Marcus KohlbergHow Quiqup saved $180k per year by not needing to hire dedicated DevOps engineers
Quiqup built a scalable logistics platform using Encore Cloud to automate 95% of DevOps tasks
When logistics-tech company Quiqup set out to reinvent itself from an operator to a scalable platform connecting order sources, fulfillment centers, and delivery partners, CTO Danny Hawkins knew he needed a better foundation. The performance and developer experience of their existing tech stack (Ruby on Rails / Elixir) wasn’t going to cut it. Then he discovered Encore.
I've always been striving for a developer platform where developers can self-serve secured infrastructure, and have used Helm and Crossplane to accomplish parts of it. But once I saw Encore, I realized: this is years ahead of what I had in my head.
The Problem: Developer velocity and DevOps burnout
As the company relocated to Dubai and shed its dedicated DevOps function, Danny as CTO found himself needing a new solution for managing infrastructure and DevOps.
On the engineering side, the team needed a performant, strongly typed language (hello Go), and a way to onboard developers quickly while minimizing setup pain. Danny found that traditional Go frameworks lacked structure, and building a full-fledged internal developer platform (IDP) was out of scope.
The Solution: Modular monolith, zero-maintenance infrastructure, and fast onboarding
Danny first experimented with Service Weaver, a modular monolith concept from Google, but found it underdeveloped and unsupported. That led him to Encore.
I loved the modular monolith concept. Microservices are too heavy to manage without a big team, and monoliths have their own issues. Encore was the perfect balance.
Encore's opinionated structure, auto-provisioned infrastructure, and zero-config local dev made it a no-brainer:
You just run encore run and everything works. No bootstrapping pain. No database password headaches. Developers were up and running immediately.
Quiqup started with a clean slate for its new platform, architected around three domains: fulfillment, logistics, and order channels. That architecture now includes:
- ~200 endpoints
- 30+ services
- 0 Dedicated DevOps engineers
We’ve built our platform very quickly. It just wouldn’t have been possible without Encore.
Quantifiable impact: Developer experience and cost savings
Encore helped Quiqup slash the time it takes to onboard new developers and manage infrastructure.
If we were onboarding people onto Go without Encore, it would have taken 2–3x longer to get productive.
Beyond productivity, Encore Cloud eliminated the need for a full DevOps team. Danny estimates Quiqup would’ve needed to hire 2 additional engineers decicated to DevOps work. With Encore, 95%+ of DevOps tasks are automated and can be easily managed without any full-time DevOps engineers.
Not hiring dedicated DevOps engineers means saving $180k per year. Using Encore is a no-brainer.
Developer tools that actually get used
Encore's built-in developer dashboard with service catalog, tracing, and logging made local development not just faster, but enjoyable.
With Encore's developer dashboard, my developers can actually see how the API works, view logs, and trace requests all without deploying anything. It's changed the way we build APIs.
Minimal vendor lock-in, maximum flexibility
One common concern with developer platforms is lock-in. But Encore's eject feature and transparent use of Go helped put Danny's mind at ease.
Everything’s structured in pure Go with a clean API layer. If we ever needed to leave, we could.
He also pointed to Encore's open source roadmap and responsive Discord community as trust builders.
You support open source users like they’re paying customers. You don’t see that often.
Infrastructure that gets out of the way
Danny had previously built a custom Helm chart and hybrid deployment flow using Crossplane just to achieve some of what Encore provides out of the box.
Encore is exactly what I was trying to build, but years ahead, and I don’t have to maintain any of it. The fact that developers can just spin up a database or add an object store is really, really, great. Encore handles everything: load balancers, SSL certs, IAM, the whole deal. But it’s all still running in our own cloud, so we’ve got full visibility. We can see costs per SKU and everything. I honestly couldn’t have imagined a better setup.
Final verdict
When asked to summarize his experience with Encore, Danny didn't hesitate:
It’s made software development fun again. Honestly, that's what it's felt like. Encore lets us focus on delivering business value, not on all the garbage around it. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made as a CTO.
Key Takeaways
By using Encore Cloud to build and deploy their logistics platform to Google Cloud, Quiqup have:
- Reduced DevOps workload by 95%
- Saved $180k per year by not needing dedicated DevOps engineers
- Improved developer onboarding speed by 2-3x
Want results like Quiqup? Book a 1:1 intro to see how Encore Cloud can help your team move faster, save big, and stay focused on building great products.
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