Craft CMS Developer and Consultant
Craft CMS is the right call when editor experience and long-term maintainability matter. I design, build and run Craft sites end to end, and the site you are reading is one of them.
Craft CMS is the platform you choose on purpose. Structured content, an editor experience your team will actually enjoy, and nothing you don't need.
Most Australian businesses that should be on Craft aren't, because their previous developer or agency only knew WordPress and built accordingly. Craft's discipline, content modelled first, no theme marketplace, no plugin sprawl, is what makes a site cheaper to own over its life. The trade-off: it takes someone who genuinely knows the platform to scope and build it properly.
That is the work I do. I introduced Craft as a core platform inside a Melbourne digital agency and have delivered more than ten Craft builds since. I handle the whole thing: content model, templates, front end, performance, hosting, launch. This site is a recent example, a Craft 5 build of mine from the first field definition to the last deploy.
You don't need an agency to get an agency-grade Craft build. Ten years inside agencies taught me the process; running digital client-side taught me what the process is for. With me, the person on the discovery call is the person who models your content, writes your templates and answers the phone after launch. For larger builds I scale up with senior Craft developers I trust, and I stay accountable for the result.
The platform
Why Craft CMS
Craft is the content management system for organisations that have outgrown themes and page builders. Brands including Netflix, Ikea and Sony Music run on it. It gives developers a clean framework, and it gives editors a control panel they actually enjoy using. Here is what that means in practice.
Content modelled around your business
Most platforms ask your content to fit a theme. Craft starts the other way around: sections, entry types and fields are designed around how your organisation actually publishes. Products, courses, locations, case studies, each with exactly the fields it needs and nothing it doesn't. That structure is why Craft sites stay coherent after years of editing, instead of collapsing into a pile of page-builder one-offs.
An editing experience your team will actually like
Live preview shows the page taking shape beside the fields as you type. Drafts, autosave, version history and scheduling are built into the core, not bolted on with plugins. Editors stop asking the developer to make changes, and training a content team takes minutes, not a manual.
Fast, secure and cheap to keep
No theme bloat, no plugin sprawl: Craft's core covers what other platforms bolt on, so there are fewer moving parts to patch and fewer ways in for attackers. This site runs on five plugins and serves its pages as static files. For a well-built Craft site that is normal, not a special effort.
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Headless or traditional
A GraphQL API is built in. Run classic server-rendered templates now and go headless later, without replatforming.
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Built to sell
Craft Commerce adds products, pricing rules and checkout inside the same control panel when your site needs to take money.
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Grows with you
Multi-site, multi-language and granular user permissions ship in core. One install can run a whole family of sites.
Craft's footprint in Australia is small but growing, and most of the local expertise sits inside a handful of agencies. If you are considering the platform and want a specialist rather than a team, you have found one of very few.
What I do with Craft
- New builds, end to end Scope, content model, design, templates, front end, hosting, launch. One person from brief to live.
- Rescues and takeovers A Craft site the previous developer left behind, a stalled build, a control panel your editors dread. I take these on. It is the same pattern rescue work I do on any platform, on the platform I know deepest.
- Upgrades and migrations Craft 3 and 4 sites brought to Craft 5, and WordPress sites replatformed to Craft where the content model justifies it.
- Content modelling and editor UX Sections, entry types, field architecture, conditional layouts. The unglamorous work that determines whether the build is durable. The control panel is the product for your editors, and it has to feel right.
- Performance Static caching, image pipelines, eager loading, Core Web Vitals. Craft sites should be fast, and most that aren't were built by someone learning on the job.
- Ongoing care Craft rewards continuity. Most clients keep me on a retainer after launch, and I maintain what I ship.
Why one person end to end
- No handovers The person you meet on the discovery call is the person who models your content, writes your templates and answers the phone after launch. Nothing gets lost between departments, because there aren't any.
- Agency-grade process, one direct line Ten years in agencies gave me the delivery discipline: scoping, staging environments, QA gates, launch checklists. You get that process with a single point of contact who is also the person doing the work.
- Honest scoping I've run tenders from the client side, so I scope like someone who has been burnt by optimistic quotes. If Craft is the wrong call for your project, I'll say so. Sometimes the answer is less software, not more.
