Freelancer, studio or agency
None of these is better by default. I couldn't find a US study showing that company size predicts quality. The right choice depends on your scope.
| Option | Can suit you when | Ask about |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | The scope is clear and you want to work directly with the person doing the job. | What happens if they're ill or unavailable. Where design ends and development begins. |
| Studio | You want design and development together with direct communication. | Which work is outsourced. Capacity. Who handles care after launch. |
| Agency | You need content, integrations, marketing and project management together. | Whether the person who sells the work is the person who does it. Add-on services. |
Published prices reflect scope more than size, as you can see in the cost guide.
What the agreement should list
- Deliverables: pages and templates, product and variant entry, copy and photos, redirects, integrations, testing, training and source files.
- Acceptance: which real order paths must work, what counts as a bug, who signs off, mobile and keyboard testing.
- Changes: written approval for extra work, the hourly or fixed price, and the effect on the schedule.
- Revisions: how many rounds, what a round means, the feedback window, and the difference between a design change and a bug fix.
- Payment and ending the work: payment stages, what happens if either side stops, which files transfer, and transition help.
- Support: response time compared with fix time, hours, emergencies, what the warranty excludes.
- Privacy and subcontractors: who gets access, who handles customer data, how access is removed and files are handed back.
I couldn't find a single US rule for deposits, revision rounds or bug-warranty length. These are suggestions, not a legal standard.
Who should own what
| Item | A sensible setup |
|---|---|
| Domain name | Registered in your name, with your recovery email and renewal control. |
| Hosting or Shopify account | You're the owner. The provider gets limited collaborator access. |
| Theme, plugins, fonts, images | A list with invoices, license holder, number of sites, renewal and transfer terms. |
| Custom code | A repository, build instructions, and the rights written into the agreement. |
| Design and brand files | Editable files, with a note on any third-party licenses. |
| Analytics and ad accounts | Your accounts, with the provider added as a user. |
Paying an invoice doesn't automatically transfer every right. Under US copyright law, transferring rights needs a written agreement, and not every freelance website counts as a work made for hire. A domain transfer is a separate process at the registrar. And a platform like Shopify can't be handed over as source code the way custom code can.
Be careful with big promises
Be wary of anyone who guarantees a first-place Google ranking, a sales increase or a fixed result. Nobody controls those. A good provider talks about what they will deliver and how you'll test it.
What to do next
- Send the same written brief to two or three providers.
- Compare their deliverables line by line.
- Ask who will own the domain, hosting and every license on day one.
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Rules, numbers and dates change often. This page reflects the sources below as checked on Nov 9, 2026. Confirm current figures with the official source before you act.