Cast Iron Coding

What Cast Iron Coding does

Cast Iron Coding is a privately held, founder/partner-owned web development agency headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 2005, the firm operates with a team of approximately 14 developers, designers, account managers, and project managers, delivering full-service web development from conceptualization and design through engineering, deployment, and long-term maintenance. The company targets mission-driven organizations, with primary client concentrations in education and research institutions, nonprofits and foundations, government and public sector agencies, and museums and arts organizations, alongside selective enterprise work (IBM, Siemens, Carnival).

The firm's technical stack spans full-stack web development using Ruby on Rails, Python/Django, PHP/Laravel, and React/Next.js/Vue.js, with cloud infrastructure on AWS and Google Cloud and container tooling including Docker and Kubernetes. Cast Iron specializes in complex CMS implementations across Craft, Sanity, Contentful, and Strapi, and builds custom GraphQL and REST APIs. Notable platform-level contributions include the Manifold Scholarship Platform (developed with University of Minnesota Press and CUNY's Graduate Center Digital Scholarship Lab) and Meru, an open-source scholarly publishing aggregator that harvests content from DSpace, OJS, and Janeway via OAI-PMH. Other flagship projects include the Oregon Food Bank Food Finder, the USRowing headless CMS website, and the METS digital publishing platform for the University of Rochester.

Cast Iron operates a pure project-based professional services model with no recurring subscription or productized revenue stream. Typical projects range from $10,000 to $500,000 with multi-year contracts and pricing determined through discovery and proposal processes. Go-to-market is driven by thought leadership content (technical blog, case studies, RFP resources), newsletter, and direct engagement through a website contact form, targeting enterprise/mid-market buyers primarily via RFP processes. The firm reports a 94% client retention rate and serves exclusively US-based clients, with no external institutional investment disclosed.

Name

Cast Iron Coding

Legal name

Cast Iron Coding

Website

https://castironcoding.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cast Iron Coding is a Portland-based, full-service web development agency with a team of 14 that builds custom web applications, CMS platforms, and digital publishing tools for mission-driven clients including universities, nonprofits, museums, and government agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Web Development Services: Full-service web development agency providing conceptualization, design, engineering, deployment, and long-term maintenance. Projects range from $10,000 to $500,000. Revenue is project-based with no recurring subscription component.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cast Iron Coding is a full-service web development agency that helps mission-driven organizations conceptualize, design, engineer, deploy, and maintain web applications, CMS-driven sites, and e-commerce platforms. Engagements span custom CMS implementations (Craft, Sanity, Contentful, Strapi), API development (GraphQL/REST), and design services, with project sizes typically ranging from $10,000 to $500,000. The agency also contributes to open-source scholarly publishing infrastructure including Manifold and the Meru content aggregator.

Product overview

Cast Iron Coding is a full-service web development agency rather than a product SaaS company. Their portfolio consists of custom client projects built on established frameworks (Ruby on Rails, Django, Laravel, React/Next.js/Vue) and CMS platforms (Craft CMS, WordPress, Sanity, Contentful, Strapi). Their notable named projects include the METS digital publishing platform (custom Rails/Next.js/GraphQL stack for Middle English scholarly literature), the open-source Meru scholarly publishing aggregator (schema-driven architecture with OAI-PMH content harvesting), the Oregon Food Bank Food Finder (React/Google Maps application), and the USRowing headless CMS website. They offer services spanning strategy, planning, design, development, hosting, and ongoing support, with expertise in accessibility, responsive design, internationalization, and API development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Meru: An open-source web application platform for library publishers, developed in partnership with the Next Generation Library Publishing initiative.

Products and services

• Web Development Services End-to-end web development services covering strategy, planning, design, development, hosting, and ongoing support for mission-driven organizations. Specializes in large CMS-driven websites, web applications, and e-commerce solutions with project sizes typically ranging from $10,000 to $500,000.
• Content Management System Development Custom CMS implementation and migration services using Craft, October, WordPress, TYPO3, Eleventy, Sanity, Contentful, and Strapi, often deployed in headless or decoupled architectures.
• API Development Backend API development using REST and GraphQL architectures, including Rails-based API applications and custom GraphQL implementations built on graphql-ruby and dry-validation for scalable web applications.
• E-commerce Solutions Custom e-commerce website development including Shopify Apps & Themes integration, fulfillment services setup, and inventory management integration for mission-driven publishers, retailers, and merchandise-driven organizations.
• Design Services User-focused UX design, accessible design practices, visual design, prototyping, style guide development, and design system creation as part of Cast Iron Coding's full-service web development engagements.
• Meru Open-Source Scholarly Publishing Platform Open-source web application platform for library publishers developed in partnership with the Next Generation Library Publishing initiative, aggregating scholarly content from diverse repository systems (DSpace, OJS, Janeway) via OAI-PMH harvesting and presenting it in a unified interface with flexible institutional branding.

Quantifiable outcome

• 94% of clients stick with Cast Iron Coding
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Forum One: Forum One is a DC-area digital agency that builds web platforms for associations, nonprofits, and government — directly comparable to Cast Iron's mission-driven vertical focus and project-based delivery model.
• Big Duck: Big Duck is a communications and digital agency exclusively serving nonprofits, with comparable mission-driven positioning and similar boutique scale.
• Lullabot: Lullabot is a comparable boutique web development agency focused on Drupal and complex CMS implementations, serving enterprise and mission-driven clients with similar headcount and project-based pricing.
• Elevated Third: Elevated Third is a Denver-based digital agency of similar scale specializing in Drupal/web development for marketing teams and mission-driven organizations, comparable in size and service mix.
• TBH Creative: TBH Creative is a comparable boutique web design and development agency with similar project ranges ($10K-$500K), serving mission-driven and mid-market clients.
• Velir: Velir is a comparable digital agency of similar scale providing web development, CMS implementations, and personalization for associations and enterprise — overlapping in the same CMS-heavy service lines.
• Aten Design Group: Aten Design Group is a comparable boutique web agency focused on Drupal and design systems for nonprofits and universities — directly competing in Cast Iron's higher-ed and nonprofit verticals.
• Four Kitchens: Four Kitchens is a comparable web development agency specializing in Drupal and decoupled CMS architectures for large content-driven organizations, with similar headcount and project complexity.
• NewCity Media: NewCity is a similarly sized full-service digital agency serving mission-driven clients with web development, design, and strategy — a closely matched boutique competitor in the same niche.
• Rootid: Rootid is a similarly sized digital agency focused on Drupal and web development for nonprofits and mission-driven organizations, with overlapping customer segments and service offerings.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/castiron
• Xx.com/castironcoding
• Facebookfacebook.com/Cast-Iron-Coding-156665047688758
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cast-iron-coding

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cast Iron Coding