How to make an app for a handicraft business

A craft workshop juggles many small things: a shop's order for 200 mugs due next month, which artisan painted how many plates this week, how much clay and colour is left, and what went to the mela and came back. An app keeps orders, artisans' work and stock together.

Updated 2026-11-09

Who uses the app

The owner, and a supervisor in the workshop if needed. If both use their own phones, or artisans should mark their own work, connect your own Supabase database so everyone sees the same records.

The screens a handicraft business app needs

Orders: Each order with buyer, items, quantity, design photo, price, due date and advance
Products: Your designs with photos, sizes, rate and time taken per piece
Artisan work: Pieces given to and finished by each artisan, by stage, with piece-rate earnings
Materials: Clay, colours, glaze, packing material bought and what is left
Exhibitions: Stock taken to a mela, sold there and brought back, with the cash and UPI collected
Dues: Shops and buyers who owe money, with a WhatsApp reminder button

Features worth asking for

A design photo attached to each order, so the artisan paints what the buyer chose
Piece-rate earnings per artisan worked out by the week
Orders sorted by due date, with what is still left to make
A packing list as a PDF for each courier parcel
Exhibition stock counted out and back in, so sales add up
A catalogue PDF of your designs to share with a new shop on WhatsApp
A UPI QR on the screen for payments at your mela stall

Where the data lives

If only you use the app, the data can stay on your phone. If a supervisor or artisans use their own phones, connect your own Supabase database; many design photos are also safer there. To take card or UPI payments inside the app, connect your Razorpay account too.

How to make it with AppCub, step by step

Decide what the app does. List the screens you need, for example: Orders, Products, Artisan work, Materials, Exhibitions.
Describe it to AppCub. Paste the request below, changed to your own business and details.
Check the plan. AppCub shows the screens and features it will build. Change them in the chat until they are right; seeing the plan is free.
Try it on your phone. The app runs live next to the chat. Scan the QR code to install it, and ask for changes.
Share it. Share it as a web link, an APK file, or publish it on Google Play from your own developer account.

Copy this request, change the details to match your handicraft business, and paste it into AppCub:

Make an app for Neel Kala Pottery, a blue pottery workshop in Jaipur. Screens: orders, products, artisan work, materials, exhibitions and dues. Orders: buyer, items, quantity, design photo, price, advance, due date. Products with photo, size, rate and days per piece. Artisan work: five artisans, pieces shaped or painted per day, piece rate ₹15 to ₹40 by item, weekly total. Materials: clay, colours, glaze, bubble wrap. Exhibitions: stock taken, sold, brought back, cash and UPI. Dues with a WhatsApp reminder. A catalogue PDF to share. Show my UPI QR for stall payments. Blue and white colours.

Tips for a handicraft business app

Agree on piece rates for each item and stage with your artisans before you enter them.
Add a design photo to every order; it saves repainting a whole batch.
Count stock before and after every exhibition, the same day.
Keep the catalogue PDF to your current designs and prices; send it to shops instead of many single photos.
Start with orders and artisan work; add materials once the habit is set.

What it costs

Describing your app and seeing AppCub’s plan for it is free.
A new app usually takes 60 to 110 credits. Start with the 2-day trial for ₹99 (150 credits, enough for one app and a few changes) or the one-time App Pack for ₹499. Starter is ₹1,599 a month for 700 credits.
Google Play needs a paid plan (it includes the Play Store bundle and your app’s signing key) and your own Google Play developer account, a one-time US$25 fee to Google.
Work that fails or is rolled back costs no credits.

See all plans

Good to know

The app doesn't sell on marketplaces or connect to courier tracking, and it isn't an online shop. Buyers' messages and payment requests go on WhatsApp when you tap the button.
AppCub builds Android apps. You can also share the app as a web link that opens on any phone; for the iPhone App Store, AppCub’s team can do it for you.

Questions

Can the app work out my artisans' piece-rate wages?

Yes. Enter pieces done per artisan and the rate per item, and the app shows the weekly total for each.

Can I attach the design a buyer chose to the order?

Yes. Attach a photo of the design to the order; anyone using the app can open it while making the batch.

Can the app help at exhibitions and melas?

Yes. Count stock out, record each sale with cash or UPI, and count back what returns, so the mela's figures add up.

Can I send my catalogue to a shop from the app?

Yes. The app can make a PDF of your designs with photos, sizes and rates to share on WhatsApp.

Can buyers order from the app themselves?

Yes, if you share the app and connect Supabase so orders reach you; with Razorpay connected they can pay too. Many workshops start with orders entered by the owner.

Can the app show a UPI QR at my stall?

Yes. It can show your UPI QR on screen for buyers to scan, and you record the sale.

Make your handicraft business app

Seeing the plan is free. Building starts with a 2-day trial for ₹99.

Start building