Freelancer, agency, or studio: who should build your website?

The four routes

• Marketplace gigA seller on Fiverr, Upwork, or a contest site like 99designs. You buy a package or post a job and pick from proposals.
• Independent freelancerOne person you hire directly, often found through referrals or a portfolio. Quality ranges from excellent to absent.
• StudioA small team that designs, writes, and builds in-house with a set process and published or fixed prices. That's what we are.
• AgencyA larger firm with strategists, account managers, designers, and developers, often selling marketing services too.

Comparing specific marketplaces? See our pages on Fiverr, Upwork, and 99designs.

What each one costs

Commonly cited ranges as of 2026. Your quote depends on scope.

The cheapest build isn't always the cheapest website. See the 3-year totals in our website cost guide.

Speed and communication

How a project is run decides how much of your time it takes. Agencies tend to run on meetings: discovery workshops, check-ins, and approval rounds. That suits big projects with several decision-makers and wears down a business owner who just needs a site.

Freelancers vary. The good ones send a clear questionnaire and stick to a schedule. Others go quiet for a week and then need everything answered at once. Marketplace sellers are often fast to deliver a package, but you manage the back-and-forth.

We run small projects on a written brief instead of calls. Launch and Growth need no meeting at all; Signature and Flagship add a live consultation. Typical timelines run from about 2 weeks for Launch to 6–8 weeks for Flagship.

Risk

Each route has a typical way of going wrong. Knowing which one you're exposed to is most of the protection.

Fiverr's own community forum has threads from buyers who found out mid-project that the "individual" they hired was a company passing the work along. That's not a reason to avoid marketplaces, but it is a reason to ask.

Ownership and handoff

Whoever you hire, you should end up holding the domain registration, the hosting account (or a clear export of the site), and the admin logins. Copyright in the design and code belongs to its creator unless your contract transfers it, so get that in writing too.

• Domain registered in your name, with your email on the account.
• Hosting in your account, or the files handed over on request.
• Contract that transfers rights to the design, copy, and code once you've paid.

Our policy is simple: once your project is paid in full, the site, design, copy, and domain are yours, and we'll hand over the files if you ever move. The full picture is in our guide to who owns your website.

Support after launch

Most sites need something within weeks of launch: a price change, a new photo, a broken form after a plugin update. Ask every option who handles that and what it costs.

How to decide

Choose a marketplace gig if

• You need one landing page or a template set up, fast and cheap.
• You can write your own copy and live without support after delivery.

Choose a freelancer if

• You've seen their live work and can reach past clients.
• You're comfortable managing the project and holding all the accounts yourself.

Choose a studio if

• You want design, copy, and build handled by one team at a price fixed up front.
• You'd rather fill in a brief than sit through meetings.

Choose an agency if

• The site is complex, or part of a wider marketing program with ads and campaigns.
• Several people on your side need a formal process and sign-offs.

Still unsure? Our services page shows how we work, and pricing lists every tier.

Questions people ask