This is the only original research done on the internet to uncover what happens on the backdoors of the world's leading design agencies.
In this new tutorial you’ll learn:
The world of design agencies has always been a mystery. There are no clear signals how much it costs to design a platform/website, what are the timelines, how do they operate – everything is hidden behind a sales call that takes 30 mins of your time (per agency).
We asked our client to spend 10+ hours going on sales calls with all the top agencies to ask all the questions you would have asked if you went to hire them.
All of them were provided with the same documented scope of work: one for website design & dev; the other for an MVP design.
01. The website design scope included a 5 page website design, copywriting, and development on Webflow/Framer.
02. The MVP design scope included a 5-feature MVP design with user research, design, user testing, and QA.
Branding
We requested to get a basic brand refresh with the website redesign, but not the logo design. The request was to document the new colors, typography, and branding elements into a brand book which can be used for uniforming our marketing material.
Based on the calls, the data shows that approximately 42% of design agencies quoted under $10,000 for brand identity work. Another 33% of agencies fell into the $10,000 to $25,000 range. Finally, about 25% of agencies quoted over $25,000.
The lowest quote for brand design was $1,500, the highest $125,000, and the median was $15,300.
Personal thought
I would not pay more than $3,000-$5,000 for this level of documentation (without logo). Being a design agency owner, I know it doesn't take a lot of time and >$10k is definitely a rip-off.
Branding
Brand identity refresh takes 2 weeks to 4 months. Most agencies deliver in 4-8 weeks. Branding won't bottleneck your timeline—you can establish visual foundation quickly and move forward.
Note: These timelines are without a logo redesign.
About 38% of agencies can deliver a brand refresh in a rapid sprint of under four weeks. The most common timeline was a standard engagement of four to eight weeks, with 54% of agencies falling into this category. A smaller portion, around 8% of agencies, quoted longer, more strategic engagements that would take over eight weeks.
Personal thought
This really shouldn't take a lot of time especially without the logo. If you're an early stage startup, please don't waste time here. If you're scaling, spend most of your time here.
Website
Website design is tricky space because it depends on what you like. If you want a simple landing page with no animations or complexity, you'll get a cheaper quote. If you want something with animations, 3d, custom builds, etc - it's gonna be expensive.
These are the price ranges for a 5-pager website. Roughly 25% of agencies quoted in the budget tier of under $10,000. The majority, about 58% of agencies, fell into a mid-range of $15,000 to $50,000. The remaining 17% of agencies quoted in the premium tier, starting at $50,000-$100K.
The lowest quote for Website design was $1,500, the highest $120,000, and the median was $25,000.
Personal thought
We told the agencies we want something simple and we got quotes like this. If you want something simple, you can get a nice clean single landing page designed & developed under $10K. If you want something complex or bigger, it can go up to wherever you want it to.
Website
Timelines usually vary from how rigid an agency's processes are. If they want to follow their SOP no matter what to streamline client delivery, it would mean increase in timeline for you without any visible qualitative gain.
From our research, about 21.7% agencies quoted a timeline between 1 to 4 weeks, 43.5% said 5-9 weeks, and 34.8% agencies said 10+ weeks.
Personal thought
Honestly, with all the technologies available to us - don't spend more than 2-3 weeks on website design with anyone. Unless you're making a website like Huly.
Product Design
60% of the agencies didn't give an estimate up front for product design because of the variables involved in the process. They need to know more about the exact scope of work, what are the expectation, etc before they can give an estimate. You can expect the product design estimate to be 1.5x-2.5x on average of the website design estimate.
For fixed-price projects, the lowest quote I received was $2,500, the median was around $43,000, and the highest was over $150,000.
For monthly subscription models, prices started at around $4,000 per month, with a median of approximately $7,000 per month, and could go as high as $20,000 per month.
Personal thought
If you don't know the scope and want to explore directions, I would suggest hire an agency on a retainer. You won't face their resistance while iterating or going back to the first option because they're paid for their time. If you know exactly what you want, I would suggest going for a fixed price as you'll have more predictability of the budget.
Product Design
MVP design is a tricky space - you will see timelines ranging from a couple of weeks to 6+ months. Again, it's usually the agencies who have fixed SOPs in nice presentations that take the longest timelines without accomplishing anything nice.
From our research, 21.1% agencies quoted 1-4 weeks for an MVP design, 26.3% quoted 5-9 weeks, and 52.6% agencies quoted 10+ weeks for an MVP design.
Personal thought
Look at the any agency's case studies to get an understanding of their timelines based on each project. In our case at Bricx, we complete almost all our MVP design projects in under 45 days, feedback cycles included. Have a look at our case studies.
Total team size is majorly a personal preference of the agency owner. Some folks want to have a rather niche team of experts than bloat the agency with unqualified interns.
Out of the agencies that shared their team size, about 29% were small "boutique" agencies with fewer than 15 employees. The largest group, 48% of agencies, were "mid-size," with teams ranging from 16 to 50 people. The remaining 23% were "large" agencies with over 50 employees.
Personal thought
Understand the experience and seniority of the people working on your project and not the number of total employees :)
We asked the agencies how many designers do they have in-house and how many clients are these designers working on. Though some agencies were reluctant in sharing the number of clients they have, we still got nice data about it.
