Web Development for the French Market
Two production sites shipped for French clients — a restaurant in Le Pouzin and a roofing company, both on Laravel.
France has more country-specific requirements than any other Western European market I work in, and three of them are changing over the next two years. If your developer is not talking about them, they are quoting a generic European build with a French flag on it.
Cartes Bancaires is on most French cards, and ignoring it costs you money
CB is the French domestic card scheme, and most French cards are co-badged CB with Visa or Mastercard. Routing a transaction over CB is generally cheaper than routing the same card internationally, and some issuers behave differently depending on the route. A checkout that treats every French card as a plain international Visa is overpaying on interchange and taking avoidable declines.
Mandatory e-invoicing is arriving, and the dates have already moved once
The French e-invoicing reform obliges businesses to receive structured electronic invoices from September 2026, with issuing obligations phased between 2026 for large and intermediate companies and 2027 for smaller ones. Invoices flow through certified partner platforms — the PDPs — after the state platform's role was reduced. Formats are Factur-X, UBL and CII. If you are building an invoicing system now, design it to emit a structured format and to route through a PDP, because retrofitting that is a rewrite of your billing core.
The CNIL means what it says about cookie banners
Refusing must be as easy as accepting. This is not an interpretation — the CNIL issued very large fines to major platforms in December 2021 on exactly this point. If your banner offers a one-click "Tout accepter" and hides refusal behind a preferences screen, that is the specific pattern that was penalised.
French is a legal requirement, not a preference
Under the Loi Toubon, commercial and advertising content directed at French consumers must be available in French. An English-only site selling into France is not merely losing customers, it is non-compliant. And accessibility is tightening too: the European Accessibility Act now reaches private e-commerce, alongside the RGAA standard long applied to the public sector.
What you get
Tech stack
Why work with me
Two French projects in production. King Kebab in Le Pouzin and BN Bâtiment, a roofing company — both built on Laravel and both listed on this site. Small businesses, real constraints, delivered.
I follow the e-invoicing reform because it changes billing architecture. The dates have moved once already. Any system you build now that issues invoices should be designed for structured output and PDP routing, and I would rather tell you that at scoping than at migration.
Compliance where it is actually enforced. The CNIL fines on cookie banners were not theoretical, and the pattern they penalised is still the default on many templates. It is a one-day fix during a build and a redesign afterwards.
Same working hours, freelance rates. Cairo is one hour ahead of Paris. You deal with the developer directly, and the repository is in your name on delivery.
In-depth guides on this
Practical articles on the decisions and the costs, before you hire anyone.
Questions before you hire
Have you delivered for French clients?
Why does Cartes Bancaires matter if the card also has a Visa logo?
Do I need to prepare for the 2026 e-invoicing mandate now?
Is my cookie banner a real risk?
Does my site legally have to be in French?
Do you speak French?
Ready to start your project?
Send your brief. You will get a written quote and a clear plan within 24 hours. First consultation is free.