A website builder fits when your site is simple and you're happy to build and run it yourself. A freelancer fits one clear job where you want to work directly with the person doing it, and an agency fits work that spans several skills and needs to keep moving without you coordinating it. Whichever you choose, know who holds the domain and each account, and ask who covers the work when the main person isn't available. We're one of the options on this list, so we've tried to be fair to the other two.
What each option is built for
A builder is made for doing it yourself. A freelancer is one skilled person taking on a focused job, and an agency is several people in different roles with someone coordinating them.
Website builders
Builders like Wix and Squarespace give you templates, an editor, and hosting in one package. You pick a design, add your words and photos, and publish without waiting on anyone. The platform handles the hosting and the software underneath, so your job is the content.
Freelancers
A freelancer is usually one person with a specific skill, like design, development, or writing. You talk directly with the person doing the work, and decisions move quickly. A focused project with a clear end, like a redesign or a new logo, is where a good freelancer is usually the best fit.
Agencies
An agency has several people in different roles, so it can take on design, development, writing, photos, and ads at the same time, with someone coordinating them. It's built for work with several parts, or work that keeps going after launch, where the value is in not having to manage every piece yourself.
In practice the three overlap. Many freelancers work with trusted partners, many agencies are small, and some freelancers and agencies build sites on the same builders you'd use yourself. So ask how a provider actually works day to day, whatever they call themselves.
Where does each option struggle?
Each option has weak spots. These are the common ones.
Builders
- Anything the template didn't plan for. Builders are quick because many choices are made for you, so custom layouts, connections to other systems, or unusual features can be hard or impossible to add. You often find that limit after you've built most of the site.
- Nobody is watching the site for you. The platform's support team can help you use the platform, but if a form stops sending or a page looks wrong on phones, you're the one who has to notice.
Freelancers
- Coverage. Vacations, illness, and busy stretches all land on one person. That's fine for a project with a clear end, and harder for a site your business relies on every day.
- Range. One person rarely does design, development, copy, photos, and ads equally well, so a bigger project can mean hiring several freelancers and coordinating them yourself.
- Continuity. If a freelancer takes a full-time job or stops taking clients, you need to be able to carry on without them. That comes down to ownership and documentation, which you can settle before the work starts.
Agencies
- Small, fast jobs. The process that keeps a larger project organized can cost more than the work itself when all you need is one page changed.
- Distance from the work. At some agencies you mostly talk to an account manager, and the people you met at the start aren't the ones doing the work.
None of these rule an option out. They're the places to ask questions before you sign anything.
What each option costs you in money, time, and control
The price on the invoice is only part of the cost. Each option also takes some of your time and some control over the site, and the mix is different for each.
- A builder has the lowest outside cost, a subscription plus any paid add-ons. The bigger cost is your time, because the writing, photos, setup, and every later change come out of your week. You keep full control, since you're the one doing it.
- A freelancer usually costs less than an agency for the same focused job, because you're paying for one person's time and less overhead. You keep a close working relationship, and you take on the coverage risk.
- An agency usually costs more, because you're paying for several people and someone to coordinate them. You get back the time you'd spend managing the work, and a wider range of skills.
So compare the full cost. Count the hours you'd spend yourself, what those hours are worth to your business, and what it would take to fix or move the site later. A builder is a good choice while you enjoy the work and the site brings in calls. Once it takes hours from paying work without bringing in calls, count those hours as part of its cost.
If you're weighing quotes from a freelancer and an agency, our post on what a website costs and what moves the price explains why two quotes for the same site can be far apart.
Who holds the domain and the accounts
It depends on who you hire. Some set everything up in your business's name and add themselves as users. Others hold the domain and accounts for you as part of running the site. Either can work. What matters is knowing who holds each one, having your own login, and agreeing in writing how they're handed over if you move on.
The domain
The domain is the piece that matters most if you change providers. Domain owners have the right to move a domain to another registrar, and the registrar confirms the transfer with whoever is listed as the owner, usually by email. If a freelancer or agency registered your domain in their own name, they're the one who approves that move, so check who's listed and agree how the handover works while you're still working together.
The website itself
How portable the site is depends on how it was built. Wix, for example, says a Wix site has to run on Wix's own servers, so it can't be moved to another host. Squarespace can export some pages and one blog to a file meant for WordPress, but style settings, custom CSS, and store pages stay behind. A site built on WordPress or custom code can move to another host, as long as you have the files, the database, and the logins.
That doesn't make builders a bad choice. It means leaving one usually involves rebuilding the site, which is worth knowing before you start.
The accounts around it
The same goes for your Google listing, analytics, ad accounts, the email tied to your domain, and a builder account. Wix and Squarespace both give each site one owner who can transfer it, and let that owner invite helpers with narrower permissions. Whoever holds these accounts, ask for your own login and how each one would be transferred to you.
The handoff
If you part ways, a clean handoff leaves you with these.
- Owner access to the domain, the builder or hosting account, and every other account the site uses
- The site files and database, or for a builder site, the site sitting in your own account
- A written record of what's set up where, including plugins, forms, and where form messages are sent
- Your original photos, written content, and logo files. Our guide to which logo files to get from your designer covers that last one.
All of this is easy to agree on before the work starts, so ask then.
What happens after the site launches?
A website keeps needing small things after launch, like new photos, a changed service, a form that stops sending, or a plugin update that breaks a page. Before you choose, know who will handle those and how you'll reach them.
- With a builder, the platform keeps the hosting running, and the changes are yours to make.
- With a freelancer, ask what happens when they're away or booked up. A good answer names a backup person and says what that person can access.
- With an agency, ask who you'll deal with after launch, whether changes go through a support plan or get quoted one at a time, and who fixes the site if it goes down on a weekend.
For comparison, here's how we handle it. We host and support the websites and software we build, and after launch we can take care of hosting, edits, and support for as long as you want us to, either through a support plan or as separate work when you need it. We can also set your site up so you edit the text and images yourself. Our website design page walks through how a project runs from planning to launch.
How to choose between a freelancer, an agency, and a builder
Start with what the site has to do, then decide how much of the work you want to do yourself. Those two answers usually point to one option.
- Choose a builder if the site mainly needs to explain what you do and how to reach you, you're comfortable editing it, and you have the time to set it up and keep it current.
- Choose a freelancer if there's one clear job with a defined end, like a redesign or a logo, and they can show you how coverage and ownership are handled.
- Choose an agency if the work spans several skills, like a site plus photos, copy, and ads, if the site has to connect to another system such as inventory or booking, or if you want someone running it month to month so you don't have to coordinate it.
If two options fit equally well, pick the one that's clearest about what you'd take with you if you left. You can always change who does the work later, and it's much easier when that's already agreed.
This doesn't have to be a permanent choice. Starting on a builder and hiring someone when the site outgrows the template is a reasonable path. At that point the next question is usually which platform, and WordPress, Shopify, or a custom build walks through that choice.
Questions to ask before you decide
- What does the site need to do for my business, beyond explaining what I offer?
- How much of the building and upkeep do I want to do myself, and do I have the time?
- Is this one clear job, or several kinds of work that need to fit together?
- Whose name will the domain, the hosting or builder account, and the other accounts be in?
- If I move on later, what do I take with me, and what would have to be rebuilt?
- Who fixes the site if it goes down while the main person is away?
- Who will I actually talk to once the work starts?
Our services page lays out everything we do, and the FAQ covers how projects start and what happens after launch. If you'd like to ask us any of these questions directly, send them over and we'll answer them.
