Question 1

What is NaiForge?

Accepted Answer

NaiForge is a Nairobi-based productized web development studio. It builds M-Pesa-ready ecommerce websites and bespoke web design for businesses across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, with one-time pricing starting at KES 25,000 (web development) or KES 30,000 (web design and ecommerce) — no recurring fees.

Question 2

Where is NaiForge located?

Accepted Answer

NaiForge is based in Karen, Nairobi, Kenya. It operates as a Service-Area Business and serves clients across all major Kenyan cities (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret) and regional markets in Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

Question 3

How do I contact NaiForge?

Accepted Answer

Phone: +254 790 117 953. Email: hello@naiforge.com. WhatsApp available at the same phone number. Hours: 08:00 to 20:00 East Africa Time (UTC+3), seven days a week.

Question 4

What services does NaiForge offer?

Accepted Answer

Five services: (1) Ecommerce — M-Pesa-ready online shops, from KES 30,000 one-time. (2) Web Design — custom non-template website design from KES 30,000. (3) Web Development — modern React/TanStack Start websites on global edge hosting from KES 25,000. (4) WhatsApp Checkout — cart converts to a structured WhatsApp order message; included in every package at no extra cost and the default order path on every NaiForge shop. (5) M-Pesa Integration — automated Lipa Na M-Pesa Online (STK push) with server-side webhook verification, KES 20,000 one-time, included in Premium, live in 2-4 days. The three build services include fast global CDN, SSL, SEO fundamentals, and full code ownership on handover.

Question 5

How much does a NaiForge website cost?

Accepted Answer

Three productized tiers with fixed one-time prices. Starter Shop: KES 30,000 with 5-7 day delivery (template-based, up to 20 products). Standard Shop: KES 55,000 with 2-week delivery (custom design, unlimited products). Premium Shop: KES 95,000+ with 3-4 week delivery (full order management). Terms: 50% deposit, balance on delivery. Extra revisions KES 3,000 each. No recurring platform fees paid to NaiForge.

Question 6

What makes NaiForge different from Shopify or Wix?

Accepted Answer

Three differentiators. (1) One-time KES pricing vs Shopify's USD subscription forever (foreign currency exposure, plus Shopify's third-party payment surcharge when not using Shopify Payments, which is unavailable in Kenya — that surcharge is tier-dependent: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus, as published August 2026). (2) Automated M-Pesa checkout via standard Kenyan payment gateways as a KES 20,000 add-on (included in Premium) — same architecture as everyone else, but with no Shopify surcharge stacked on top of the gateway fee. (3) Full code and data ownership on handover vs SaaS platform lock-in.

Question 7

What makes NaiForge different from a marketplace like Jumia?

Accepted Answer

Brand ownership and margin. NaiForge delivers a standalone website where the merchant owns the customer relationship, the storefront URL, and the brand — versus a marketplace like Jumia, which charges 6-20% commission depending on category and holds payouts for 7-21 days. For a merchant doing KES 200,000 per month in sales, marketplace commissions typically cross the cost of a NaiForge Standard site within 2-3 months. Note for accuracy: Sky.Garden, the other Kenyan marketplace commonly named alongside Jumia, shut down in March 2025 when its parent company Lipa Later ran out of funding, and should not be described as a current option for Kenyan sellers.

Question 8

How does NaiForge integrate M-Pesa?

Accepted Answer

Automated M-Pesa checkout is a KES 20,000 one-time add-on (included in Premium); without it, customers pay the merchant's Till or Paybill directly and the merchant confirms in chat. With the add-on, checkout runs via established Kenyan payment gateways (default: Paystack; IntaSend, Pesapal, and Flutterwave available on request) — the customer sees a standard M-Pesa pop-up and the merchant receives funds to their Till or Paybill with server-side webhook verification of every order. Gateway transaction fees apply only on add-on orders, roughly comparable across providers (1.5-3.5% for M-Pesa depending on the gateway). The bigger cost lever is your platform's recurring subscription, which NaiForge sites avoid entirely via one-time pricing.

Question 9

What technology stack does NaiForge use?

Accepted Answer

React 19 with TypeScript, TanStack Start for routing and SSR, deployed to a modern global edge platform (with Nairobi edge presence), edge-distributed SQL database via Drizzle ORM, Tailwind CSS v4, Better Auth for authentication, Resend for email, and GSAP for motion. Optimizations target Core Web Vitals under Google's thresholds: LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, CLS under 0.1 on Kenyan mobile networks.

Question 10

Can NaiForge build my site if I'm not in Nairobi?

Accepted Answer

Yes. NaiForge serves clients across all major Kenyan cities (Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret) and regional markets (Kampala, Dar es Salaam, Kigali) fully remotely via WhatsApp and video calls. No pricing premium for non-Nairobi clients. For larger projects above KES 60,000, travel for in-person kick-off is available when project value justifies.

