Employee portal development — self-service without a heavyweight HR suite
One place where employees manage their data, submit requests and read internal updates. Turtleship builds it production-ready — you approve every step.
Sound familiar?
Leave and expenses via email and paper
Requests drift through inboxes, approvals get lost and nobody knows the current state.
The big HR suite is overkill
Full HR platforms charge per employee per month — for features you use three of.
An intranet from another era
Announcements live on a noticeboard or in a newsletter nobody reads.
What you get
An internal portal shaped around your organisation — exactly the self-service you need, without the bloat.
Secure login with roles
Employee, manager and admin each see exactly what belongs to their role.
Self-managed personal data
Employees keep contact details current themselves and see their own documents.
Requests with approval flow
Submit, review and approve leave or expenses — with status and a log.
Internal updates
Announcements on one start page, with read/unread per employee.
Notifications
Alerts on approval, rejection or news — in-app and optionally by email.
How it works
A controlled process — you stay in charge at every step.
- 1
Describe what you need
In plain language. You start from the employee-portal building block: login, roles and requests are already in place.
- 2
Turtleship builds and tests
The AI builds production-ready software, including tests and review. You see an estimate up front — no surprises.
- 3
You approve
Trial the portal with a small group of employees. Nothing goes live without your sign-off.
- 4
Live — with a safety net
One click to production. If anything goes wrong, one click restores the previous version.
Employee data stays in Europe
An employee portal processes sensitive personal data. With Turtleship, GDPR compliance is the starting point.
- Hosting and data in Europe — not on US servers
- GDPR-ready by design: everyone sees only what fits their role, with an audit trail
- You own the code and the data, permanently
What does an employee portal cost?
From an agency: €15,000–€40,000; HR suites charge per employee per month. With Turtleship you build a custom portal on a subscription from €99 per month — estimate up front, no hourly rates, no per-seat pricing.
Cancel monthly. You pay for scoped work, not per user.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
- Does this replace an HR system?
- It replaces the self-service side: data, requests, approvals and internal communication — shaped around your process. Payroll stays in your current payroll system; an integration can be built as a next step.
- Does the portal work on mobile?
- Yes. The portal is a secure website that works on any phone — nothing to install.
- Isn't this just an AI prototype?
- No. Turtleship delivers production-ready software: tested, reviewed and only live after your approval — with the privacy setup employee data requires.
- Can we add our own request types?
- Yes — that is the point of custom software: remote-work days, training budget, equipment requests. Your process defines the flows, not the package.
- Who owns the code?
- You do. The portal lives in its own repository that you can take with you at any time. No vendor lock-in.
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Get your employee portal built — start today
Start for free with the employee-portal building block and see a working foundation within days.
Start for free