There are plenty of “top company” rankings online for any type of business, including software development in Python. Why would I create another?
For one thing, I’m interested in Python. I’m trying to learn it, and checking out what these companies are doing is quite motivational.
Also, I want to add a new perspective to the discussion. Most articles, or “listicles” like this, are just a bland list of companies. Each firm is accompanied by a set of raw data, like their location, team size and market focus, but not much else. They are usually written in broken English, and only pretend to be actual articles.
Now let’s be honest with each other. In a globalized market where expertise and performance is king, location and team size are not that important. I think the most important thing is a company’s portfolio, right?
Which is why I’ll be checking out intriguing projects from some of the top software development companies specialized in Python.
Join me, and let’s go see all the cool stuff that Python development companies are doing!
Companies:
STX Next
Full disclosure: I work with STX Next regularly, and they sponsored this article.
STX Next is a Python powerhouse based in Poland, and they have been holding a very strong position in at least 4 categories of Clutch’s yearly Top Company reviews.
They have 15 years of “street cred” on the market, and over 350 delivered projects. With more than 200 people on board, they have teams for building all types of software: desktop, mobile, web, artificial intelligence, and more.
Their portfolio is hefty. It was hard to pick one great project, but since I’m a gamer and I know Unity, this one caught my eye:
Project example: Katana for Unity
You probably recognize Unity because it’s a household name in the games industry. But it’s so much more than that.
The Unity team created one of the best platforms for complex 2D, 3D, VR and AR projects. The games industry is just a small part of what Unity can do. They also offer services for the Automotive, Manufacturing, Film, Construction, and EdTech industries, just to name a few.
Building software for Unity is no easy task. Their project was Katana—a Python tool for continuous integration.
A tool like this allows programmers in big development teams to smoothly add new parts to the codebase. Developers don’t have to worry about their part conflicting with multiple other code parts being added at the same time.
Building something like this from the ground up isn’t a feasible solution for a company like Unity. It’s too error-prone—this tool was needed quickly, and would become essential to Unity’s daily operations. So what I like is that the STX Next team used a tried & tested tool called BuildBot as a foundation from which they built up Katana.
This way developers didn’t have to reinvent the wheel regarding the most basic features. The team could focus on customizing Katana for Unity’s needs, and making it as fast and bug-proof as possible.
Katana can handle more than 10,000 builds per day, and from what I know, it has become an essential tool for the Unity development team.
Merixstudio
Merixstudio is a software development company that works with clients from all over the world. Their clients include small and medium businesses, as well as Y Combinator backed startups or enterprise market leaders.
Just like STX Next, they’re a full stack company that can take over the whole development process if needed, from A to Z. From prototyping, all the way to long-term support of built software.
Project example: Recital management system
There’s an old American joke you might know from the movies:
“Excuse me, how do you get to Carnegie Hall?”
“Practice, practice, practice”
Well, Merixstudio found an even better way to get into the greatest artistic institutions in the world.
They created a recital management system (RMS).
It was ordered by one of the most prestigious music schools in the USA—Juilliard. For an institution that large, a seemingly small process like scheduling recitals seems that it could be solved with Excel sheets.
But who has time to go through countless sheets and input data manually? Especially in Juilliard, where the process required a lot of back-and-forth between students and the school’s office.
So Merixstudio built a beautiful Python web application with a rich suite of features built to fit the demands of scheduling music performances.
Django Stars
On the market since 2008, Django Stars is exactly what the name says—a team of developers specialized in building web apps with Python and it’s most popular web dev framework, Django.
They work mostly with SMBs, although as they state in their Clutch profile, they’ve seen some of their small clients transform into enterprises over the time of their cooperation.
Project example: LegalKite
LegalKite is a law firm SaaS platform that Django Stars built for Swiss and German lawyers.
In a regulatory tech (or RegTech, if you're one of the cool kids) project like this one, security and data accuracy are things that matter the most. Ultimately, it doesn’t require very complex features, but it does require a highly reliable architechture, as well as top notch protection from hacks.
LegalKite existed before, but Django Stars were responsible for turning it into a full-fledged product. The end result is a sort of Google Drive, but customized and built specifically for law firms. LegalKite provides quick access to legal data (laws, references, court decisions, updates), as well as an AI-based search engine that enables lawyers to find what they need quickly.
