Stop answering "where's my saddle?"
Order tracking and customer build-updates for custom saddle & tack makers. Track every custom order through your own build stages, and each customer gets a private page with photos that updates itself — set up in one sitting, nothing for them to install.
7-day free trial · no card required · cancel anytime
What SaddleMaker is
A custom saddle is a four-to-eight month wait with a deposit taken up front. For most of that time the customer has nothing to look at and no reason to trust the date — so they call, and they text, and someone in the shop stops working to answer.
SaddleMaker is a small, single-purpose tool that fixes that. You set the build stages your shop actually works in. When you move an order forward, you add a short note and a photo or two. That's it — the customer's own private page updates and they get an email, automatically. No calls, no chasing, and a full photo record of every build you can reuse as your portfolio.
Only saddle fitters and tack resellers have had software. This one is built for the maker.
Run every order from one screen
The maker's side: your whole book of work, and the few actions you take on it each week.
Every order in one list
Customer, the piece, its stage, the estimated ready date, the outstanding balance. Search it, or filter by status and ready-date range.
Orders that have gone quiet turn red
Any active order with no update for 30 days, or past its promised date, is flagged "Behind" and its row goes red — so nothing slips to the bottom of the pile unnoticed.
Add an order in one form
Customer name and email, the piece, the deposit taken, the total price, an estimated ready month. It gets its own order number automatically.
Move it forward, one step at a time
Advance an order to the next stage (or step it back), write a note or tap a quick phrase, attach up to four photos. That posts to the timeline and emails the customer.
One-tap "running behind" note
Noticed an order slipping? One click sends the customer a short, honest "still working on it, running a bit behind" note — no wording to agonise over.
Simple numbers, no spreadsheet
Active orders, revenue in flight, delivered all-time, average days between updates, and a six-month chart of orders started. Enough to see the shape of the year.
The customer just watches it happen
Each order has one private link — no app, no login, nothing for them to sign up for.
A numbered build stepper
"Step 3 of 6 — leather cutting & tooling," with the current step marked and finished steps ticked off. Real progress, not a vague status word.
The full photo-and-note timeline
Every update you posted — cut, tooled, stitched, oiled — in order, newest first, with the latest photo shown large. Tap any photo to zoom.
The estimated ready date, and add-to-calendar
The month you quoted, front and centre — with a one-tap "add to calendar" so it lands in their phone instead of a mental note.
Deposit paid and balance due
Deposit collected, total price, balance outstanding — clear on the same page, updated as you record part-payments.
"Ask a question" that reaches you
A message box on their page instead of a phone call at the bench. Unanswered questions show as an unread badge on your order list.
A finish when it's finished
Mark the order delivered and their page shows a small celebration — the wait has a clear end, not just a link that stops changing.
Get paid, and get seen
The paperwork and the shopfront, from the same order record.
A real invoice PDF, emailed on order
A proper one-page invoice — bill-to, itemised line, deposit, balance due, order number — generated and sent to the customer the moment you create the order. Print the same thing in-shop.
A printable order ticket
A quick slip for the workshop copy or to pin to the job — the order, the customer, the stage, on one page.
A portfolio page that stays current
Feature finished builds to one public gallery link. The photos you already posted during each build become the gallery — no separate photo-shoot, no website to maintain.
A waitlist with real places in line
Booked solid? Add people to a waitlist (up to 20). Each gets their own "you're #4 in line" link, and you convert an entry into a live order in one click the day a slot opens.
A weekly nudge, only when it's needed
Once a week you get one email listing just the orders that have gone quiet — 30+ days silent or past their date. If nothing's stale, no email. It's a nudge, not a report.
Your shop's data is yours alone
Every shop is a completely separate account. Your customers, orders and photos are never visible to any other maker using the tool.
Set it up once, then just move orders forward
Set your build stages
Start from the saddle-maker set and adjust it to how your shop works.
Add an order
Customer, the piece, the deposit, a ready month. An invoice PDF goes out and you share their link.
Move it forward + add a photo
Each stage change carries a note and up to four photos for the customer.
The customer just gets told
An email goes out and their page updates. No call needed.
What it isn't
- Not saddle-fitting software
- Not accounting or bookkeeping
- Not a measurement or pattern tool
- Not a website builder
- Not a card-payment processor
- Not a bloated shop ERP
Everything is included from the first minute — no feature gate.
- Unlimited orders and customers
- Configurable build stages, with icons or photos
- Photo + note timeline, up to 4 photos per update
- Private customer link + automatic update emails
- Invoice PDF, printable ticket, deposit & balance
- Waitlist, public portfolio page, weekly stale-order nudge
- Staff logins & per-shop data isolation
No card required to start.
Questions saddle makers ask
What is this, in one sentence?
A place to track each custom order through your build stages and — automatically — give the customer a private page with photos so they can see where their piece is without calling you.
I already track orders in a notebook or spreadsheet. Why change?
The notebook works for you but does nothing for the customer, who still has to call or text to find out where their saddle is. This gives every customer their own live page so those calls stop, keeps a photo record of every build, and turns that record into your portfolio.
Do my customers need to install an app or make an account?
No. Each order has one private link that opens in any browser. No app, no password, nothing for them to sign up for.
Can I change the build stages?
Yes. It starts with a saddle-maker stage set and you can rename, reorder, add or remove stages, and give each one its own icon or photo, so it matches exactly how your shop works.
Can more than one person in the shop use it?
Yes — invite staff to the same account. Everyone sees the same orders and can post updates.
Does it handle payments?
It records them — deposit, part-payments, balance due — and puts them on the invoice and the customer's page. It doesn't process cards; you take payment however you already do.
What isn't it?
It isn't saddle-fitting software, it isn't accounting or bookkeeping, it isn't a measurement or pattern tool, and it isn't a website builder. It's order tracking and customer updates — that one job, done well.
What does it cost?
Starts with a 7-day free trial, full access, no card required. You'll see pricing before you're ever asked to pay.
Let the build page answer for you.
Set it up today — your next customer can be watching their saddle come together by the weekend.