Raleigh Web App Development Case Study: AlphaScreen

Most conversations we have about web app development start the same way: a business has outgrown spreadsheets, a legacy tool, or a “good enough” no-code platform, and needs something built for exactly how they work. That was the starting point for AlphaScreen, a Raleigh-based SaaS product we built for income-focused options traders. It’s a good example of what Raleigh web app development looks like when the requirements are real and the stakes are real money.

The Problem AlphaScreen Needed Solved

AlphaScreen’s founders wanted a professional-grade options screening tool that could compete with established industry platforms, built around two income strategies: Cash-Secured Puts and Covered Calls. Generic options platforms bury traders in data without helping them act on it. Our brief was to build a web app that could screen thousands of contracts in real time, run Black-Scholes pricing and Greeks calculations, and present the results in a way a trader could use to make a decision under time pressure.

This is what separates a web app from a website. A website communicates information. A web app processes data, runs calculations, responds instantly to user input, and stays reliable under real usage. That’s why “web app development” and “website design” are different disciplines, even though they get lumped together constantly.

How We Approached the Build

We built AlphaScreen as a high-performance web application from the ground up, with a few requirements driving every architectural decision:

Real-time data, real performance constraints. The app pulls from a live market data API and has to stay fast while screening thousands of contracts and calculating Greeks across all of them. A slow screener is a useless screener for a trader watching prices move.
Interactive visualization, not static reports. Profit and loss simulations needed to respond instantly as a trader adjusted strike prices or expiration dates, so the interface had to feel closer to a trading terminal than a dashboard.
A graceful path for new users. Not every visitor arrives with API access ready to go, so we built an Offline Mode that lets traders explore the full interface before committing to a data connection.
A premium, professional feel. Traders managing real capital expect a tool that looks and behaves like it belongs in that world, not a hobby project.

Our full case study on AlphaScreen goes deeper into the technical decisions. The short version: we treated performance and reliability as design requirements from day one, not something to fix after launch.

Why This Matters If You’re Evaluating Raleigh Web App Developers

If you’re comparing Raleigh web app developers, AlphaScreen is a good stress test for what to ask about. Can the team you’re evaluating point to a project where they handled real-time data, complex business logic, and a production-grade user experience, not just a marketing site with a contact form? A lot of agencies that advertise “web application development” have only built websites with a login page bolted on.

We built AlphaScreen the same way we approach every web application development project: full-stack ownership, modern tooling (React, Node.js, PostgreSQL), and a team that stays local and accessible after launch instead of handing you off to support tickets.

We’re Not Just a Raleigh Web Design Agency

AlphaScreen is one example of a broader pattern: we regularly build custom software for Raleigh and Triangle-area businesses that goes well beyond a website, from SaaS platforms to internal tools that automate a workflow a business has outgrown. We also consult with local Triangle businesses who aren’t sure yet whether they need a website, a web app, or something in between, and want a technical opinion before they commit budget.

If you have a workflow that’s stuck in spreadsheets, a customer-facing tool you’ve been meaning to build, or you just want a second opinion on a technical approach, talk to our team. We’re Raleigh-based, founded by NC State alumni, and we build the software ourselves.