Hiring a web studio is one of the highest-leverage decisions an early-stage startup makes. A well-executed site signals credibility to investors, converts visitors into leads, and gives your product team a visual language to build from. A poorly executed one does the opposite — and fixing it costs twice what it should have cost to build correctly.
This guide covers everything you need to evaluate, negotiate, and work with a web studio that delivers.
Start here. These are not interchangeable options with different price points — they're different risk profiles.
Freelancer (€20–€120/hour or €500–€5,000 per project)
One person. Lowest overhead, highest dependency. If they get sick, your project stops. If they're good, you get expert-level work at sub-agency pricing. Freelancers work best when you have a specific, well-defined deliverable and either internal technical oversight or the willingness to manage closely.
Boutique studio (€3,000–€30,000)
Two to eight specialists with a defined stack and service offering. Direct builder access, narrow specialisation, limited bandwidth. Works best for companies that need quality work and can accept a 2–8 week queue.
Mid-size agency (€15,000–€150,000)
10–50 people, account management layer, broader service offering. Higher cost baseline, more structured process, better for projects with multiple workstreams (brand + web + content simultaneously). Risk: senior people pitch, juniors build.
Enterprise agency (€100,000+)
For companies that need an agency relationship, not just a project. Multi-year engagements, dedicated team, full campaign capability. Almost never the right choice for a startup at any stage.
The right choice for most seed-stage startups: boutique studio or quality freelancer. Save the agency for when you have the budget to justify the overhead.
Most founders evaluate portfolios aesthetically. That's 10% of the signal. Here's the rest:
Industry proximity. Has this studio built for companies like yours? A B2C consumer app portfolio tells you nothing about their ability to build a B2B SaaS marketing site. The design decisions, the trust signals, the user psychology are different enough that industry proximity matters.
Complexity match. Does their work look like your scope? A portfolio of five-page brochure sites doesn't guarantee they can build a 20-page platform with multi-language support and a custom CMS. Ask for case studies at your scope level.
Stack match. Do their case studies show work in your target stack? You don't want a Webflow specialist building your Next.js site.
Age of work. A portfolio full of work from 2021 tells you about who they were, not who they are. Web development practice changes fast. Look for recent work (last 12–18 months).
Depth of case studies. A good case study explains the brief, the constraints, and the decisions made — not just screenshots. Studios that can articulate why they built what they built are studios with genuine expertise.
Do not sign anything that doesn't address these explicitly:
Scope definition. Every page, every feature, every integration — listed by name. "A marketing website" is not a scope. "Homepage, about, services x3, case studies x4, blog, contact page with HubSpot integration, sitemap, OG images, cookie banner" is a scope.
Code and asset ownership. On project completion, all source code, design files, and digital assets transfer to you. This should be explicit, not implied. Some agencies retain IP as leverage — don't allow it.
Revision policy. Number of rounds included, definition of a revision vs. a new request, process for scope additions.
Change order process. How out-of-scope requests are handled, what the change order looks like, whether it requires your signature before work begins.
Payment milestones. Tied to deliverables, not calendar dates. Paying in full upfront gives you zero leverage. A standard structure: 30–40% on signing, 30–40% on design approval, balance on launch.
Post-launch support. Duration, scope (bug fixes only vs. content updates), response time SLA.
Termination clause. What happens if you need to stop the project? What's owed to each party? This is often ignored and becomes a source of expensive conflict.
| Project type | Realistic timeline |
|---|---|
| 5-page template site | 1–2 weeks |
| 5-page custom brochure | 3–5 weeks |
| 10-page custom marketing site | 6–10 weeks |
| Marketing site + blog + CMS | 8–14 weeks |
| Marketing + dashboard | 12–20 weeks |
| Multi-language marketing site | Add 2–4 weeks per language |
These assume content is ready when design starts. If you're also producing copy and photography during the project, add 2–4 weeks minimum.
Any studio quoting half these timelines is cutting something — usually testing, accessibility, or CMS setup. Any studio quoting double these timelines has an inefficient process or is overbooking.
A web project budget is not a negotiation starting point — it's engineering information. Knowing you have €10,000 vs. €30,000 determines what's possible to scope, not what the studio "deserves."
Be direct about your budget. Studios that respond to budget disclosure with a fixed-scope proposal matching the budget are working with you. Studios that respond by expanding scope to meet the budget are working against you.
If a studio quotes significantly above your budget, ask what the version is for your budget. A good studio will tell you honestly what's in and what's out at your price point.
The launch is not the relationship end — it's often where it gets complicated. Dependencies update, APIs change, content needs updating, bugs emerge in production. Understand before launch:
Studios that build and disappear leave clients stranded. A 30-day included support window is the minimum acceptable. Some studios offer ongoing retainers for clients who need active development — this is worth budgeting for if your site will evolve.
Run every prospective studio through this before signing:
We cover this to be transparent, not self-promotional. Our structure:
Two-person core team — we build what we sell. Discovery before quoting, always. Fixed-scope contracts with explicit change order process. Code and all assets transfer to you on final payment. 30 days post-launch support included. Ongoing retainer available for clients who want continued development.
We're not the only studio that works this way. But we're telling you how we work so you have a reference point when evaluating others.
Ready to start evaluating studios? Talk to us first — we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit and what to look for if we're not.
We take on a small number of projects each quarter. Tell us what you're building.
Most agencies sound identical in the pitch. These seven questions surface the real differences — who builds, how they scope, what happens when things go wrong.
The real cost of a startup website — broken down by tier, stack, and scope. Template vs custom, showcase vs platform, what hidden costs nobody quotes upfront.