GL.UA

GL.ua is the winners of the Ukrainian Business Award in the nomination “No. 1 in the TOP-10 Companies for WEB Development in Ukraine 2025”

GL.ua is the largest web studio in Ukraine, operating since 2008. The company has gone through all economic crises, wars, blackouts and booms without external investments. This is not about a “successful case on hype”, but about a systemic, self-sufficient model of a digital studio that continues to grow and build an ecosystem around itself. At a time when most outsourcing companies were oriented towards the West, GL.ua remained in Ukraine – and managed to build an effective service for small and medium-sized businesses, which is now exported to Poland, Germany and Switzerland.

The company was founded in 2008 by Anatoly Zaika. From the very beginning – independent development, no investments, complete independence. In the first years, GL.ua worked on dozens of projects every month, launched several sites a day. At one point, they recruited more than 30 programmers without a built-in management system – the team could not work effectively. This was the impetus for the creation of an internal ERP system, in-house quality assurance processes, and the principle of team self-management.

The company doesn’t just create products — it builds a culture. Each site is checked at several levels: automated testing, technical audit, and project manager. The team forms its own departments, participates in recruitment, and trains newcomers.

In 2022, after losing access to the third-party service HelpDeskEddy (bought out by Russian companies), GL.ua created its own ticket system in a month. Today, it is used by more than 300 clients, including BUKOVEL, MAKOSH, Medis (medical laboratory), BESTHOSTING, and others. The platform is being developed as a separate SaaS product.

GL.ua provides comprehensive digital solutions: from website and store development to CRM, integrations, customer support and training. This is a full cycle: visualization, technical implementation, training, support.

Depending on the complexity, the launch takes up to one year. All projects are created in our own ERP and ticket systems, which automates invoicing, testing, document management and communication. The price of the solution is from UAH 500,000 to UAH 5 million, depending on the complexity. We implement both simple solutions for local businesses and large-scale multifunctional systems for large clients.

Anatoliy Zaika is a practitioner who did not seek investment, did not sell to large players. He built everything himself, investing his own money and time. Instead of “writing code for the West”, he decided to focus on the domestic market and make a product that would be needed here and now.

According to official financial statements, GL.ua’s revenue in 2024, excluding VAT, amounted to UAH 94.38 million, UAH 42 million (according to the company’s internal financial data; according to Opendatabot – UAH 69.63 million). This means growth of more than 35% per year. Net profit for 2024 – UAH 17 million.

Growth is ensured by exports, the introduction of new services and high efficiency of internal processes. A significant part of the profit is reinvested in startups and the development of its own products, some of which are already profitable and operate as independent areas.

The main focus of the company is the Ukrainian market. Export is not the main source of profit, but it is a promising direction. In 2024, a branch was launched in Poland, and opening in Germany is in the process. There are clients in the EU and the USA. The share of exports is about 10% of revenue.

Mass hiring without a system, loss of teams, ineffective influencer marketing, inability to select clients, lack of contracts at the initial stages, external CRMs that did not work – this is our experience.

But all these failures became the foundation. Today, every function in the company is automated, tested and supported by experience. We are not perfect, but we turned every blow to our ambitions into growth.

The web development market in Ukraine is over UAH 1 billion. But the main competitors are far behind, the reason is either too expensive, or not high-quality and the sites are made by interns. There is almost no staff turnover at GL.ua, most specialists have been working since the company was founded, received options in various startups and act as co-founders. GL.ua works with both large businesses and small and medium-sized ones, offering service at the level of large players. Each client is provided with support, a proven technical process and training in using the product. This is what ensures loyalty and stable growth.

Hundreds of cases, dozens of communities, participation in creating community identities, sponsorship of educational initiatives. The Drupal community in Ukraine is largely built by GL.ua. Participation in competitions, cooperation with universities, support for beginners – the company has a systemic impact on the professional environment.

Scaling our own ticketing system, opening an office in Germany, expanding cooperation with schools and communities. In parallel, promoting video training on Drupal, developing a startup incubator, and creating an open case database for business.

GL.ua is a studio that didn’t follow fashion, but did its job. We built processes before it became fashionable. And that’s what allowed us to survive crises and market changes. We didn’t have accelerators, investors, or grants. We just worked — and the result is visible in the numbers, people, and the fact that our sites are ahead of the time in which they were created.