty on everything we ship. Most agencies ask you to trust their pitch. We’d rather you trust the contract.
We don’t spend money on “Top Agency” awards or pay for directory placements. What we do have: a decade of shipping production software, clients like AARP Foundation and WHOOP, and a 12-month warranty we actually honor. Our reputation comes from referrals: companies who worked with us and then told other companies to do the same. That matters more to us than a badge on a website.
Hiring takes time, typically 3-6 months to find, interview, and onboard a senior software developer. And you’re competing with Google, Meta, and every funded startup for that talent. A software development agency gives you immediate access to experienced development teams without the recruiting headache. It also gives you flexibility: you can scale up for a big initiative and scale down when it’s done, without layoffs or carrying costs.
We’ve built software for healthcare (AARP Foundation, Johns Hopkins), fitness tech (WHOOP, Fitbit), food delivery (GrubHub), consumer apps (Qeepsake), and B2B platforms across logistics, staffing, and professional services. The common thread isn’t industry. It’s complexity. We work with companies whose software needs are too nuanced for off-the-shelf solutions and too critical to trust to the lowest bidder.
When people say “software development,” they usually mean the coding part. But building software like web and mobile apps that actually work involves a lot more: requirements gathering, architecture planning, UI/UX design, development, testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance. At The Gnar, we handle the full lifecycle. That’s why we call ourselves a product development team, not just a dev shop.
We start with our Discovery Phase: understanding what you’re building, who it’s for, and what success looks like. Then we map requirements in detail before writing code (this is where most projects go wrong, so we invest heavily here). Development runs in focused sprints with weekly demos so you see real progress, not just status reports. After launch, our 12-month warranty kicks in. If something we built doesn’t work as specified, we fix it free.
Yes. We’ve done it dozens of times. We call these “rescue projects,” and they follow a predictable pattern: another software development agency got 60-80% through the work, then fell apart when things got hard. We assess what’s salvageable, stabilize the codebase, build a realistic plan to finish, and execute.
Next Steps
Not sure which path is yours? Let’s figure it out together.
Tell us where you are and what you’re trying to do. We’ll point you to the right starting line, even if it isn’t us.
Contact us
Let’s Talk About Your Big Idea
Bring us your gnarliest software conundrum, and our team will find the solution that fits. Fill out the form, and we’ll get back to you the same or next business day.
- 4.8/5 on Clutch
- 100% US-based engineers
- Claude Select Services Partner