Eleken Review (2026): Pricing, Plans, Pros, Cons and Who It's For
Oct 22, 202612 min readRated 4.9/5 by Siddharth Vij
Author
Siddharth Vij
Co-Founder, Bricx
Siddharth Vij is the Co-Founder & design lead at Bricx, a website and UX design agency working with B2B and AI SaaS companies.
If you run product at a SaaS company and have started looking for design help, Eleken has probably come up already. It shows up in most "best SaaS design agency" lists, it has one of the largest review counts on Clutch for a SaaS specialist, and its pricing is public, which is rare in this industry.
I've spent years on both sides of these decisions, hiring designers and selling design work to SaaS founders. So this review looks at Eleken the way a buyer should: what you actually get for the monthly fee, who it works well for, where the model gets stretched, and what to ask before you sign.
TL;DR
- What Eleken is: Eleken is a UI/UX design agency founded in 2015 in Kyiv, Ukraine, and it works only with SaaS companies. You get a dedicated designer who works inside your Slack, Figma and GitHub.
- Pricing: a part-time designer costs $4,599 a month, a full-time designer $6,599 and two full-time designers $11,999. Plans are billed monthly with a two-month minimum and a 3-day free trial.
- Clients: Eleken works mostly with early-stage SaaS and AI products, and it has published 76 case studies.
- Clutch reviews: Eleken holds a 4.9 rating across 128 reviews, and clients praise on-time delivery most often.
- Best fit: Eleken suits teams that already know what to build and need steady product UI capacity at a predictable monthly cost.
- Weaker fit: it's less suited to a website redesign around a fundraise or launch, or to a team that needs a senior lead to set product direction.
- Best Eleken alternative for funded B2B and AI SaaS: Bricx, a design partner that covers the website, the product and the build with one senior team.
Eleken at a glance
| Eleken | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2015, by Ilya Dmitruk (Founder and CEO) |
| Headquarters | Kyiv, Ukraine, with a US entity in Newark, Delaware |
| Team size | 50 to 249 people on Clutch; Eleken says 100+ |
| Focus | UI/UX for SaaS products only |
| Model | Dedicated designer on a monthly subscription |
| Pricing | $4,599 to $11,999 a month |
| Minimum term | 2 months |
| Free trial | 3 days on every plan |
| Clutch | 4.9 from 128 reviews, $25 to $49 an hour, $10,000+ minimum project |
How I researched this Eleken review
I haven't hired Eleken myself, so this review is built from three sources I could check directly:
- Eleken's own site: the pricing page, the about page and all 76 case studies listed on its cases page
- Eleken's Clutch profile: the ratings, the rate card and the recurring themes across its 128 reviews, including the criticism
- Market benchmarks: The State of UI/UX Design Agencies 2026 gave 57 design agencies the same brief and compared what each one quoted, how it staffed the work and how long it said delivery would take. Wherever this review compares Eleken to "the market", the figure comes from that study.
Anything Eleken says about itself, such as hiring rates or training, is marked as Eleken's own claim. Where Eleken's pages contradict each other, I've pointed it out.
What is Eleken?
Eleken is a product design agency that only takes SaaS clients. The team is distributed but based in Kyiv, and most designers work in the GMT+2 time zone. Eleken lists its services as product redesigns, MVP design, team extension, UX audits, design systems, consulting and product design engineering, where the designer ships working frontend code as a pull request.
The model is what sets it apart. A typical project agency scopes a project and assigns a team for its length. Eleken places one designer, or two, inside your tools for as long as the subscription runs, with no account manager in the middle. In practice it feels closer to a contract hire than to an agency engagement.
How does Eleken work?
- Intro call. Eleken scopes what your team needs and suggests a plan.
- Trial. Each plan lists a 3-day free trial. Eleken describes it as picking a small part of your existing product and getting one or two screens designed.
- Dedicated designer. Eleken says a designer can start within a week. They join your Slack, Figma and GitHub, with guidance from Eleken's Head of Design.
- Ongoing work. Plans include unlimited design tasks and revisions within the designer's capacity.
- Scaling. You can add designers or downsize, and Eleken says it will replace a designer if the fit isn't right.
Eleken says it hires the top 1% of the designers it vets, and that each one completes a three-month SaaS design bootcamp before joining a client. Those are Eleken's figures, and I couldn't verify them independently.
How much does Eleken cost in 2026?
| Plan | Monthly price | Who it's for, per Eleken |
|---|---|---|
| Part-time designer | $4,599 | Small scopes and early-stage products |
| Full-time designer | $6,599 | Redesigns or fast-moving teams |
| 2 full-time designers | $11,999 | Teams that need more speed and flexibility |
All three plans are billed monthly and include guidance from the Head of Design, an operations contact, unlimited design tasks and revisions, and the 3-day trial.
Contract and cancellation
The minimum contract is two months. The plan cards say "pause or cancel anytime", while the FAQ on the same page asks for a month's notice before cancelling, so confirm the notice period in your contract. The pricing page doesn't cover IP ownership either. Get that in writing before the first file is shared.
