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White-Label Cornerstone Development

What Do You Say When a Client Asks for Something Cornerstone Can't Do?

I'm Ben — a white-label Cornerstone developer. When the builder hits a wall, I write the code that gets you past it. Quietly, behind the scenes, so your client never knows I exist.

✓ No Subscriptions
✓ No Lock-In
✓ Simple Hourly Billing

“It's really different to have a developer.” — Austin Abell, AboundUp

The Problem

Cornerstone Is a Game-Changer.

It lets people who aren't developers build really good websites, and a lot of great businesses have been built on that. But the ceiling shows up eventually — in the projects you don't pitch because you already know you can't build them, and in the ones where a client asks for something the builder can't do on its own. An integration. A custom feature. A big migration. A bug nobody can explain.

Try a Plugin

You search for a plugin and hope it works.

Wait on the Forum

You post on the forum and wait.

Turn It Down

You quietly turn the project down.

You don't have to. You just need a developer in your corner.

Who I Help

Built for Agencies and Non-Developers.

A small Cornerstone development agency team collaborating

Cornerstone Agencies

Agencies that build with Cornerstone and need an extra pair of hands, or someone to take on the technical parts.

A non-developer website seller working with a client

Non-Developer Website Sellers

People who sell websites but aren't developers: SEO specialists, marketers, consultants, IT folks, business owners. You learned Cornerstone because it made building sites possible, and you're great with your clients. I take care of what's under the hood.

What You Get

What You Can Do With My Help.

Take on Bigger Projects

Integrations, e-commerce, custom features. You can say yes, knowing someone can actually deliver it. Not just talk about it.

Put a Real Solution
in Your Proposal

I'll research the options, figure out which one actually makes sense, and give you a clear write-up you can show your client. Then I build it.

Stop Waiting When
Something Breaks

Send it to me. I'll go straight into the site and talk to the hosting company or the third-party provider myself.

Hear About Problems First

I can set up notifications, so you're the one who brings the good news to your client.

Work With One Person,
Not Five

I can design, build, and manage the project too. No juggling a designer, a developer, and a support ticket.

Services

What I Do.

1. Builds

Figma to a fully working Cornerstone site. If the designer only did desktop, no problem, I'll handle mobile and tablet. I can design from scratch too. My designs aren't artworks. They're simple, clean, and clear, built around what the business needs to happen.

Start a Build

2. Maintenance

Core, plugin, and theme updates, with a check afterward. Plus all the small jobs that pile up across your client sites.

Set Up Maintenance

3. Fixes and Rescues

Broken layouts, styles that won't load, caching conflicts, slow sites, malware, sites that are down.

Get It Fixed

4. Custom Functionality

Custom plugins, Loopers, ACF, custom post types, WooCommerce. The stuff Cornerstone can't do natively.

Discuss Custom Work

5. Integrations and Automation

Connecting sites to the tools your clients already use, through APIs, Zapier, or Make.com.

Connect My Tools

6. Migrations

Big moves from one system to another, with custom migration tools when off-the-shelf ones won't cut it.

Plan a Migration
Beyond the Builder

Cornerstone Skills, Plus Real Code.

Lots of people know Cornerstone well.
Not many can write the code underneath it.

I've been writing PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS since 2008, and working directly with MySQL databases. Before WordPress, I built custom business systems, like a sales quotation maker and a purchase order and inventory system. So I'm very comfortable with the technologies WordPress is made of.

A Few Things I've Done With That

I also use AI to speed up Cornerstone builds. It's not foolproof yet, and I won't pretend it is. But combined with templates and good old manual building, it saves a lot of time.

The Toolbox

My Tech Stack, At a Glance.

Everything below is real work, not a skills list. Tap a card to see how I've actually used it. Can't spot what you're after? Search for it.

Nothing matches that search — but I've probably still used it. Just ask.

No Commitment

Start With One Job.

Not sure yet? That's fair. Send me one thing: a bug, a page, or something your client wants that you're not sure how to build.

01

Send Me the Job

A bug, a page, or something your client wants that you're not sure how to build.

02

Get a Straight Answer

I'll tell you up front roughly how long it'll take.

03

See How I Work

I'll do it, and you'll see how I work. If it's a good fit, great, we keep going. If not, no hard feelings.

Edward Benedict Ursal
Meet Your Developer

Meet Ben.

I started out as a pure developer in 2008. Code, databases, no design skills whatsoever. Back then, WordPress was just a blogging platform. I never thought it would become my favorite tool.

