The problemRiders open the app, see no drivers nearby, and never come back.
In shortTaxi app development from Pixel & Oak builds a ride-hailing system you own: rider and driver apps plus an admin dashboard, with live ride requests, fixed or bid fares, driver sign-up and a city-by-city launch. The apps run on iPhone and Android from one React Native code base. Builds start at $15,000, at a fixed price.
Most people who look for a taxi app development company are choosing between two paths. A clone script is cheap and quick to switch on, but it was built for someone else's market. A custom build costs more and fits the way rides actually work where you are: how fares are set, how drivers get paid, which languages riders read and how cash is handled.
We build ride-hailing apps in React Native, so riders and drivers get iPhone and Android apps from one code base, with an admin dashboard on the web. We built our own: SafarGB, a rides and 4x4 tours app for Gilgit-Baltistan in English and Urdu, live on Google Play, where riders name a fare and drivers reply with offers. Haider Ali directs the AI agents that build it and signs off every release.
Maintained by Haider Ali, Founder & CEO · Updated
What founders and transport operators tell us before they commit to a build.
A ride-hailing app is two products at once. If drivers are not online when riders arrive, both sides leave, and the launch budget goes on riders who tried once.
What we doDriver sign-up, documents and approval come first, so you can sign drivers before riders arrive. The app launches one city at a time, and riders see only the cities that are live.
Uber's full feature set took years and thousands of engineers. Comparing quotes against that list makes every estimate look either impossibly cheap or out of reach.
What we doWe scope the first version around one city and one way of setting fares, and price that. Scheduled rides, wallets, promotions and surge pricing come when the rides justify them.
Clone scripts are built for one market. Changing how fares work, adding cash settlement or a second language means reworking code you did not write and may not be licensed to change.
What we doA build in your own repository, with fares set your way: fixed, metered or bid by drivers. Our own app takes offers from drivers and runs in English and Urdu.
Android limits what apps can do in the background to save battery, so a driver app that is not built for it misses requests, and drivers go back to the platform that pays them.
What we doRequests reach drivers over a live connection while the app is open and as a push notification when it is not, with location updates tuned to save battery.
When riders pay drivers in cash, the platform's share has to be collected from drivers later. Without a ledger, nobody knows who owes what, and disputes eat the margin.
What we doA driver ledger that records each fare, the commission owed and the payments made, with card payments added through Stripe or a local gateway where one is available.
We would rather tell you now than take the project and disappoint you.
| Starts from | $15,000 for rider and driver apps plus an admin dashboard, for one city |
|---|---|
| Typical timeline | 10–16 weeks from signed scope to store release |
| Platforms | iPhone and Android from one React Native code base; admin on the web |
| Fares | Fixed, metered or bid by drivers, paid in cash, by card or both |
| Live parts | Ride requests, driver location and trip status over a live connection |
| What you own | Code, accounts, rider and driver data, and the store listings, all in your name |
| Who builds it | Haider Ali directing AI agents. He signs off every release |
| Proof so far | SafarGB, our own rides and tours app, live on Google Play |
Worth knowing: Software is the smaller half of a ride-hailing launch. The harder half is signing up drivers, getting riders to try it, and the local rules on licensing and insurance, which differ by city and are the operator's to check. Our own app, SafarGB, is live on Google Play but not yet on the App Store, and we have no client ride-hailing case studies to show yet.
Sign-up, pickup and drop-off on a map, a fare or an offer, live driver location, trip history and ratings.
Sign-up with documents, an online switch, ride requests, directions in the driver's maps app and earnings.
Approve drivers, set fares and cities, watch live trips, and handle refunds and complaints.
Requests sent to nearby drivers over a live connection, with push notifications as the fallback.
Fixed, metered or bid fares, cash with a driver ledger, and card payments where a gateway exists.
Every screen ready for a second language from the start, including right-to-left scripts such as Urdu.
Row-level security, so riders and drivers can read only their own trips and details.
Store listings, closed testing and review for both apps, under your own developer accounts.
| Clone script | Custom build | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to launch | Days to weeks | 10–16 weeks for a first version |
| Upfront cost | Lower | Higher |
| Fares and payments | As the script was written | Set the way your market works |
| Languages | Often one, or machine-translated | Written and checked for each language |
| Changes later | Limited by the code and the license | Your code; any developer can change it |
| Who owns it | Depends on the license | You do |
If you need to test demand within a few weeks, a script can be the right first step. Build custom when the business depends on something the scripts do not do.
A stack chosen for live updates, and for being easy to hand to another developer later.
React Native, Expo, TypeScript, native maps
Supabase Realtime or WebSockets on Cloudflare, plus push notifications
Postgres with row-level security and server-side fare checks
A Next.js dashboard, EAS Build and Submit, Sentry
Not sure whether a taxi app is what you actually need? Send over what you are trying to fix and we will tell you straight — including if a smaller job would do it.
Ask us first →We agree the fares, payments, languages and the first city, and what waits for later.
One price for the rider app, the driver app and the admin, with map and server costs estimated.
You and a few test drivers install real builds as features land. Haider signs off each one.
Store release in your accounts, a soft launch with your first drivers, then handover notes.
AI agents from our Engineering and Quality & Security divisions do the work, in parallel. Haider Ali, founder and CEO, agrees the plan with you and signs off everything before it reaches you.
Real work that uses the same skills. Every card links to something you can open and inspect yourself.
Our rides marketplace for Gilgit-Baltistan: riders name a fare, drivers reply with offers, and drivers sign up inside the app. English and Urdu, built with Expo and Supabase.
Business softwareBilling, recipe-based stock, rider cash settlement and shift close for restaurants. Runs every day at a restaurant in Karachi.
With us, a first version for one city, with a rider app, a driver app and an admin dashboard, starts at $15,000. That covers booking, live dispatch, one fare model and driver sign-up. Uber's full feature set took years and thousands of engineers, so compare quotes on the same first-version scope, not on a list of everything Uber does.
Ten to sixteen weeks for a first version, from a signed scope to the store release. Add time for Google Play's 14-day closed test if the apps go out under a new personal developer account, and for store review of both the rider and the driver app.
Not always. Separate apps keep each one simple and let drivers find theirs by name in the store. One app with a driver mode is cheaper to maintain, and it is how our own app works. We recommend one or the other based on how many drivers you expect and how different their screens are.
Yes. With fare bidding, a rider names a price and drivers reply with offers. It works well where meters are rare and people expect to bargain, and it is how our own app, SafarGB, works. Fixed and metered fares are standard options too.
Yes. Cash trips are recorded with the fare and the commission owed, and a driver ledger shows who owes the platform what. Card payments can be added through Stripe or a local payment gateway where one is available.
Sometimes. If you need to test demand within a few weeks, a script can be a sensible first step. Build custom when the business depends on something scripts do not do well, such as fare bidding, cash settlement, a local language or your own pricing rules, and when you want to own and change the code.
You do. The code, the store developer accounts, the database and all rider and driver data are set up in your name. We follow the data rules you give us and the stores' privacy requirements, and you can move the app to another developer at any time.
No. Licensing, insurance and transport rules differ by city and country, and they are the operator's responsibility. We build the app so it can store driver documents and approvals, and we can add the checks your local rules require.
Tell us about your business and we'll design a custom homepage concept within 48 hours — free, no strings attached.