How Eleken's price compares with the market
Across the 57 agencies benchmarked in The State of UI/UX Design Agencies 2026, monthly subscriptions for product design started at around $4,000, with a median of about $7,000 and a top end near $20,000. Eleken's full-time designer at $6,599 sits just under that median.
Hourly rates in the same study had a median between $55 and $90, and European agencies averaged about $60 an hour. Eleken's Clutch rate of $25 to $49 puts it at the low end of the market for a SaaS specialist.
The thing to keep in mind is what the fee buys. A subscription pays for a designer's time and leaves the scope open, so the total cost of a redesign depends on how many months it takes. Before you start, ask Eleken how long similar redesigns have run and budget for that, not for the first month.
Who are Eleken's clients?
Eleken publishes 76 case studies, and they tell you more about fit than any sales page. Most clients are early-stage SaaS companies, many of them AI products, and where Eleken highlights an outcome it's usually a funding round:
- Datawisp, a no-code data analysis platform: a redesign, and Eleken notes the company raised a $3.6M seed round
- Aampe, an AI marketing platform: Eleken lists $18M in funding
- Floret, a process and event management product: MVP design, followed by a $2.3M round
- Zaplify, an AI sales product: a UX overhaul that Eleken says doubled activation
- SEOcrawl, an SEO tool: a full UI/UX overhaul, with growth Eleken puts at 2x
The rest of the list reads the same way: MyInterview, Lambda, Kipsi, Modia, Panjaya, CaseScribe and dozens more. Where a funding round is mentioned, it's usually a seed or Series A raise.
Two things stand out to me. Only a handful of the 76 case studies state a number at all, and most of those numbers are the client's funding round. A raise depends on far more than design, so read those as "this client was at that stage" rather than as Eleken's results. The other point is scope. Nearly every case is product work, and only a couple, such as Cheerity and Refera, mention a marketing website or landing page. If your site and your product need to move together, check that before you sign.
What can you get done with Eleken?
Eleken's services map to the jobs a SaaS product team usually has:
- Product redesign for a product that has outgrown its developer-built interface
- MVP design for teams heading to launch (here's what MVP design usually costs for SaaS and AI products)
- UX audits, delivered flow by flow and ranked by severity
- Design systems, covering tokens, components and governance
- Product design engineering, where the designer prototypes against your existing components and opens a pull request for your developers to review
Brand identity and launch video aren't part of the offer, so a team that needs those alongside the product will need a second partner.
If your brief is mostly product UX, it helps to see Eleken next to other product design agencies before you decide, since the shortlist compares team setup, pricing models and SaaS depth side by side.
Team, process and communication
Day to day, working with Eleken is close to having a contract designer on your team, which sits somewhere between the trade-offs of an agency and a freelancer. Communication runs through Slack and calls, and the design lives in your Figma. That's normal for the market: in the same study, every agency named Slack and Figma as its main tools, and over 90% combined daily async updates with one or two weekly calls.
Two things are worth knowing before you start:
- The team is lean. You get one designer, with oversight from Eleken's Head of Design. Among the 57 agencies benchmarked, 37% ran this kind of lean, designer-direct setup, while 41% staffed a pod of three to five people. Lean is fast and direct, but strategy and research then depend heavily on one person.
- Time zones. With most designers in GMT+2, US teams get good overlap in their morning and less in the afternoon.
What do Eleken's clients say on Clutch?
Eleken holds a 4.9 average across 128 Clutch reviews:
| Clutch score | Eleken |
|---|---|
| Quality | 4.9 |
| Schedule | 4.9 |
| Cost | 4.8 |
| Willing to refer | 4.9 |
The most common praise is on-time delivery, followed by the quality of the work and clear communication.
The criticism is specific, which makes it useful. The most consistent theme is that requirements could have been validated earlier, which led to extra revision rounds. A few reviewers asked for more senior oversight in the day-to-day work, or mentioned occasional time zone and language friction, and one wanted more help with overall UX beyond a UI-focused scope. None of that is unusual for a lean model, and all of it can be managed with a clear brief and a weekly review with someone senior on Eleken's side.
Eleken pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| SaaS-only focus, so designers know common SaaS patterns | Two-month minimum, and the notice terms differ between the plan cards and the FAQ |
| Public monthly pricing, just under the market median for subscriptions | The fee buys time, not a fixed scope, so redesign cost depends on duration |
| 3-day free trial on every plan | One dedicated designer per plan, so strategy rests on that person |
| Designer works directly in your Slack, Figma and GitHub | Few case studies include marketing websites, and brand and video aren't offered |
| Strong Clutch record: 4.9 from 128 reviews | Clutch reviewers flag requirement validation and senior oversight |
| Frontend delivered as pull requests | IP ownership isn't covered on the pricing page |
Who is Eleken best for?
