We adopt the software nobody else will support.
A website or app that still works, but no one maintains it. The agency folded, the freelancer went quiet, the last developer left, the code is a black box, or you built it with AI and cannot get it safely in front of real users. We take it on: audit it, make it safe, keep it running under your own accounts, and move it forward. Or we tell you honestly when a rebuild is the cheaper path.
Best for a website or app you already have and need taken on, whether it is unsupported, dated or just not working for you. Simple sites welcome. Not a one-off bug fix.
What we take over
- A site or app whose developer or agency has vanished, gone quiet, or shut down.
- A website someone set up for you years ago that still works, but looks dated, is hard to find, and no longer brings in work.
- WordPress and other CMS builds that are years of updates behind and exposed.
- A site or app that works fine, but that you have no time or spare hands to keep current.
- A codebase with no documentation that only one person ever understood.
- Software still doing its job, but on hosting or versions that are end of life.
- A half-finished build the last team walked away from.
- A website or app built with AI tools that looks finished but was never made ready for real users, search or payments.
Why so many websites end up unsupported
Most business software is set up once and then left alone, with everything resting on one person until that person moves on. If your web developer has disappeared, gone quiet, or stopped replying, this is exactly the situation adoption is built for. It is a common story: the barrier to calling yourself a developer is low, small shops close, and freelancers burn out or go quiet without warning.
The result is a huge amount of working software running on foundations that are quietly rotting. A large share of the sites on the web run outdated, unsupported versions and plugins, one known bug away from being broken into. If that is you, you are not careless, you are normal, and it is fixable.
There is a newer version of the same story. A lot of sites and apps are now built by someone who thought AI could do the whole job. They look finished, but were never made ready for real use: a website Google never finds, an app that loses data the moment real users arrive, forms that quietly fail, security that was assumed rather than built. Once the person who prompted it moves on, it is abandoned from day one. The origin is different, the job is the same: make it safe and found, and keep it that way.
How adoption works
Audit
We go through the code, the hosting and the accounts, and tell you plainly what state it is in.
Stabilise
We patch what is urgent, close the security holes, and get it onto supported foundations.
Run and support
We keep it running with ongoing maintenance and support, under your own accounts, so you never depend on one person again.
Take it forward
We do not just keep it alive. When you are ready, and at your pace, we make it better: faster, easier to find on Google, and actually bringing you work.
Website rescue vs adoption
You will see this called website rescue, and often that is exactly how it starts. We prefer the word adoption, because the job is not a one-off rescue and then goodbye. It is taking your software on and keeping it supported for the long term, so you never end up back in the same corner. If a quick rescue is genuinely all you need, we will tell you that too, and point you the right way.
It is the same reason we can be honest about a rebuild. We are not here to bill you for a dramatic recovery and vanish, we are here to run the thing properly, which is what our own products get every day. If you are weighing it up, our guide on website rescue vs adoption lays out which one you actually need.
Taking over an outdated WordPress site
WordPress sites often run core, PHP and plugins that are years behind and exposed. If yours was built by someone you can no longer reach, we can take it over, secure it, and keep it current, on your own hosting and accounts. We can keep it on WordPress safely, or move it to a faster, more secure stack, whichever serves you better. There is a step by step in our guide on how to take over a WordPress site from a previous developer.
Taking over a website or app built with AI
More sites and apps now start life generated by an AI tool. They can look finished while missing the parts that keep real software alive: being found by search engines, forms that actually work, a database that scales, payments that do not lose data. If the code is yours, we take it over, harden what faces real users, and run it. If it is locked into an AI website builder, we build you something you own instead. Our guides on an app built with AI and a website built with AI walk through what to check.
Honest from the start
We will not pretend everything is fine to win the work. If a rescue would cost more than a rebuild, we say so and show you the maths. No judgement about who built it or how, the point is to get you out of the corner, not to score points.
And you own everything at the end: the code, the hosting, every account, all in your name. No lock-in, no swapping one single point of failure for another.
We keep our own running too
We already maintain live software in production. TradeBooked, our own booking and payments platform, has run with real tradespeople since 2025, across web, native apps and real payments, and we keep it safe and current every day. Keeping real software alive over the long term is the job, which is exactly what inheriting yours needs. See TradeBooked in production.
Common questions
What does it cost?
It depends on what we find, so we will not pin a figure on software we have not seen. We start with a look, not a quote. That first conversation costs nothing, and you leave it knowing what your software needs and what each path would cost, with no obligation to go further.
My web developer has disappeared or gone quiet. Can you take over?
Yes. A developer who has gone quiet is one of the most common reasons a site ends up unsupported, and adoption is built for exactly this. We do not need the original developer, the documentation or the passwords to begin. We work from the live system and the code, get you back in control of your own accounts, and take it forward.
What if there is no documentation?
That is the normal case, not the exception. We work it out from the code and the running system, map what matters, and write down what was in one person's head so it is never lost again.
Can you take over a WordPress site?
Yes. A large share of WordPress sites run outdated, unsupported core, PHP and plugins, which is exactly the risk we clear. We can keep it on WordPress safely, or move it to a faster, more secure stack if that serves you better.
Is my website too simple for this?
No. An ordinary small business website is as welcome here as a complex system. A few pages, a WordPress build, a site a friend or a local agency put together for you years ago: we take those on as readily as custom software. It does not need to be complicated to be worth making safe, keeping current and getting working for you. You do not need to be technical to talk to us.
Can you take over a site or app from a previous developer or agency?
Yes. Web or mobile, WordPress or custom code, we can take over from whoever built it and run it under your own accounts. You do not need their cooperation, and you do not need to understand the code yourself.
Can you take on a website or app I built with AI tools?
Usually yes, and more people ask this every month. AI is good at generating something that runs or looks finished, and less good at what comes next: being found by Google, keeping data and payments safe, forms that actually work, a safe way to deploy. If it is code you own, from a tool like v0, Lovable, Bolt or a chat with ChatGPT or Claude, we take it, audit it, harden the parts that face real users, and run it. If it is locked into an AI website builder like Wix or Framer, you do not own the code to hand over, so the honest move is a fresh build on something that is yours. Either way, we tell you straight.
Is there software you cannot take over?
Yes, and we would rather be straight about it. Adoption needs the code, the hosting and the accounts to be yours, or able to become yours. So we take over websites, web apps, mobile apps and custom software built for you or your business, not off-the-shelf products, operating systems or third-party platforms you only license, where there is nothing to hand over and no right to maintain someone else's product. If you are stuck on something at end of life that cannot be taken over, we will say so plainly and help you plan the safest way off it.
What if it needs a rebuild, not a rescue?
We will tell you honestly, with the cost of each path laid out. Sometimes stabilise-and-run is right, sometimes a clean rebuild is cheaper over a year. You decide with the full picture.
Who owns it after you take over?
You do. The code, the hosting and every account stay in your name. There is no lock-in and nothing you cannot take elsewhere.
Can I still update my own content afterwards?
Yes, and you will not be ringing us to fix a typo. Where the site runs on a CMS you keep it, and you carry on editing your own text, images and pages as you always did. Where it does not, we give you a simple way to make everyday changes yourself. No lock-in means no paying an engineer by the hour to change a paragraph.
Do I have to move hosting?
Only if it is unsafe or holding you back, and only with your say-so. Often we can secure and support what you already have.
Related guides
Get your software adopted
Tell us what you have, even if you are not sure what state it is in. We cannot fairly price software we have not seen, so we start with a look, not a quote. The first conversation is free, and you leave knowing what it needs and whether it is worth it.