Task: Marketplace for Local Service Providers
We were approached by Dmitry, an entrepreneur from Krasnodar. The idea is simple yet necessary: a platform where local service providers (plumbers, electricians, tutors) can list their services, and city residents can find and order them.
What the client wanted:
- A catalog of specialists with filters
- Registration for both service providers and clients
- A booking system for services
- An internal chat
- Payment through the platform (with a 10% commission)
- Ratings and reviews
- An admin panel for moderation
Constraints:
- Budget: 350,000 ₽
- Timeline: 2-3 weeks
- Launch needed before the advertising campaign starts
A classic development of such a marketplace would take 3-4 months and cost at least 1.5 million rubles. We proposed a no-code solution on Bubble.io.
Days 1-2: Designing the Architecture
Step 1: Defined the Data Structure
We created basic entities in Bubble:
User
- Type: Client / Provider
- Name, email, phone
- Avatar, rating
- Registration date
Service
- Title, description
- Category (plumbing, electrical, repair...)
- Price (from / exact / negotiable)
- Duration of work
- Provider (link to User)
- Photos
Booking
- Client (link to User)
- Service (link to Service)
- Date and time
- Status (new / confirmed / completed / canceled)
- Amount, commission
Review
- Client (link to User)
- Provider (link to User)
- Rating (1-5 stars)
- Review text
- Date
Message
- Sender (link to User)
- Recipient (link to User)
- Text
- Read (yes/no)
- Timestamp
Step 2: Mapped the User Flow
For the client:
- Visits the site → sees the catalog of services
- Filters by category / price / rating
- Selects a service → reads the description and reviews
- Clicks "Order" → chooses date/time
- Registers (if needed) → makes payment
- Receives confirmation → chats with the provider
- After completion → leaves a review
For the provider:
- Registers as a service provider
- Creates a profile with a description
- Adds services (title, price, photo)
- Receives notifications about new orders
- Confirms / declines the order
- Communicates with the client
- After completion → receives payment (minus commission)
For the admin:
- Sees all orders and users
- Moderates content (new providers, reviews)
- Manages categories
- Sees statistics (orders, revenue, commission)
Days 3-5: Creating Interfaces
Homepage
We designed it in the Bubble visual editor:
- Header with logo and navigation
- Hero section with search
- List of popular categories (3×3 tiles)
- Block of top providers (cards with ratings)
- How it works (3 steps)
- Client reviews
- CTA for provider registration
Service Catalog
We created a Repeating Group (dynamic list) with the following filters:
- Category (dropdown)
- Price range (slider)
- Rating (from 3 stars and above)
- Sorting (by popularity / price / rating)
Each service card:
- Photo
- Title and brief description
- Price
- Provider rating
- "More details" button
Service Page
Detailed description:
- Gallery of photos
- Full description
- Price and duration
- Provider card (photo, name, rating, experience)
- Reviews block
- Calendar for selecting date/time
- "Order" button
Client Dashboard
- My orders (active / completed)
- Favorite services
- Messages
- Profile settings
Provider Dashboard
- My services (add / edit)
- Orders (new / confirmed / history)
- Availability calendar
- Messages
- Statistics (orders, income, rating)
- Withdraw funds
Admin Panel
Tables with data:
- Users (clients / providers)
- Services (active / under moderation)
- Orders
- Categories
- Dashboard with metrics
Days 6-8: Implementing Logic and Workflow
Service Booking
We created a workflow in Bubble:
- User selects a date → we check availability with the provider
- If available → we create a draft Booking with status "unpaid"
- Redirect to the payment page
- After successful payment:
- Change status to "paid, awaiting confirmation"
- Send email to the provider
- Send SMS to the provider (via Twilio API)
- Provider receives notification → confirms the order
- Status changes to "confirmed"
- Email to the client: "Your order has been confirmed"
Rating System
- After order completion, the client can leave a review
- The provider's rating is recalculated automatically
- Formula: average rating of all reviews
- When a new review is added → update the Rating field for the provider
Chat
We used Bubble's built-in capabilities:
- List of conversations (repeating group)
- Messaging window
- Auto-refresh every 3 seconds
- Notification of a new message (red dot)
Payment
We integrated Stripe (via Bubble plugin):
- Client enters card details
- Funds are held on the platform
- After order completion:
- 10% commission remains on the platform's account
- 90% is transferred to the provider
Days 9-11: Integrations and Automation
1. Email Notifications (SendGrid)
- Registration → welcome email
- New order → notification to the provider
- Order confirmation → notification to the client
- Reminder 24 hours before the order
- Request to leave a review after completion
2. SMS Notifications (Twilio)
- New order to the provider
- Confirmation to the client
- Reminder 1 hour before the start
3. Analytics (Google Analytics)
- Tracking registrations
- Conversion to orders
- Popular categories
- Traffic sources
4. CRM (Supabase + n8n)
We set up automation:
- All registrations go to Supabase
- n8n sends data of new providers to Google Sheets for moderation
- Admin checks → activates profile
- Automatic notification to the provider about activation
Days 12-13: Testing
What We Checked:
✅ Registration and authorization (client + provider)
✅ Creating a service by the provider
✅ Search and filters in the catalog
✅ Service booking
✅ Payment (test mode Stripe)
✅ Notifications (email + SMS)
✅ Chat between client and provider
✅ Leaving a review
✅ Recalculating ratings
✅ Admin panel
Bugs Found:
- Price filter did not work correctly with "Negotiable" services → fixed
- Rapid message sending in chat caused duplicates → added delay
- Email notifications sometimes did not send → configured retry logic
Day 14: Launch and Documentation
Preparation for Launch:
- Purchased and configured the domain
- Connected SSL certificate
- Set up SEO (title, meta, Open Graph)
- Created reference materials:
- Guide for providers "How to Create a Service"
- FAQ for clients
- Instructions for admins
- Conducted final testing in production
- Launched!
