Case Study - Scaling SaaS infrastructure for rapid growth

Snapform is a comprehensive form builder and data collection platform. I helped transform their monolithic architecture into a scalable, modular system that could handle exponential user growth.

Client: Snapform
Year: 2023
Service: Backend development, SaaS architecture

Overview

Snapform approached me during a critical scaling phase. Their existing monolithic architecture was becoming a bottleneck, with increasing technical debt, performance issues, and developer productivity challenges. The platform needed to support exponential user growth while maintaining reliability and enabling rapid feature development.

The primary challenges were clear: transform a monolithic MVP into a scalable, maintainable system that could handle hundreds of thousands of daily API calls, process high-volume background tasks efficiently, and provide seamless billing experiences for their growing customer base.

My approach focused on strategic refactoring using Domain-Driven Design principles, implementing robust asynchronous processing systems, and building resilient infrastructure that could scale with business demands.

What I delivered

Laravel & Phoenix Development
Domain-Driven Design
RabbitMQ Task Processing
Stripe Payment Integration
Redis Rate Limiting
Modular Architecture

Technical Implementation

Domain-Driven Design Architecture

I redesigned Snapform's core SaaS features using Laravel and Phoenix, applying Domain-Driven Design principles to create a more maintainable and scalable codebase. This approach improved code organization, made feature evolution easier, and reduced the complexity of adding new functionality.

High-Performance Task Processing

Built a RabbitMQ-based task processing system that dramatically improved performance. The new system increased throughput by 60% while cutting processing errors by 35%, enabling Snapform to handle their growing workload without compromising reliability.

Seamless Payment Infrastructure

Integrated recurring payments with Stripe using Laravel Cashier, creating a robust billing system that reduced billing-related issues by 40%. This implementation streamlined the customer payment experience and reduced support overhead.

API Rate Limiting at Scale

Designed and implemented a Redis-based rate limiter using Elixir that supports over 500,000 API calls daily without performance degradation. This solution ensured platform stability even during peak usage periods.

Architectural Transformation

Redeveloped the monolithic MVP into a modular monolith architecture, significantly improving team efficiency while reducing developer