Hatchet

Hatchet is a software and web development agency based in Subiaco, on the western edge of Perth in Western Australia, building custom applications and websites for businesses that need something more specific than an off-the-shelf tool.

Custom software and web development

The work splits into a few clear lines: bespoke software development, where the team writes applications from scratch and keeps them running through maintenance and support retainers; web development focused on responsive sites with real attention to how they behave for the person using them; a cloud and hosting side, described as locally managed hosting paired with DevOps, which for a Perth client means the servers and the people looking after them sit in the same time zone; and UI and UX design covering both sites and applications. The custom side stretches into databases, CRM, and ERP systems, so a company that has outgrown a spreadsheet or a generic subscription tool is squarely in Hatchet's range.

Technology stack

The technology stack is spelled out plainly, which beats vague talk of "solutions." Laravel, NextJS, and VueJS handle the application layer, AWS underpins the hosting, and WordPress covers the content-managed end of things. Naming the tools does two useful jobs at once: it tells a prospective client whether the agency works in the framework their existing system already uses, and it shows the people behind the site are comfortable being pinned to specifics. A shop that lists Laravel and VueJS by name expects to be asked technical questions, and Hatchet putting them front and centre reads as confidence, not decoration. It also helps a client judge fit before the first meeting, since the framework a system is written in shapes who can maintain it later.

Named clients across energy, finance, health

Where Hatchet gets more convincing is the client work it points to. This is where a lot of agencies go quiet, and Hatchet does the opposite. The site names actual projects rather than gesturing at anonymous "leading brands." Volunteering WA, Perth is OK!, WAMSI, DrawHistory, and Total Aviation all appear as case studies or client stories. A couple of those are recognisable to anyone who follows the local Perth scene, and the mix leans toward not-for-profit, research, and civic organisations, which lines up with the industries the agency says it serves: energy, finance, and health. That combination of named clients and named sectors gives a reader something to check, which is worth a great deal when so many agency sites, and plenty of listings in any general business directory, are careful to say nothing you could ever verify.

Site structure and team presence

The site is built out well beyond a landing page. Beyond Services and Solutions there are Company and About Us sections, a Client Stories area, a Team page, Careers listings, a Blog, and a support portal for existing clients. A Team page and open Careers roles both suggest a real operation with staff rather than a one-person contractor trading under an agency name, and a dedicated support portal implies ongoing client relationships that outlast a single project handover. That is the kind of infrastructure you would expect from an agency that sells maintenance retainers, so the pieces of Hatchet fit together instead of contradicting each other. A Blog and an About Us that are genuinely populated also give a visitor a sense of the firm's thinking before any call is booked.

How to contact Hatchet

Getting in touch is straightforward. Hatchet publishes a phone number, an email address, and a street address at Roberts Rd in Subiaco, backed by a proper Contact Us page. A second Perth address on St Georges Terrace turns up on the agency's Yelp entry, a minor loose end but not a worrying one, since firms often keep a city-centre point of presence alongside a suburban office. On the whole, a person who wants to reach Hatchet can do so through more than one channel, and the physical Subiaco office means a local client can turn up in person if a project warrants it.

Where are the independent reviews?

The weaker part of the Hatchet picture is outside validation, and it is worth being straight about it. Independent reviews are scarce across the board. The Facebook page carries a single review and sits at "not yet rated." Yelp lists the business with the usual phone-and-address entry but no rating that turned up in searching.

WHTop, a hosting-focused directory, shows zero customer reviews or testimonials. There are testimonial quotes on Hatchet's own pages, attributed to clients like DrawHistory and Volunteering WA, and those read well, but they are self-published and cannot stand in for an independent star rating on a platform the agency does not control. No Google, Trustpilot, or Glassdoor score for hatchet.com.au surfaced at all. The one Trustpilot hit that came up belonged to an unrelated estate agent in the UK trading under a similar name, so it should be set aside entirely.

Why B2B agencies lack public ratings

None of that means the work is poor. It means the feedback loop is quiet, common for agencies whose business arrives through referral and repeat clients instead of walk-in reviews. B2B software firms rarely accumulate the review volume that a restaurant or a plumber does, because their clients are a smaller, more private set and there is no natural prompt to leave a public star rating after a six-figure build. The named case studies partly fill that gap, since a real project for a named organisation is its own kind of evidence. Still, a reader who leans heavily on crowd ratings will find little to lean on here, and that is a fair thing to weigh ahead of any first conversation with Hatchet.

Strengths against weaker review presence

Put the two halves together and Hatchet comes across as a substantive, technically specific Perth agency with a real team, a named client roster, and honest contact details, held back mainly by a quiet third-party review presence. For an established Western Australian organisation in energy, finance, or health that wants custom software or a rebuild handled by people it can meet in person, that trade-off is reasonable. The specificity on show, from the frameworks to the case studies, does more to build confidence than a wall of anonymous five-star quotes would. A cautious buyer can close the gap the way anyone would with an agency lacking a big review count: ask to speak to one of the named clients directly, and ask exactly who from the Team page will do the work.

Hatchet versus Humaan for different needs

Perth has an obvious better-reviewed competitor for Hatchet in Humaan, a longer-established Subiaco digital agency with a heavier public profile and a stack of design awards. Humaan brings more visible external validation and a bigger portfolio, so a client whose first filter is track record and industry recognition may drift there. Hatchet's answer is a broader technical remit than pure design-and-build: the custom CRM and ERP work, the managed hosting and DevOps, and the ongoing support retainers make it more of a long-term software partner than a project-only design shop.

For a straightforward marketing site the extra reach may not matter, and the more decorated name wins on reassurance. For a business that wants bespoke software built, hosted, and maintained by the same Perth team over years, Hatchet is the more complete fit, and the sensible move is to brief both and let the technical specifics decide it.