Question 11

Does NaiForge offer ongoing maintenance?

Accepted Answer

Optional, not mandatory. Standard maintenance: KES 5,000 per month covering bug fixes, content updates, payment gateway troubleshooting, and security patches. Or pay-per-task at KES 3,000 per change. Premium tier includes one month of free maintenance post-launch.

Question 12

Does NaiForge do international work?

Accepted Answer

Primary market is Kenya and East Africa. NaiForge serves clients in Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. The stack is internationally capable, but NaiForge's differentiators (M-Pesa integration, Kenyan-language pricing, EAT-timezone support) align best with businesses serving East African markets. USD-billing workflows are supported when needed.

Question 13

Is NaiForge a good fit for every business?

Accepted Answer

No. NaiForge is a deliberate fit for Kenyan and East African ecommerce and SMB web projects in the KES 25,000-95,000+ range. Not a fit for: businesses under 10 orders per day where WhatsApp Business still works; enterprise projects needing multi-week strategy workshops and full agency teams; projects requiring native mobile apps (web-only studio); or highly regulated categories needing specialized compliance work.

Question 14

How does NaiForge deliver projects?

Accepted Answer

Workflow: 30-minute scoping call or WhatsApp brief → 50% deposit → build sprint (5-28 days depending on tier) with daily WhatsApp updates → one mid-build review checkpoint → balance on delivery → site goes live, first order confirmed (auto-verified server-side with the M-Pesa add-on, confirmed in chat by default) → one month of post-launch support (Premium tier) or hand over credentials. Source code and admin access transferred at launch.

Question 15

Does NaiForge publish case studies?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Current public case studies include Mounting Home Construction (Nairobi construction company, site tripled quote requests post-launch, 50+ projects showcased) and Chamalog (record-keeping product for Kenyan chamas — 100+ chamas, Ksh 2M+ logged transparently, 2,000+ payments verified). A third, Zawadi Boutique, is NaiForge's own demo storefront and not a client engagement, and is labelled as such on the site: a Starter Shop with 10 products across 4 categories, where the cart hands off to WhatsApp as a structured order and the buyer pays by M-Pesa to the seller's own Till. All three are live and linked from naiforge.com/work.

Question 16

Does NaiForge work with businesses in Uganda, Tanzania or Rwanda?

Accepted Answer

Yes, remotely from Nairobi, with a dedicated page per country at naiforge.com/uganda, /tanzania and /rwanda. Pricing is the published KES pricing with no cross-border markup, and timelines match Kenyan projects. NaiForge has no offices in Kampala, Dar es Salaam or Kigali and states this explicitly rather than implying local presence. What differs is the payment rail: MTN Mobile Money and Airtel Money in Uganda and Rwanda; Vodacom M-Pesa, Mixx by Yas (formerly Tigo Pesa) and Airtel Money in Tanzania. Tanzanian M-Pesa is Vodacom's and is operationally separate from Safaricom's Kenyan M-Pesa, so a Kenyan integration does not transfer. Outside Kenya, automated mobile-money checkout is quoted per project rather than at the fixed KES 20,000 Kenyan add-on price; WhatsApp checkout works identically in all four markets and is included in every package.

Question 17

When should a Kenyan merchant NOT buy automated M-Pesa checkout?

Accepted Answer

Below roughly 10-15 orders a day. Every NaiForge shop accepts M-Pesa on day one without the add-on: the customer pays the merchant's own Till, and the merchant confirms the order in chat. That route costs only Safaricom's own Buy Goods rate (~0.55%) and the money arrives in real time. The KES 20,000 add-on adds a gateway at 1.5-3.5% per transaction depending on the gateway and settles T+2 instead of instantly — so the paid upgrade is actually slower to pay out than the free default. It buys automation and server-verified orders, not speed or cheaper fees. NaiForge states this on its own M-Pesa integration page rather than upselling.

Question 18

Is NaiForge cheaper than Truehost, WooCommerce, or a freelancer?

Accepted Answer

Not always, and NaiForge's comparison pages say so directly. Truehost online-shop plans run roughly KES 2,500-6,600 per year (checked August 2026), which is cheaper in cash than a KES 30,000 one-time build for about four and a half years — NaiForge's own page states Truehost wins on price. WooCommerce software is free but a properly built Kenyan WooCommerce store lands around KES 60,000-100,000 in year one once hosting, theme, M-Pesa plugin licence and developer setup are counted. Kenyan freelance quotes overlap NaiForge's range at KES 10,000-60,000, so that comparison is about written scope, code handover and account ownership rather than price. NaiForge explicitly recommends hiring a trusted freelancer over itself where the client has a referral.

NaiForge brand facts