The decision between hiring a web design agency vs an in-house team for your web development project impacts your budget, project scope, timeline, and the quality of your brand's online presence.
In this article, we’ve outlined the pros and cons of each option to help you align your web design strategy with your priorities and resources.
In brief:
- In-house web design teams offer deep brand understanding and efficient collaboration but may face challenges with creativity and scaling.
- Hiring a web design agency provides specialized skills and broad experience but might involve higher costs.
- A hybrid approach combines the strengths of both, balancing internal insight with external expertise.
When to Choose an In-House Web Design Team
An in-house web design team suits companies needing continuous, brand-focused work. If you expect frequent updates or projects that demand a deep understanding of your unique identity and audience, building your own team might be the answer.
Advantages
- Deep brand insight: An in-house team knows your brand inside out, aligning closely with your objectives and customer needs. For example, they can quickly adapt designs to match a new branding initiative without extensive briefing.
- Efficient collaboration: Being on-site with other departments streamlines communication, making decisions and problem-solving quicker.
- Cultural consistency: Sharing the same workplace culture leads to consistency in design and messaging.
- Long-term investment: While the initial costs are higher, a dedicated team can be cost-effective over time for ongoing needs.
Challenges
- Limited perspectives: Focusing on one brand may limit creativity and exposure to fresh design ideas.
- High workload: Internal designers might juggle multiple projects, leading to burnout.
- Scaling difficulties: Expanding your team quickly is tough compared to hiring a web design agency that can ramp up resources on demand. For instance, during a major product launch, your team might struggle to meet tight deadlines without additional help.
- Talent retention: Attracting and keeping top designers requires competitive salaries and benefits.
When to Hire a Web Design Agency
Hiring a web design agency is a great choice when your internal team lacks capacity or specialized skills. For example, agencies bring in web development expertise for major projects like website overhauls or new product launches. If you're seeking fresh ideas or a broader perspective, agencies can provide that creative edge.
Advantages
- Wide-ranging expertise: Agencies work with diverse clients, and stay up to date with emerging trends and modern design practices. For example, they might introduce you to innovative UX features that have been successful in other industries.
- Structured workflow: They have a structured approach to web design project management, which means you can have greater assurance that everything will be delivered on schedule and within budget.
- Flexible resources: You can adjust their involvement as your project evolves, scaling up or down as needed.
- Specialized skills: Top agencies provide design services with experts in areas like UI, UX, and development.
- Enterprise experience: Agencies can assist in developing an enterprise website strategy to target larger markets.
Challenges
- Communication gaps: Since agencies handle multiple clients, extra coordination is needed to keep your brand vision on track.
- Potential cost increase: Fees can rise quickly if the project scope expands or additional revisions are needed.
- Less direct control: Handing over control might slow feedback loops and affect turnaround times.
- Potential dependency: Relying heavily on external partners might hinder internal growth.
The Impact of Project Scope, Timeline, and Budget on Your Choice
When deciding between an in-house web design team and hiring an agency, three major factors come into play: project scope, timeline, and budget. Each of these elements influences the resources you’ll need.
Project Scope
The size and complexity of your project play a major role in determining whether you should keep design in-house or outsource to an agency. If you're a small business or startup, your focus might be on launching quickly with essential features—like a simple landing page, a blog, or an e-commerce store with a few core products. In this case, working with a lean in-house team or freelancers could be the most cost-effective and agile approach.
Larger companies, on the other hand, often have more intricate needs, such as custom UI/UX designs, advanced integrations, and scalable infrastructure to support long-term growth. For these organizations, an agency can bring specialized expertise that ensures a high-quality, future-proof digital experience.
Agencies are also helpful for one-time, large-scale projects, like a complete website redesign or brand refresh. If your internal team lacks bandwidth or the specific skills required, hiring an agency can help fill those gaps while keeping the project moving.
Ultimately, the more complex the scope, the more resources and expertise you'll need, whether that means expanding your in-house team or outsourcing to professionals who can execute your vision effectively.
Timeline
Deadlines matter, especially when a project impacts product launches, marketing campaigns, or company milestones. The size of your team and the complexity of your workflow determine whether an in-house or agency model works best for your timeline.
Small teams tend to be more agile, making it easier to adapt and iterate quickly. However, tight deadlines can stretch internal teams thin, especially if they’re already juggling multiple projects. Some companies address this by bringing in external experts for short-term needs, such as a UX designer or developer to assist with specific features.
