[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":113},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-en-freelancer-or-agency":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"cover":97,"date":98,"description":99,"draft":100,"extension":101,"locale":102,"meta":103,"navigation":104,"path":105,"seo":106,"stem":107,"tags":108,"__hash__":112},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fen\u002Ffreelancer-or-agency.md","Freelancer or agency? I've worked on both sides",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":89},"minimark",[9,19,24,27,30,34,37,43,46,50,79,83,86],[10,11,12,13,18],"p",{},"I've been part of an agency team at Made in Amsterdam, building things like ",[14,15,17],"a",{"href":16},"\u002Fen\u002Fwork\u002Fmammut-eiger-extreme","Mammut's Eiger Extreme experience",". So when people ask me whether they should hire a freelancer or an agency, I can't really pretend one of them is always better. I've seen both from the inside. They're good at different things.",[20,21,23],"h2",{"id":22},"what-an-agency-does-well","What an agency does well",[10,25,26],{},"An agency has many people. That means strategy, copywriting, design, development, video and project management can all happen in parallel, by specialists. For a big brand campaign with five languages, a tight launch date and a lot of moving parts, that's exactly what you need. Nobody is the single point of failure. If a developer is sick, another one picks it up.",[10,28,29],{},"You also pay for that structure. Project managers, account managers, office space and meetings are part of the day rate, whether your project needs them or not.",[20,31,33],{"id":32},"what-a-freelancer-does-well","What a freelancer does well",[10,35,36],{},"With a freelancer, the person you talk to is the person doing the work. Nothing gets lost between the pitch, the design and the code, because it all happens in one head. Decisions are fast. Feedback goes straight to the screen. And for most small and medium projects, you get comparable craft for considerably less money, because there's no overhead to carry.",[38,39,40],"blockquote",{},[10,41,42],{},"With a freelancer, the person in the meeting is the person in the code.",[10,44,45],{},"The honest downside: one person has limited hours, and one person can get sick or go on holiday. A good freelancer plans for that, tells you about it up front and has people to call for parts they don't do themselves.",[20,47,49],{"id":48},"questions-that-make-the-choice-easy","Questions that make the choice easy",[51,52,53,61,67,73],"ul",{},[54,55,56,60],"li",{},[57,58,59],"strong",{},"How big is it really?"," A website with ten pages and a blog is a one-person job. A platform with an app, a shop and a campaign probably isn't.",[54,62,63,66],{},[57,64,65],{},"How many people need to be involved on your side?"," Large organisations with long approval chains often fit better with an agency's structure.",[54,68,69,72],{},[57,70,71],{},"What's the budget?"," If an agency quote would eat the budget for photos and content, a freelancer is usually the better use of the money.",[54,74,75,78],{},[57,76,77],{},"How fast do decisions need to happen?"," Small team, fast decisions. That goes for both sides of the table.",[20,80,82],{"id":81},"the-setup-i-use","The setup I use",[10,84,85],{},"I do design and code myself. When a project needs photography, copywriting or a second developer, I'd rather bring in a specialist than fake it. You get one contact, one quote and one person responsible, plus specialists where it actually helps.",[10,87,88],{},"Neither setup is the safe choice by default. The safe choice is the one where you know exactly who is doing the work.",{"title":90,"searchDepth":91,"depth":91,"links":92},"",2,[93,94,95,96],{"id":22,"depth":91,"text":23},{"id":32,"depth":91,"text":33},{"id":48,"depth":91,"text":49},{"id":81,"depth":91,"text":82},null,"2026-08-28","An honest comparison of hiring a freelance web designer versus a web agency: cost, speed, who you actually talk to, what happens when someone gets sick, and which projects suit which setup.",false,"md","en",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fen\u002Ffreelancer-or-agency",{"title":5,"description":99},"blog\u002Fen\u002Ffreelancer-or-agency",[109,110,111],"Web Design","Clients","Freelance","KOUm1fLepcEV6dsNkQ51Lh8KNAdvnPKCHlF079xPgoE",1792165381927]