# Do I need a developer? (/get-started/do-i-need-a-developer)

Yes. To take a payment you need a small amount of code on your own server. The dashboard runs
your shop, but it cannot start a checkout.

## Why you need code [#why-you-need-code]

Every checkout, one-time or subscription, starts as a checkout session. Your server creates it
with `POST /v1/checkout-sessions`, using your application's credentials. No page in the
dashboard creates one.

Subscriptions need the API too: a subscription session is a `mode: 'subscription'` session with a
recurring `price_id`.

> **The dashboard alone cannot sell:**
>
> Creating products and prices in the dashboard does not put a pay button anywhere. A payer can pay
> only through a session your server created.

## What the dashboard does on its own [#what-the-dashboard-does-on-its-own]

* **Your account.** Sign-up, the business profile, two-factor sign-in, the wallet proof and the
  review.
* **Products and prices.** You create and archive them in the dashboard only; the v1 API can read
  them but not change them.
* **Orders, payments and customers.** See each one. Customers are only in the dashboard; the v1
  API has no customers endpoint.
* **Overview.** One UTC month of payments: totals, the previous month, subscriptions against
  one-off payments, and your top products.
* **Needs attention.** Past-due subscriptions, orders with an unmatched transfer, and failed
  payments whose funds landed.
* **Exports.** CSV files of payments, orders, subscriptions and customers.
* **Developer settings.** Create applications (the credentials your server uses), set the webhook
  URL, and redeliver webhooks.

## What the code does [#what-the-code-does]

A working integration has three parts:

1. **A checkout route** on your server that decides the price and creates the session.
2. **A button** on your page that opens the checkout.
3. **A webhook route** that marks the order paid when Fianto sends `order.paid`.

The SDKs cover each part for Next.js, Express and Hono. The [quickstart](/get-started/quickstart)
builds all three.

## See also [#see-also]

- [Quickstart](/get-started/quickstart): Take your first one-time payment.

- [Subscriptions quickstart](/get-started/subscriptions-quickstart): Sell a recurring price.

- [Merchants](/merchants): Run your shop in the dashboard.

- [Developers](/developers): The v1 API, webhooks, SDKs and CLI.