Why studios hide their prices
Most studio sites say get in touch for a quote. There is a reason, and it is not always a bad one.
Every project is different. A five-page site for a two-person company is not the same job as a fifty-page site with four stakeholders and a legal review.
But hiding the number wastes everybody’s time. People with $5,000 book calls with studios that start at $40,000. Both sides lose an hour.
So here are real numbers.
Rough ranges
- Brand identity, small studio: $15,000 to $50,000
- Marketing site, designed and built: $20,000 to $60,000
- Product UX work: $25,000 to $80,000
- Ongoing partnership: $8,000 to $20,000 a month
Freelancers sit below those. Large agencies sit well above, sometimes by five times. Neither is wrong. They are different products for different problems.
What actually moves the number
People assume the price tracks how many pages or screens there are. It does not, much. These matter more.
- How many people approve it. Two is fine. Six will add weeks.
- How ready your content is. Waiting on copy is the most common delay we see.
- How new the thinking is. Extending a clear brand is cheaper than working out what the brand should be.
- Speed. Squeezing a ten-week job into six costs more, because it needs more people at once.
That last one surprises people. Rushing does not save money. It swaps time for people, and people are the expensive part.
What cheap actually costs
There is always someone who will do it for a quarter of the price. Sometimes that is the right call, and we will say so.
The risk is not ugly work. It is work you cannot maintain. We have picked up several sites built cheaply where the design was fine and nobody could change a word without a developer.
The rebuild cost more than the gap between the two original quotes. That is the usual shape of it.
How to get a real number faster
If you want a useful quote quickly, send three things.
- What you want to exist at the end. A site, a logo, a design system.
- When you need it live, and why that date.
- A budget range. Even a wide one.
The budget line is the one people leave out, and it is the one that helps most. It is not a trap. It tells us whether to propose the version that fits, or say no politely and point you somewhere better.
What we charge
We publish ours. Launch is $18,000, Growth is $42,000, and Partner is $14,000 a month.
Those are starting points, not final numbers. But they are close enough that you know within a minute whether we are the right shape for you.
Worth remembering
In four lines
- Brand identity from a small studio: roughly $15,000 to $50,000.
- Approvals and content readiness move the price more than page count.
- Rushing does not save money. It swaps time for people.
- Send a budget range. It gets you a straight answer faster.
Questions we get asked
Why do agencies cost so much more?
They carry more overhead and more people. For a big rollout across many markets that structure earns its money. For a ten-week brand and site job it usually does not.
Can we pay in stages?
Most studios let you. Ours is 40% to start, 40% at the midpoint review, and 20% on delivery. Retainers bill monthly in advance.
What if we only have half the budget?
Say so early. There is usually a smaller version worth doing properly, and that beats a full scope done thinly.
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