For larger, enterprise-level projects, timelines naturally extend due to multiple approval layers, compliance requirements, and cross-departmental collaboration. These projects often require a structured approach, with well-defined milestones and phased rollouts. A hybrid model (where an internal team manages day-to-day updates while an external agency handles specialized or high-volume tasks) can help keep things on track without overwhelming internal resources.
Budget Considerations
Budgeting for web design can be tricky, especially when balancing cost-effectiveness with long-term value. The decision between an in-house team and a web development agency depends on both short-term expenses and ongoing maintenance costs.
For smaller businesses or startups with tight budgets, an in-house team may be more affordable, particularly if web design isn’t a primary focus. Using cost-saving tools like open-source software, template-based designs, or freelance help can also keep expenses manageable. However, maintaining an in-house team means ongoing payroll, benefits, and training costs, even when web development needs fluctuate.
For mid-sized to large businesses, hiring a web development agency might make more sense if the goal is to build a highly customized, scalable website. While agency fees may be higher upfront, they eliminate the overhead of recruiting, training, and managing an internal team.
For companies with long-term digital strategies, a hybrid approach can be the best of both worlds. Keeping an in-house team for routine maintenance and incremental updates while bringing in an agency for larger projects, redesigns, or specialized development needs can maximize cost efficiency and quality.
Cost Analysis: Hiring a Web Design Agency vs. In-House Team
Let's break down the costs you might expect with each option. For a more detailed estimate, use our web design cost calculator.
In-House Costs
Building an in-house web design team involves several ongoing expenses beyond just salaries. A web designer's salary typically ranges from $50,000 to $80,000 per year, but the true cost of hiring includes benefits, taxes, and additional perks, which can add 20–30% more to that base salary.
Beyond salaries, there are software and equipment costs. For instance, industry-standard design tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, or Sketch can cost anywhere from $600 to $1,200 per employee per year. Hardware investments might also run $2,000–$3,000 per workstation if required.
Agency Costs
Hiring a web design agency eliminates the long-term overhead of full-time employees but comes with project-based costs that can add up quickly. A complete website design project typically averages around $38,105, with an ongoing monthly cost of $5,279.79 over seven months.
For smaller projects, the cost can range from $2,000 to $25,000, depending on complexity and required features, such as custom UI/UX, e-commerce capabilities, or CMS integrations.
Hybrid Models: Combining In-House and Agency Design
A hybrid model combines in-house designers with external specialists, blending your team's brand insight with an agency's creativity.
It works well in the following scenarios.
- Rapid expansion: Tight deadlines require quick scaling. For instance, during a rebranding campaign, supplementing your team by hiring a web design agency can speed up the process.
- Specialized expertise: Agencies fill skill gaps for complex projects.
- Fresh creative input: An outside perspective can spark new solutions.
- Flexible budgeting: Adjust spending between internal and external resources as needed.
- Building systems: Collaborating allows you to build a design system that leverages both internal insights and external creativity.
Questions to Ask Before Making a Decision
Before making a decision, evaluate several factors to make sure you're choosing a web design approach that aligns with your priorities. Asking these questions helps:
- What are our team's strengths? Identify where your designers excel and where you might need external help.
- Does this align with our long-term goals? Consider how each option affects future scalability.
- How much control do we need? Decide if you require hands-on oversight or can benefit from an external partnership.
- What's the risk versus reward? Weigh potential setbacks against the advantages each option offers.
- How will this impact efficiency? Determine whether in-house operations streamline workflows or if hiring a web design agency can handle heavy workloads better.
- Is this sustainable over time? Evaluate whether you have the resources to support your choice in the long run.
- What is our budget? Assess your financial resources to determine which option offers the best return on investment without straining your finances.
- Do we require specialized expertise? Consider if your project needs skills or technologies that your current team lacks.
- What is our timeline? Analyze whether your internal team can meet project deadlines or if an agency's resources would speed things up.
- How important is flexibility in scaling resources? Decide if you need the ability to quickly scale up or down, which might be more feasible with an agency.
Making the Right Choice for Your Business
Choosing between hiring a web design agency vs an in-house team goes beyond budgets or timelines. It also has to do with strengthening your brand identity and achieving your organization's goals with each design effort.
Agencies offer fresh expertise, while an in-house team provides deep brand understanding. Both paths can succeed if they align with your vision and resources.
Another factor to consider is how your website will be managed over time. If flexibility, scalability, and omnichannel content delivery are priorities, a headless CMS might be the best solution. Unlike traditional CMS platforms, a headless approach separates content from presentation, and is easier to adapt across different platforms.
To help you navigate this transition, our headless CMS implementation checklist breaks down the process into clear, actionable steps.
