Software development Brussels
Software development for Brussels companies
A portal or internal tool that works in English, French and Dutch, built to grow.
Three languages in one system
Software development for a Brussels company has a requirement most cities never write into the brief: the people who use it do not share a language. Your back office may work in French, your Flemish clients expect Dutch, and your managers, consultants or international clients read English. At the end of 2025 the Brussels Region had 125,226 companies with their seat there, 10,601 of them in information and communication, and many of the rest run on spreadsheets, shared inboxes and tools that only speak one language.
This page is for the moment those tools stop scaling: you need a client portal, an internal platform or an app for staff on the road, in more than one language. It covers what a first version looks like, what it costs in the Belgian market and how long it takes, what the Brussels digitalisation grant does and does not cover, and three platforms we built that face the same questions.
A multilingual portal, layer by layer
- 01LoginA sign-in link by email, or a password with two-factor login.
- 02RolesClient, staff and admin each see their own screens.
- 03LanguagesEach user picks French, Dutch or English; the emails follow.
- 04Back officeYour team works in the same data, with a log of every change.
- 05SecuritySensitive fields encrypted, a backup every day, data in Europe.
What a first version usually is
A first version does one job well. In Brussels it is usually one of these:
- Choose a client portal ifyour clients keep asking for the status of a file, a report or a document. They log in, see their own dossier in their own language and download what they need. More on our page on client portals.
- Choose an internal platform ifyour team works in one spreadsheet that has grown too big, with several people editing it and nobody sure which version is right. See replacing Excel with software.
- Choose a staff app ifpeople work outside the office and report by phone or on paper: hours, expenses, incidents, leave. Read how a time tracking app or a work order app works.
Multilingual software is more than translated buttons
Translating labels is the easy part. What makes software work in three languages is the rest:
| Part | What goes wrong if you forget it | What we build |
|---|---|---|
| User language | everyone sees the language of the developer | each user picks a language, stored on the profile |
| Emails and notifications | a Dutch client gets a French reminder | every message exists in each language and follows the profile |
| Documents and exports | invoices or reports in one language only | templates per language, with the same data |
| Data entered by users | a note in French is unreadable to a Dutch colleague | clear field labels, and language shown where it matters |
| Dates, numbers, decimal comma | 1.500 read as one and a half | formats that follow the user's language |
For DA Logistics we built a driver app that works in Dutch, English and Turkish: drivers request leave, upload receipts and report problems with their truck in their own language, and the office reads it in theirs.
Product-grade security for a social secretariat office
Business Centrum, a social secretariat office in Ghent, asked us to replace the spreadsheet that held their employers, employees, work permits and meal vouchers. The platform we built also gives their clients a portal they enter with a link sent by email. Fields that hold sensitive data are stored encrypted, two-factor login is available to every user, sessions can be cut off and the data is backed up daily.
Before any change goes live, 31 unit tests and 65 tests that act like an attacker run against it. The screen beside this text comes from our transport platform, in English, with demo data.
One core, several clients
Zuco Logistics wanted what DA Logistics already had. Instead of copying the code, we made the platform client-neutral: the core carries no client names, each client gets a profile with its own look, modules and language, and runs on its own server. Domain, certificate and first login for Zuco were done within an hour of each other. For a Brussels firm selling one service to many clients, that is the shape to aim for: client two should be a profile, not a project. The cases are on DA Logistics, Zuco Logistics and the Business Centrum platform.
Cost and timeline of a first version
In Belgium, custom software is sold by the hour, at 50 to 150 euros with most developers and agencies. Multiply that by our rough hour estimates below and you get the market range, VAT not included.
| What you build first | Hours, roughly | Market range | Live after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client portal with login, files and downloads | 150 to 250 | 7,500 to 37,500 euros | two to three months |
| Internal platform instead of a spreadsheet | 200 to 350 | 10,000 to 52,500 euros | three to four months |
| Staff app plus office screens | 250 to 400 | 12,500 to 60,000 euros | three to five months |
We do not sell hours. A conversation or two settles what version one must do, and that scope gets one fixed price. The way such a quote is built is laid out in custom software development cost; whether building beats buying in your case, in build vs buy software.
What the Brussels digitalisation grant covers for software
The region's digitalisation grant pays 25 percent of eligible costs as a base and up to 70 percent and 10,000 euros at most, for a consultancy mission on the digitalisation of your internal processes, your cyber security or your website. A mission lasts at most six months, costs at least 500 euros, and you can have two a year. You apply through MijnBEW before it starts.
Read the limits too. The mission must solve a one-off problem your team cannot handle itself, not ongoing development or maintenance. The provider must have consultancy as its main activity, be specialised, have at least two years of activity and be independent of your firm. A full platform usually costs more than the grant's ceiling and takes longer than six months, so at most a defined first phase can qualify. We do not promise that a project with us qualifies: the region decides each case. The rules for websites are on our page on web design in Brussels.
What to bring to a first call
You get more out of a first conversation if you bring the spreadsheet, form or inbox that runs your process today, a list of who uses it and in which language, and the one thing that goes wrong most often. With that, we can say within the hour whether a package will do, whether a small tool next to your current software is enough, or whether a platform pays off.
A note on languages in support
Who answers when a user writes in Dutch on a Friday? Decide that before launch.
Mistakes we see
- Building for one language and translating laterRetrofitting languages into emails, exports and date formats costs more than planning them in.
- No owner of the code and dataAgree in writing that both are yours and that your data can be exported.
- Client data stored somewhere you cannot nameAsk for EU hosting and for the location of every backup. Our answer to is ChatGPT safe for business lists the questions to ask about where data goes.
- Updates that take the system offlineOn our platforms a new version takes over within seconds, after a backup, with a route back.
From Ghent, for Brussels
The Grand-Place is 57 kilometres from our office on the Sint-Baafsplein: about 50 minutes by car, 35 to 40 by train. We build remotely and come to Brussels for the workshops in which we map your process with your team. None of the platforms above serves a Brussels firm, and we say so plainly. Our approach is on the page on custom software; a site in three languages is covered in web design in Brussels.
Custom software
How VBS helps you with this
We build the platform your business runs on every day: your spreadsheets, emails and paperwork in one system that does what you do.
- Your workflow mapped first, then a fixed price
- Screens for the office, the client and the road
- Hosting, backups and security managed by us on AWS
How we approach it is on our page about Custom software.
A tool your whole team can use, in its own language?
Show us the spreadsheet or inbox that runs your work today, and who uses it in which language. You will hear what a first version should cover.
Rather get in touch right away?