Making Craft an agency capability
10+ builds
Craft projects led and delivered
Inside a Melbourne digital agency, I introduced Craft CMS as a core platform and led its adoption across the client base: making the case internally, setting the build conventions, standing up the CI/CD deployment pipeline, and leading delivery while the production team scaled to five times its size. It is the "agency tested" part of the pitch: my Craft practice was formed under agency delivery pressure, on real client work, not on side projects.
The site you are reading
Craft 5
This site, designed and built by me
This site is my own Craft 5 build and doubles as the portfolio piece: structured content model with a locked Matrix block set for editorial discipline, Twig templates on an atomic design system, Vite and Tailwind on the front end, static page caching so pages are served as flat files, and SEOmatic handling structured data. It is what I mean by end to end: strategy, content model, design, templates, performance and hosting, one pair of hands.
Common questions
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Can you take over an existing Craft CMS site?
Yes, and it is some of the most common work I do. I audit the build first, the same way as a website health check: content model, template quality, plugin choices, hosting, upgrade path. You get an honest picture of what you have before any work is scoped. If the previous developer has disappeared, that is a situation I know well.
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Craft CMS or WordPress?
It depends on the project, and I work in both, so I have no platform to defend. WordPress wins for brochure sites where speed to launch and budget rule. Craft wins when editor experience, structured content and long-term maintainability matter. I have written a detailed comparison.
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What does a Craft CMS build cost in Australia?
Discovery and scoping engagements start from $3,500. Build costs depend on the content model and integrations more than page count; I give a fixed scope and fee after discovery, not an hourly estimate that grows.
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Do you build it yourself or manage other developers?
For most projects I am the developer: content model, templates, front end, launch. For larger builds I bring in senior Craft developers I have worked with before and run delivery, so the project gets more hands without losing one accountable owner.
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Can you upgrade a Craft 3 or Craft 4 site to Craft 5?
Yes. Older Craft sites are usually well-structured underneath and upgrade cleanly with the right preparation: plugin audit, content model review, template updates and a staged cutover. If the site is on Craft 2 or 3, sooner is cheaper than later.
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Do you work with agencies?
Yes, on white-label Craft builds and as overflow senior capacity. Your client stays yours, and I have been on your side of that arrangement, so I know what a safe pair of hands looks like from the agency's seat. See the agencies page.
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Do you offer ongoing Craft CMS support?
Yes, through a monthly retainer covering updates, monitoring, small changes and advice. Craft is a platform that rewards continuity, and I maintain what I ship.
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Are you a freelance Craft CMS developer or an agency?
An independent developer and consultant, based in Melbourne and working with businesses across Australia. You get one senior person end to end rather than an agency team, with agency-grade process behind it and trusted senior Craft developers on call when a larger build needs more hands.
Pricing
Discovery and scoping engagements start from $3,500. Builds are quoted as a fixed scope and fee after discovery. Ongoing care runs as a monthly retainer. If you want a number before a call, tell me roughly what you are building via the contact page and I will give you an honest range.
From build clients
Anthony recently completed a website redevelopment for our recruitment agency. He delivered the site in a short time frame and the result is fantastic. He even went above and beyond to achieve a pagespeed score of 98 on GTMetrix. The site is a pleasure to use. His pricing is highly competitive, he is easy to work with and has high attention to detail. We are able to edit the content in the CMS and he stepped us through the process. We're really happy with the website and won't hesitate to hire Anthony again for future projects. Thank you!
Shyan PereraVicforce
It is an absolute pleasure to work with Anthony. He is incredibly efficient in his development skills, delivers on time and with exceptional eye for detail. Anthony is a great communicator and a delight to work with. I worked with many developers over my career and have found Anthony to be the easiest and most professional to work with. Highly recommended and endeavour to continue to work with him in the future.
Robbie EllisSenior Graphic Designer, Famous Soda Co
Field notes
More on Craft CMS
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How to keep a website project on track and on budget
Most website projects do not fail in a dramatic blow-up. They drift, one reasonable-sounding decision at a time, until the build that was meant to launch months ago still is not live, the budget is long gone, and nobody can quite say how it happened. -
Craft CMS vs WordPress: which is right for your project?
Most people reading this have heard of WordPress. A lot fewer have heard of Craft CMS. WordPress powers somewhere around 43% of all websites. Craft sits at well under 1%. By the numbers, this isn't a contest.