Eleken is a good fit when:
- your roadmap is clear and you need design capacity to keep up with engineering
- your budget suits a monthly fee better than a fixed project fee
- a PM or founder in-house can direct the designer and own product decisions
- the work is ongoing product UI rather than a one-off launch
It's a weaker fit when:
- the job is a website redesign, a rebrand or a launch video around a fundraise (this list of SaaS website design agencies is a better starting point for that)
- you want a senior design lead to set direction, not only execute it
- the website and the product need to move together under one partner
Is Eleken worth it? The verdict
For a SaaS team that needs a reliable product designer without hiring one, yes. The pricing is public, the trial lowers the risk, and 128 Clutch reviews averaging 4.9 point to consistent delivery.
It gets stretched when the work is bigger than one designer. A redesign tied to a fundraise usually touches the website, the brand and the product at once, and it needs someone senior who owns the outcome. Across those 57 agencies, 45% handed development to an outside partner and 20% didn't build at all. Whoever you choose, ask who designs each part, who builds it, and who is accountable for how it performs after launch.
Bricx: The Best Eleken Alternative for B2B and AI SaaS Teams
If this review left you wondering whether one designer can carry your product strategy, or who handles the website while Eleken works on the product, Bricx is the alternative I'd look at for a funded B2B or AI SaaS company.
Bricx is a premium design partner for B2B and AI SaaS companies that treat design taste as a moat. It works only with software companies and includes design engineering, so the team that designs the website or product also builds it.
A senior lead who owns the product direction
Bricx's product redesign work pairs a fractional design lead with a senior designer, so someone senior sets the direction as well as drawing the screens. Sybill is a good example: Bricx designed the product behind its AI sales assistant.
The website and the product with one partner
Eleken's case studies rarely reach the marketing site, while Bricx handles website redesigns with the build always included, alongside design systems, front-end engineering and launch videos. For Writesonic, Bricx designed the company's AI search visibility platform.
Ways to work with Bricx
Bricx runs fixed-scope projects, monthly retainers, embedded teams and paid pilot sprints. If Eleken's free trial appeals to you as a way to lower risk, a paid pilot sprint does a similar job on a real piece of your product before you commit to a full engagement.
Bricx's track record
Bricx holds a 5.0 rating on Clutch across 32 reviews. Over the last two years it has shipped 50+ websites for software companies, for clients including Writesonic, Sybill, Hobbes and CAMB.AI, and it's a Webflow Certified Partner and a Framer Expert.
If late requirement changes are the risk you're weighing, one recent review is a fair sample: Clutch's summary says Bricx completed the design of 20+ pages for a SaaS company's website and delivered on time.
Price and fit
Bricx projects start at $25,000, and it isn't a fit for non-software businesses or budgets under $25,000.
Eleken vs Bricx at a glance
For a longer side-by-side, read the full Bricx vs Eleken comparison.
| Eleken | Bricx | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Dedicated designer subscription | Fixed-scope projects, retainers, embedded teams or pilot sprints |
| Team | 1 or 2 designers, with Head of Design guidance | Senior team led by a design lead |
| Scope | Product UI/UX, UX audits, design systems | Website, product, brand, motion and launch video |
| Build | Frontend pull requests for product work | Design engineering included on every website |
| Price | $4,599 to $11,999 a month | Projects start at $25,000 |
| Clutch | 4.9 from 128 reviews | 5.0 from 32 reviews |
Eleken FAQs
Is Eleken a legit design agency?
Yes. Eleken has operated since 2015, has an office in Kyiv and a US entity in Delaware, and holds a 4.9 average from 128 reviews on Clutch.
How much does Eleken cost per month?
$4,599 a month for a part-time designer, $6,599 for a full-time designer and $11,999 for two full-time designers. Plans are billed monthly with a two-month minimum.
Does Eleken offer a free trial?
Yes. Every plan lists a 3-day free trial, which Eleken describes as designing one or two screens of your existing product.
Can I cancel my Eleken subscription anytime?
The plan cards say "pause or cancel anytime", but Eleken's FAQ asks for a month's notice and sets a two-month minimum. Confirm the notice period in your contract.
Where is Eleken based, and what time zone does the team work in?
Eleken is headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine, with a US entity in Newark, Delaware. Most of its designers work in GMT+2.
Does Eleken design marketing websites?
Rarely. Eleken's services and nearly all of its 76 case studies are product work, and only a couple mention a marketing website or landing page. Ask directly if the site is part of your scope.
What kind of companies does Eleken work with?
Mostly early-stage SaaS products, many of them in AI, such as Datawisp, Aampe, Zaplify and SEOcrawl. Where Eleken mentions a client's funding, it's usually a seed or Series A round.
What is the best Eleken alternative for a SaaS company?
For funded B2B and AI SaaS teams that need the website, the product and the build handled by one senior team, Bricx is the strongest alternative. Bricx projects start at $25,000 and hold a 5.0 rating on Clutch.
