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Case study

Custom Appointment Booking Platform

How we helped a U.S. startup turn an idea into a fully custom appointment booking MVP with payments, scheduling, and seamless integrations.

Industry

Events management

Location

United States

Project duration

5 months

Services provided

Product Development, MVP Development

Client

Bookme is a U.S.-based startup preparing to launch a simple but powerful platform where anyone can both offer and book services – from yoga classes to hiking trips and personal consultations. The founder, a serial entrepreneur, wanted a tool that felt lighter than existing booking apps but still robust enough to handle money flows, scheduling, and integrations. They came to Peppernode to build it custom from the ground up, trusting us to deliver a launch-ready MVP in just a few months.

Key Achievements

Fully custom MVP delivered in 5 months
Responsive PWA working seamlessly on desktop and mobile
Stripe and dots.dev integration handling card payments and compliant payouts
Zoom OAuth providing auto-generated virtual meeting links

Challenge

Context & Background

The client’s vision was straightforward: a single personal link that shows availability, lets people book time, and automates payments. At the same time, they wanted users to switch between roles – sometimes selling their own services, other times booking others’. None of the existing tools allowed this level of simplicity combined with flexibility.

Pain Points

Manual scheduling prone to conflicts and errors
Overloaded or rigid booking tools on the market
Lack of automated, compliant payment and payout flows

Solution

Team

1 Project Manager / Business Analyst
1 Back-end Engineer
2 Front-end Engineers
1 QA Engineer

Approach

We worked in agile sprints with backlog prioritization and twice-weekly syncs. Collaboration with the client’s in-house designer was daily, ensuring smooth handoff from design to development. Early on, we solved a key challenge by moving from a shared Zoom account concept to per-user OAuth integration – giving each provider secure, personal meeting links.

Functionality

Accounts & Roles

Single account for both buyer and provider roles
Automatic creation of Stripe and dots.dev accounts during signup

Personal Link & Profile

Auto-generated link (customizable once)
Public profile with description, image, and successful bookings counter

Scheduling

Weekly availability setup with day-by-day controls
Customizable slot durations (30 min, 1h, or client-proposed)
Conflict prevention with 15-minute slot holds
Handy calendar and timeline to view all scheduled bookings with details and statuses

Locations

Virtual (Zoom auto-link or any custom URL)
In-person (multiple saved addresses)
Client-proposed locations

Rates & Pricing

Default $10/hr, editable by provider
Option to let clients propose rates

Booking Flow

Clients can book without registering, then sign in at confirmation step
Provider approval required before booking is final
24-hour cutoff: bookings within this window can’t be canceled

Payments & Wallet

Stripe for payments, dots.dev for payouts
Funds released to provider 1 hour after session ends
Provider wallet with balance and withdrawal history

Notifications

Twilio OTP login
Rich SMS/email triggers for booking requests, approvals, cancellations, reminders

Admin Layer

Django Admin for Bookme’s team to support users, view bookings, and monitor payments

Technologies

PostgreSQL
Celery
AWS S3
Docker
TypeScript
Django
Next.js
Python
React
Stripe
Dots.dev SDK
Day.js
Sendgrid

“Unlike many companies that rely heavily on comprehensive project plans before taking action, Peppernode demonstrated an exceptional capacity to understand our vision quickly and intuitively, and then execute independently while staying aligned with our goals.”

Results & Impact

Quantitative Results

MVP launched in 5 months
Full integration with Stripe, dots.dev, Zoom, and Twilio
Launch-ready responsive PWA

Qualitative Outcomes

Simplicity for users: one personal link that does everything
Trust building: public booking counts on profiles
Operational clarity: clear rules on approvals, holds, and cancellations
Scalability: admin tools and payment tracking ready for growth

“I often wondered what it would take to build a powerful appointment booking platform – something in the same space as Calendly, but shaped with my own perspective and input. Luckily, I got the opportunity to turn those ideas into reality by developing Bookme — an amazing product I’m truly proud of.
The process was smooth and enjoyable, thanks to the customer’s team, where everyone knew their responsibilities and collaborated seamlessly. It was a great experience delivering this project together.”

– Ilona Bielym, Project Manager