On this pageThe table
Agency, freelancer, fixed price or yourself: who builds it
The column worth reading first is not the price. It is who fixes the site six months from now, because that is where these four routes really differ. A blank price is one that is not published.
| Option | Real cost, first year | Hours it takes you | Who does the work | What breaks at six months | Who fixes it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An agencyIf the project involves several people on your side too | Agencies publish no prices I could check at a stated date. The total is set on the quote. | Briefings, meetings and reviews with several people | A team, split by skill | Whatever the maintenance contract does not cover | The agency, under the maintenance contract you sign, if you sign one |
| A freelancer billed by the hour or dayIf the scope is still moving and you trust the person | No US hourly rate recorded at a stated date. The total depends on the hours, and is not known on day one. | Briefing, reviews, and following the hours as they add up | One person | Anything that depends on that one person being available | The same freelancer, billed by the hour, if they are still available |
| A solo designer at a fixed price, Vicou StudioIf you want the total known before anything starts | EUR 1,190Paid once, EUR 357 on order and EUR 833 at launch, plus hosting in your name. Billed in euros. | Gathering your text and photos, then reviewing | Me for the site, you for the content | WordPress updates continuously, and running those updates sits outside the fixed price. It is quoted case by case | Repairs are quoted case by case. Six months of questions by email from me |
| A custom build from the same solo designer, Vicou Studio SignatureIf the site has to do something no template does | Quoted: Signature from EUR 3,000, and a custom application from EUR 2,000 on top, with Signature only. | Describing how you work, then testing with me | Me | Whatever the quote did not describe | Me, on the terms written into the quote |
| Build it yourself on a website builderIf you have the evenings and a simple need | $204 to $228First year of an entry plan billed annually: Wix Light $17 a month before tax, Squarespace Basic $19 a month. Recorded September 28, 2026, US connection. | Your evenings and weekends, which nobody bills you for | You | Whatever you change without noticing on a phone | You, with the builder's support |
An agency
If the project involves several people on your side too
- Real cost, first year
- Agencies publish no prices I could check at a stated date. The total is set on the quote.
- Hours it takes you
- Briefings, meetings and reviews with several people
- Who does the work
- A team, split by skill
- What breaks at six months
- Whatever the maintenance contract does not cover
- Who fixes it
- The agency, under the maintenance contract you sign, if you sign one
A freelancer billed by the hour or day
If the scope is still moving and you trust the person
- Real cost, first year
- No US hourly rate recorded at a stated date. The total depends on the hours, and is not known on day one.
- Hours it takes you
- Briefing, reviews, and following the hours as they add up
- Who does the work
- One person
- What breaks at six months
- Anything that depends on that one person being available
- Who fixes it
- The same freelancer, billed by the hour, if they are still available
A solo designer at a fixed price, Vicou Studio
If you want the total known before anything starts
- Real cost, first year
- EUR 1,190Paid once, EUR 357 on order and EUR 833 at launch, plus hosting in your name. Billed in euros.
- Hours it takes you
- Gathering your text and photos, then reviewing
- Who does the work
- Me for the site, you for the content
- What breaks at six months
- WordPress updates continuously, and running those updates sits outside the fixed price. It is quoted case by case
- Who fixes it
- Repairs are quoted case by case. Six months of questions by email from me
A custom build from the same solo designer, Vicou Studio Signature
If the site has to do something no template does
- Real cost, first year
- Quoted: Signature from EUR 3,000, and a custom application from EUR 2,000 on top, with Signature only.
- Hours it takes you
- Describing how you work, then testing with me
- Who does the work
- Me
- What breaks at six months
- Whatever the quote did not describe
- Who fixes it
- Me, on the terms written into the quote
Build it yourself on a website builder
If you have the evenings and a simple need
- Real cost, first year
- $204 to $228First year of an entry plan billed annually: Wix Light $17 a month before tax, Squarespace Basic $19 a month. Recorded September 28, 2026, US connection.
- Hours it takes you
- Your evenings and weekends, which nobody bills you for
- Who does the work
- You
- What breaks at six months
- Whatever you change without noticing on a phone
- Who fixes it
- You, with the builder's support
Depending on your situation
You need a few pages that present the business
You do not need a team. A fixed-price solo designer or a builder plan covers it, and the choice comes down to whether you have the time.
Several people on your side will be involved
An agency is built for that. One person cannot run workshops with your marketing, sales and operations at once, and should not pretend to.
The scope is not settled yet
Settle it before hiring anybody. A fixed price needs a fixed scope, and an hourly bill grows with every change of mind.
You were burned by a provider who held everything
Whoever you hire next, register the domain yourself and open the hosting in your name. That habit matters more than the size of the provider.
Your budget is firm
Ask for the total in writing before work starts. If nobody can give you one, you are buying hours, not a website.
The criteria that decide it
Size is not the real question
An agency is not safer because it is bigger, and a freelancer is not cheaper because they are alone. What actually protects you is knowing three things before you sign: the total price, who does the work, and what you keep if they stop. Any of the four routes can pass that test, and any of them can fail it.
Who actually does the work
With an agency, the person who sells you the project is often not the one who builds it, and the work may be handed on more than once. With a solo designer, the person on the call is the person who builds. Neither is better in itself. Ask the question directly, and ask who you will talk to after launch.