Steelkiwi
Built in 2011, Steelkiwi is a smaller team that outsources interesting projects for companies of all sizes.
Project example: YoTutor
This is an educational technology project. Steelkiwi created an online education platform that combines one-on-one tutoring with the option to buy courses for one of their clients.
The development team used Python to build a sleek platform where people can find tutors and buy courses. For the teachers, there’s a set of distinct features that make their work easier—they can build a profile, easily communicate with their students, and maintain a teaching schedule for all students.
Before creating the app, the Steelkiwi team researched competitors, analyzed the best practices in edtech, and applied their learnings to design a fresh new tool that doesn’t look like anything else.
Quintagroup
Building software since 2003, Quintagroup is another interesting Python company with great reviews on Clutch.
Like Django Stars, they focus on web development, in particular building web-based solutions based on open-source platforms.
Interesting project: ProZorro
Probably the most interesting project in their portfolio, ProZorro is essentially a system built to move Ukraine’s government into the digital world.
Well, actually they built OpenProcurement, an open-source system, which they then turned into ProZorro for the government.
The system demystifies public spending and combats corruption by providing information about how public funds are spent.
Users can use the system to easily start and manage their procurements, and suppliers can use it to register bid proposals.
This project received the World Procurement Award in 2016, at the Public Sector Awards in London, as well as several other awards.
Idego Group
Idego Group is a Python & Django studio that started in 2010. As their profile says, they particularly enjoy working with start-ups and building web app MVPs.
Interesting project: Cargologic
Logistics are complicated. This industry is ripe for disruption with SaaS platforms and bespoke solutions for logistics companies.
Cargologic is more of a SaaS platform, even though it was first created for a specific client. The client had a lot of paper documentation that needed to be digitized and handled more efficiently.
Idego developers used Python to build a complex, but easy-to-use system that makes it easy to manage documents and procedures in shipping companies.
Sunscrapers
Suncrapers is a Python and JavaScript studio that focuses on web development and data science.
They’ve built over 200 programs for companies around the world, including the likes of Samsung, Spotify and Volvo.
Apart from that, they are very active in the IT community—they organize, sponsor, and attend industry events regularly.
Interesting project: Velvet
This is a SaaS platform for managing digital marketing projects, built for RED, an acclaimed creative agency that’s been around since 1999.
RED was at a moment when they wanted to improve the way they manage digital ad campaigns.
With just one Suncscrapers developer and the power of Python, Velvet was born. It’s a monolithic application with several microservices, so it’s a kind of hybrid if you compare it to other software.
The developer worked with RED’s VP of Engineering, and ultimately he became the technical leader for Velvet, which launched in 2017 and has gained a lot of users since then. At least 6 major brands are using it now.
10Clouds
This Python team has been around since 2009, and they do web and mobile applications. The 10Clouds team has worked with over 90 clients from all around the world. Like all companies here, they do end-to-end development, or takeover of certain parts of the development process.
There are certain industries they focus on: fintech, blockchain, edtech, and medtech. Apparently they enjoy working with challenging projects on the bleeding edge of technology, so that’s at least one thing that you can admire them for—but definitely not the only thing.
Interesting project: TrustStamp
Apart from other complex tech, Trust Stamp required top-class biometric authentication and machine learning algorithms—and the 10Clouds team was responsible for building it all. It is a platform that enables something called trust-as-a-service.
Trust Stamp is a program for protecting people and businesses from financial fraud, money laundering, as well as phishing and spoofing attacks.
Essentially, it eliminates the need for passwords, and substitutes them with biometric-based digital identities.
The 10Clouds team built a program that contains a suite of modern micro-services, and an extremely polished and well-put-together authentication system based on data mined from public records.
It needs just one photo to determine if you’re a real person logging in, or just a photo / video.
Summary
I sourced companies from Clutch. While it’s fun to compare, ultimately I don’t believe there is such a thing as a single best software development company. It all depends on your needs. That’s why we should always appreciate that we live in a world where there are so many different companies to work at, or cooperate with, depending on what you need.
Because in the end, it’s not about being the best, or earning the most. It’s about doing meaningful work in a meaningful way, and creating beautifully functional solutions. And I think this holds true for all the companies that I listed above.
It was interesting to see what can be done with Python. If you’re also an adept of this programming language, it’s encouraging to know that the Python ecosystem is stronger than ever, despite the recent stepping-down of Guido van Rossum.
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