In 2014, I got interested in design and wanted a more systematic way to build sites. That's when I found WordPress. One of my first projects was redesigning two dated, hand-coded HTML sites that already ranked well. The challenge was not to lose their rankings. Instead, traffic and conversions both went up.

Falling in Love With Cornerstone

In 2017, I started building client sites with Cornerstone, and I fell in love with it right away. Back then it was far more limited than it is today, so I got creative. Long before the Layout Builder existed, I was using Global Blocks to build my own dynamic single-post layouts. I even used Cornerstone to build the interface for a custom inventory management system. When the builder couldn't do something, I wrote the CSS, JavaScript, or plugin to make it happen. An old colleague, Dan, once called one of my fixes "wizardry." I just call it knowing what's under the hood.

Leading Elite at Themeco

From 2017 to 2021, I worked at Themeco, the company behind Pro and Cornerstone. I led Elite, the team that built custom client sites with Pro, and I was usually the client's main contact and project manager. I also wrote documentation, made video tutorials, helped out on the support forum during a major update, and helped close bug reports in the theme itself.

After that, I spent more than four years as Lead Development Manager at AboundUp.

I'm not a rockstar designer. Far from it. But I'm one of the few developers who can design, and one of the few Cornerstone people who can really code.

What Clients Say

Don't Just Take My Word For It.

These are agency owners, marketing directors, and business owners I've worked with over the years, on everything from $250K+ builds to full redesigns.

"Ben has been a key part of our team for over four years. As our Lead Development Manager, he's helped us take on everything from $250K+ complex dev projects to internal platform builds."
Austin Abell
Austin Abell Owner, AboundUp
"What truly sets Ben apart is his rare blend of technical precision and marketing insight. He's not just executing code. He's thinking like a strategic growth partner."
Susan Greene
Susan Greene Greene Marketing LLC
"His communication was excellent and his personality was a joy to work with. He suggests ideas to build upon my thoughts, so he became a valuable collaborator in addition to the tech side."
Kara Ryska
Kara Ryska Life Coach & Speaker
"Ben communicates with project-manager-level detail. He is a rare blend of developer and outside-the-box thinker. He lets his yes be yes and his no, no."
Bryan Trueschler
Bryan Trueschler Ops Director, AboundUp
"Ben patiently taught me to navigate development through step-by-step videos. He is an invaluable asset to any team: self-sacrificial, capable, and helpful."
Nelly Feldi
Nelly Feldi Creative Ops Manager
"The transformation was not just cosmetic. It gave us a platform that supports our growth and elevates our brand."
Joel Greene
Joel Greene President, Condo Hotel Center
Investment

Simple and Hourly.

No subscriptions, no contracts. I log every task, so you always know where your time went.

One Job $45/hr

Billed when it's done. The easiest way to start.

Email Me
10 Hours $400/block

$40/hr. Prepaid hours never expire.

Email Me
50 Hours $1,800/block

$36/hr. Prepaid hours never expire.

Email Me

Full site builds get their own estimate. Send me the designs and I'll tell you how many hours it'll take before we start.

Email Me
How I Work

Principles I Work By.

White-Label, Always I work behind the scenes and never contact your clients unless you ask me to. Your clients keep dealing with you.
Built So Your Team Can Take Over Native Cornerstone where it fits, clean code where it doesn't, and names that make sense. Nothing to untangle later.
No Guessing You'll always know what I'm working on and how many hours it's used. If something's unclear, I'll ask.
Honest, Even When It Costs Me If WordPress isn't the right tool for part of a project, I'll tell you and point you to what is. If a job isn't a good fit for me, I'll say so up front.
Got Questions?

Frequently Asked Questions.

Everything you need to know about working with me.

Yes. Lots of people start that way, at $45 an hour, billed when it's done.
You buy a block, I invoice you, and I track every task against your hours. You'll see exactly what each job used.
No. Use them whenever you need them.
I'll estimate it before I start. If it turns out bigger than expected, I'll check with you before going over.
Absolutely. That's who I help most. Tell me what your client wants in plain language, and I'll handle the technical side.
Yes. I've worked with both since my Themeco days.
Yes. I've cleaned up malware, brought sites back up, and fixed errors other people couldn't trace.
In the Philippines. I've worked remotely with clients in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia for years.
Let's Talk

Got a Client Request
You're Not Sure How to Build?

Send me an email. Tell me what you're working on, and I'll tell you honestly whether I can help. Totally cool if the timing isn't right.