What happens if they stop
This is the risk nobody raises before signing. A team absorbs one absence; one person does not. What makes a solo provider safe is not a promise to stay available. It is that the domain, the hosting and the files are in your name, so that stopping costs you a provider and not your website.
Fixed price or hours
An hourly bill is fair when the scope moves, and expensive when it keeps moving. A fixed price is only fixed for what was written down: anything added after is quoted separately. Either way, the useful document is the one that lists what is included before work starts.
Who owns the site at the end
Ask whose name the domain is registered in, whose account the hosting sits in, and who holds the administrator login. If the answer to any of those is the provider, you depend on them. That applies to agencies and freelancers alike, and to me too, which is why I open those accounts in your name.
The quiz
Four questions to see whether you need an agency, a freelancer, or nobody at all.
How big is the project?
Do you want to know the total price before work starts?
How many people do you want to deal with?
Do you have the time to build it yourself?
Your result
An agency, for a team project
Your project needs several skills and involves several parts of your business at once. An agency brings a designer, a developer and often a project manager, and the work carries on if one of them is away. In exchange, the price is set on the quote and you will have several contacts.
This result sits outside what I do alone. Tell me what you have in mind anyway, and we will look at what is possible.
A freelancer billed by the hour
You want one person, and you are comfortable paying for the time the project takes rather than a fixed total. This works well when the scope is still moving, or when you already know a freelancer whose work you trust. Ask for an estimate of the hours in writing before starting, and who holds the accounts at the end.
The risk to weigh: a project that grows also grows the bill, and nobody knows the final number on day one.
A solo designer at a fixed price
You want a presentation site, one contact, and the total known before anything starts. That is what I do: one price, a written start date, a delivery commitment, and the domain and hosting opened in your name. You send your text and photos, I build it, you review it.
The honest caveat: I am one person. What protects you is where the accounts live, not a promise about my availability.
A custom build, quoted with you
Your site has to do something specific: a client area, bookings, tracking. That goes beyond a template, and it is quoted before work starts, with what the application does written down. I build these with the Signature package only.
The quote says exactly what the application does before anything is built. If what you describe is a job for a team, I will say so in that conversation.
Build it yourself on a builder
You have the time, a simple need, and you would rather keep control of every change. A website builder on a paid plan gets you there, and nobody needs to be hired. Plan for the evenings it takes, and register the domain in your own name from day one.
This route does not lead to me, and for many small businesses it is the right one.
The concrete case: Vicou Studio
Who it is for
A US small business that wants a presentation site, one contact, and the total known before work starts. If several people on your side need to be involved, or you have the time to build it yourself, one of the other routes fits better.
What it costs
EUR 1,190, paid once: EUR 357 on order, EUR 833 when the site goes live. Four to six pages depending on the template, EUR 90 per extra page. Billed in euros, so the dollar amount moves with the exchange rate.
The timeline
15 business days, counted on the French working calendar, about three calendar weeks, from the start date I confirm in writing once the deposit has cleared and your content is complete.
What the fixed price does not cover
Writing your content, which you provide. Running WordPress updates after launch, which is quoted case by case. A custom application, which comes with the Signature package only and is quoted separately.
When this is not the right answer
I am one person
If your project needs several people at once, a team will serve you better than I will. What I can offer against the single-person risk is structural: the accounts are in your name. It is not the same thing as a team, and I would rather say so.
Larger projects belong to agencies
A redesign that runs through several departments, with workshops, approvals and a project manager, is agency work. Tell me about it anyway: part of it may fit, and I will say which part does not.
You are billed in euros
The dollar amount depends on the exchange rate the day you pay, and your card may add a foreign transaction fee. It is a real friction, and it belongs in the comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Is a freelancer cheaper than an agency?
Not necessarily, and I have no US figures I could check at a stated date to prove it either way. What changes is how the price is built: an agency usually quotes a total, a freelancer often bills the hours. Compare totals in writing, for the same list of pages, rather than rates.
What should I ask before hiring either one?
Three things: the total price in writing, who will build the site, and whose name the domain, the hosting and the administrator login will be in. The third question is the one most people forget, and the one that decides what happens if the relationship ends.
What if my freelancer disappears halfway through?
That depends almost entirely on whose name the accounts are in. If the domain and hosting are yours, another person can pick up where they stopped. If they are not, start with how to get access to a website someone else controls.
Can I do it myself instead?
Yes, and for a simple site it is a reasonable choice. On cash, a builder plan stays cheaper than having a site built once for years, and you keep full control of every change. The full comparison is in what a small business website costs.
Written by
Victor Rouvreau
I've been building websites for four years, for myself and for clients.
The About pageSources and date checked
- Wix Light at $17 a month, billed annually, prices before taxWix pricing page, recorded September 28, 2026 from a US connection
- Squarespace Basic at $19 a month, billed annuallySquarespace pricing page, recorded September 28, 2026 from a US connection
- The Vicou Studio prices, timescale and exclusionsThe packages page, which is the contract
- Subscription versus paying once, over three yearsThe blog, what a small business website costs
Page updated on September 28, 2026. It is reviewed at least once a quarter. If something here looks wrong or out of date, write to contact@vicou.studio: the page is corrected, or the claim comes out.