Arranged by ExcloLab
Rent A Friend
United States of America
2023
Social Networking Platform for Transactional Connections to Grow Hobbies and Careers
Rent A Friend, a subscription-based social platform for connecting people across countries, entrusted ExcloLab to completely overhaul its inefficient legacy application.
With slow performance, outdated UI, and fragile backend architecture, the platform was losing users and revenue.
ExcloLab rebuilt the system into a modern, scalable SaaS platform, enhancing search performance, payments, security, and real-time user engagement.
ExcloLab’s End-to-End Approach
Business Process Mapping
Assessed the legacy codebase (Kohana PHP) and planned a full migration to Laravel + Vue.js for a complete full-stack redevelopment.
System Architecture Design & Platform Development
Frontend: Rebuilt using Inertia.js to deliver an app-like experience (SPA).
Backend: Modular Laravel backend to manage subscriptions, billing, and location-based search.
Database: MySQL used for data integrity and faster queries.
Optimization & New Features
Friend Search Engine: Meilisearch for search results under 500ms.
Subscription Management: Stripe for new billing and PayPal for legacy users.
Cloud Deployment: Transitioned from traditional servers to Laravel Vapor (serverless AWS).
File Management: AWS S3 for scalable file storage.
Infrastructure & Deployment
CI/CD Setup: GitHub Actions pipeline for fast and secure development.
Cloud Environment: Laravel Vapor with a Docker-based deployment pipeline.
Technologies Used
Backend: Laravel PHP
Frontend: Vue.js + Inertia.js
Database: MySQL
Hosting: Laravel Vapor (AWS Serverless)
Storage: AWS S3
Search: Meilisearch
Payments: Stripe + PayPal
Infrastructure: Docker (dev environment), GitHub Actions (CI/CD)
Results & Business Impact
Key Achievements
Response time reduced by 95%, from over 10 seconds to under 500ms
Subscription revenue increased by over $120,000 per year
Error rate drastically reduced, with faster search and billing processes
Platform now ready to scale without requiring a major rebuild
ExcloLab’s Role
Our Role
Limitless led the complete platform transformation, from auditing the legacy system to rebuilding with Laravel + Vue.js architecture, integrating Meilisearch and Stripe, and deploying serverless via Laravel Vapor. We also built a CI/CD pipeline, designed a new UX, and provided ongoing technical advisory to ensure the platform is scalable and optimally monetized.
Before vs After
Before | After |
|---|---|
| Outdated, slow, and fragile Kohana codebase | Laravel + Vue.js with modern SPA architecture |
| Outdated and unresponsive UI/UX | Mobile-first, modern responsive UX |
| Slow and inaccurate search system | Meilisearch for fast and relevant results |
| Payments only via PayPal | Stripe + PayPal for full monetization |
| Traditional VPS servers prone to downtime | Laravel Vapor + AWS for high scalability and stability |
In One Sentence
Conclusion
ExcloLab revitalized Rent A Friend from a legacy slow system into a modern subscription-based social platform that is scalable, enhancing speed, engagement, and revenue potential significantly.