Our verdict
Leanware is an AI development, implementation and consulting firm founded in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2020 by Carlos Martinez, its CEO, and Jarvy Sanchez, its CTO. Its engineers work from across Colombia on US Eastern hours. Clutch lists a team of 10 to 49 and gives the firm a 5.0 rating from 26 reviews (Leanware; Clutch).
In July 2026 Leanware relaunched its business around AI with four fixed-scope service lines: a two-week AI ROI assessment, custom AI agents that it builds and then runs for clients for a monthly fee, milestone-billed AI product builds, and dedicated engineering teams (Leanware announcement). Recent work includes a grading backend for dental crown preparations, built for a University of Colorado student project, that can switch between model providers including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and OpenRouter, and an AI fitness app that it took from concept to iOS and Android launch for GloFlow in about four months (Leanware).
For a startup or small company that wants a custom AI product, or one manual workflow handed to an AI agent, Leanware offers senior engineers who scope the work and then build it, and an unusually consistent client record for a firm its size.
The right buyer
- US and Canadian startups and small businesses that want an AI product or MVP built by a small senior team working US Eastern hours.
- Buyers who want to pay against milestones they can test: a fixed-fee discovery sprint of $5,000 to $15,000, then billing per accepted milestone.
- Companies with one manual workflow, such as order intake or lead routing, that they want an AI agent to run as a managed service for a setup fee and a monthly fee.
- Teams that want to interview each engineer before they join, with code, prompts and documentation assigned to the client on payment.
Reasons to look elsewhere
- Its AI agent service is new: the firm reorganized around AI in July 2026, and most of its 26 Clutch reviews describe web, mobile and custom software projects.
- Its best-known AI build, the dental crown grading backend, served a University of Colorado student project and was staffed by one senior engineer.
- It says it does not take enterprise procurement or RFP-shaped work, so large companies running a formal vendor process should look elsewhere.
- BizWorth, a client on a 20-month build, said earlier design work and earlier agreement on how milestones, deliverables and payments line up would have made budgeting more predictable.
Scores
| Criterion | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production track record | 20% | 6.9 | BizWorth Express and GloFlow launched; dental crown grading backend in use; three years embedded at Groundlight. |
| Technical depth | 15% | 6.6 | Multi-provider LangGraph and FastAPI evaluation backend with a model comparison report; small team, no research arm. |
| Industry depth | 10% | 6.1 | Generalist across fintech, health, fitness, logistics and SaaS clients; no vertical focus. |
| Delivery model and handoff | 15% | 7.8 | Fixed-fee discovery sprint, milestone billing, client interviews each engineer, code and prompts assigned on payment. |
| Commercial clarity | 10% | 8.4 | Publishes fee ranges for discovery, code audits, dedicated engineers and fractional CTO work. |
| Platform independence | 10% | 7.9 | Builds across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and OpenRouter; no single model or cloud partner. |
| Stability and scale | 10% | 6.2 | Operating since 2020 with 10 to 49 people; founders still lead engagements. |
| Independent evidence | 10% | 7.3 | 26 Clutch reviews averaging 5.0, mostly from software projects before its AI relaunch; little press coverage. |
| Overall | 100% | 7.1 | Weighted average |
Where Leanware fits
| Need | Fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Custom AI product or MVP for a startup | Strong | GloFlow launched in about four months; a fitness MVP shipped in under eight weeks per Clutch. |
| Dedicated engineers on US hours | Strong | Engineers in Colombia on US Eastern time, from about $6,000 a month each per Clutch. |
| Managed AI agent for one workflow | Good | One setup fee plus one monthly fee; a newer line with few client deployments published so far. |
| Enterprise program run through an RFP | Weak | The firm says it does not take enterprise procurement or RFP work. |
What clients and leaders say
“Their technical skill, creativity, and partnership made the experience feel more like working with a co-founder than a typical development vendor.”
“What impressed us most was Leanware’s ability to understand and translate complex financial models into a functional, user-friendly platform.”
“We’ve struggled a little to integrate their design team on a part-time basis.”