SouthStack is a web development studio based in Rolleston, Canterbury. We build fast, accessible, NZ-compliant websites and web applications for small to medium businesses across New Zealand.
Founded in 2026 with a clear mission: to build genuinely effective websites for NZ businesses — with clear contracts, honest pricing, and no lock-in.
We're a small studio, which means you work directly with the founder — not an account manager. Every project gets our full attention from first call to final handover.
"SouthStack builds high-performance websites that load fast, rank well, meet NZ accessibility law, and are built to convert — with transparent pricing, clear IP ownership, and no ongoing lock-in."
We choose Astro for content sites because it delivers near-instant load times. Not because it's trendy — because slow websites cost businesses money.
WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility, NZ Privacy Act 2020, GST handling — all included as standard. Not an add-on, not an afterthought.
Full IP transfer on final payment. The code, the designs, the content — all yours. No licence fees, no platform lock-in, no ongoing dependency on us.
No account managers, no handoffs to junior developers. You talk directly to the person building your site, from first call to final handover.
Every project starts with a signed Statement of Work defining exactly what's in scope. No surprises, no scope creep, no unpaid invoices.
As AWS and data science skills develop, SouthStack can serve clients needing more than a website — pipelines, dashboards, and ML features.
We use AI tools — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and others — to work more efficiently. This is no different to a builder using power tools. The tools don't replace judgement, experience, or accountability.
What AI cannot do: understand your business goals, apply NZ accessibility law correctly, manage a project, take legal responsibility if something goes wrong, or fix it under warranty when it breaks. That requires a person.
Scaffolding code faster, suggesting refactors, catching errors, writing first drafts of copy.
Strategy, NZ legal compliance, client management, accessibility judgement, and accountability.