Technology Stack
Core:
- Bubble.io — development platform
- Bubble Database — database
Integrations:
- Stripe — payment
- SendGrid — email newsletters
- Twilio — SMS notifications
- Google Analytics — analytics
- Supabase — additional database for integrations
- n8n — process automation
Bubble Plugins:
- Stripe Plugin
- Calendar Plugin (date/time selection)
- Google Places (address autocomplete)
- Image Uploader (photo upload)
Finances: What the Project Cost
Development:
- Work of no-code specialist: 250,000 ₽
- Setting up integrations: 50,000 ₽
- Interface design: 30,000 ₽
- Total: 330,000 ₽
Monthly Expenses:
- Bubble.io (Professional plan): $129/month (~12,000 ₽)
- Domain and SSL: 500 ₽/month
- SendGrid: $19/month (~1,800 ₽)
- Twilio: ~$30/month (~2,800 ₽) depending on SMS volume
- Supabase (Pro plan): $25/month (~2,300 ₽)
- Total: ~19,400 ₽/month
Comparison with Traditional Development:
| Item | No-code | Traditional Development |
|---|---|---|
| Development Cost | 330,000 ₽ | 1,500,000 - 2,000,000 ₽ |
| Development Time | 14 days | 3-4 months |
| Cost of Changes | ~5,000 ₽/hour | ~10,000 ₽/hour |
| Monthly Expenses | ~19,400 ₽ | ~50,000 - 100,000 ₽ (hosting, support) |
Results Three Months After Launch
Platform Metrics:
- 127 registered providers
- 1,843 clients
- 412 completed orders
- Average check: 3,200 ₽
- Revenue: 1,318,400 ₽
- Platform commission (10%): 131,840 ₽
Popular Categories:
- Appliance Repair — 28% of orders
- Tutors — 22%
- Plumbing — 18%
- Cleaning — 15%
- Electrical — 9%
- Other — 8%
Problems Encountered:
-
Spam registrations of providers
- Solution: added moderation and document verification
-
Clients contacted providers directly bypassing the platform
- Solution: hid contacts until payment is made
-
Disputes between clients and providers
- Solution: introduced an arbitration and refund system
What's Next:
Dmitry plans to:
- Add a mobile app (on FlutterFlow)
- Launch a subscription system for providers
- Scale to other cities
- Implement online consultations (video calls)
Conclusions: Why It Worked Quickly
1. The Right Platform Bubble.io is excellent for marketplaces — it has everything out of the box: database, authentication, payment, API.
2. Clear Terms of Reference From the very beginning, we knew what we were doing. No "let's add this" during the process.
3. Ready Integrations We didn't write our own payment system or chat — we used ready-made solutions via API.
4. Focus on MVP We didn't make it "pretty," we made it "functional." Design was refined later.
5. Team Experience We had done similar projects and knew the pitfalls.
Is No-code Right for Your Marketplace?
✅ Yes, if:
- Standard logic (catalog, orders, payments, reviews)
- Up to 10,000 users in the first year
- Quick launch needed to test a hypothesis
- Budget is limited (up to 500,000)
❌ No, if:
- Complex algorithms (machine learning, recommendation systems)
- Millions of users from day one
- Speed of operation is critical (milliseconds)
- Non-standard architecture
For most marketplaces at the start, no-code is the optimal choice.
Want to Create Your Marketplace?
We have been launching no-code platforms since 2020. Marketplaces, services, SaaS — we have done it all.
Tell us about your idea — we will evaluate the timelines and costs for implementation on no-code for free. Contact us or leave a request on the website.