About 6.25% had the same number of designers & clients, 62.5% had between 1-2 designes per client, and 31.5% had more than 2 designers per client working in the agency.
Personal thought
This usually gives you an estimate how stretched a designer's bandwidth is and how much time they're going to put in your project.
Approximately 70% of agencies operate with a primarily in-house team of full-time employees. About 20% use a "core team plus trusted contractors" model, blending full-time staff with long-term freelance partners. The remaining 10% use a "partnered" model, where they collaborate with other agencies for specific services like development.
Personal thought
It's generally better to hire agencies who have everyone in-house but those are usually pretty expensive. A lot of agencies have long-term contractors they hire on project basis which also works very well.
Agencies I spoke with were based across major global hubs: North America (US/Canada), Eastern Europe (Ukraine/Poland), Western Europe (UK/Portugal), and Asia (India/Bangladesh/Indonesia).
60% of the 57 design agencies were based out of Europe, 20% out of the Americas, and 20% out of Asia.
Personal thought
US agencies are the most expensive(average $150/hr); EU agencies come second(average $60/hour); Asian agencies are the most affordable(average $35/hour)
60% of agencies described themselves as fully remote or remote-first. About 30% operate on a hybrid model, maintaining a physical office but allowing for significant remote work. Only 10% indicated a primarily in-office model, though even these often had remote team members.
Personal thought
This shouldn't affect your decision making. Most agencies have remote employees.
The most frequently mentioned specializations were AI and B2B SaaS, followed closely by Fintech and Healthcare. Ed-Tech and Marketing tech also came up often in portfolio discussions.
It's mostly dependent agency to agency but most are experienced in designing for SaaS, AI, and other tech products.
The majority of these agencies said they cater to everyone so nothing important to show here. You should have a look at the client names to find companies at a similar size like yours.
Webflow dominates (65% of agencies). WordPress remains strong at 25%. Framer emerging at 10%. 20% are design-only with no development. Platform choice affects flexibility, integrations, and whether you need separate developers.
It's mostly dependent agency to agency but most are experienced in designing for SaaS, AI, and other tech products.
Personal thought
Personally, I'm a Webflow fan because of the flexibility and scalability it offers - we've built Webflow websites for solo-founders and billion dollar enterprises. But, if you have a technology preference - clarify it with the agency beforehand.
Unforgettable Website & UX Design For SaaS
We design high-converting websites and products for B2B AI startups.
55% have in-house development teams (one-stop-shop). 45% rely on trusted external partners (design specialists). If partnered, ask about their collaboration and handoff process to ensure smooth design-to-code transition.
Personal thought
This mean some agencies will straight up say no if there are any hiccups in development because they're referring you to another partner. I would suggest going with an agency which does this in-house vs managing two agencies.
50/50 split. Half offer integrated copywriting (ensures message-design alignment). Half require client-provided copy (more control over brand voice, but adds to your workload). Ask early in evaluation.
Personal thought
Copywriting is going to make or break your website's conversion rate and your business. I would suggest just not hiring the design agency for copywriting and hiring a freelance copywriter who has experience with direct-response. Most agencies don't have qualified copywriters.
Over 95% of the agencies I spoke to stated that UX research is a core part of their process. The most common methods mentioned were competitor analysis, stakeholder interviews, and user interviews. A significant number, around 70%, also explicitly offer moderated usability testing with real users on prototypes.
Personal thought
Agencies just say that they do research but due to its subjective nature, it can be anything. Ask open-ended questions about their research process to gauge how deep do they actually research to ensure they make the correct design decisions.
All the agencies we talked to said they make ‘conversion-focused’ websites. Majority thought CRO as SEO which was an eye-opener. If you don’t hire an agency which truly understands customer sentiment, marketing, and CRO - you will end up with a pretty website that doesn’t convert.
A clear majority, approximately 80% of agencies, confirmed they offer services related to Conversion Rate Optimization. Their approaches varied, with some focusing on data analysis from tools like Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity, while others emphasized A/B testing and strategic information architecture as their primary methods. About 20% stated they do not officially offer CRO as a service.
Personal thought
Don't hire a website design agency if you want your primary focus to be increasing conversions. Unless, it's our agency.
The most common model, offered by roughly 45% of agencies, was Time & Material, valued for its flexibility. The Fixed Price model was offered by about 35% of agencies, typically for projects with a very clear and unchangeable scope. The Retainer or Subscription model was the primary model for about 20% of agencies, especially those focused on long-term product design partnerships.
Personal thought
You will find a lot of flexabilty here on how agencies can collaborate with you. You can negotiate to what's the best payment model for you and your project.
The hourly rates spanned a very wide spectrum. The lowest rate I was quoted was $25 per hour. The median hourly rate fell between $55 and $90 per hour. The highest hourly rate I encountered was $195 per hour for a senior, US-based team. Some agencies also quote a daily rate, which was around $900 per day.
Personal thought
Asian agencies have the lowest hourly rates, then European agencies, and finally US agencies. There is no geographical difference in the quality of work.
The most common structure, used by about 50% of agencies, is an upfront deposit followed by milestone payments. Around 30% of agencies use a monthly billing or post-payment model, invoicing for hours worked in the previous month. Approximately 10% bill upfront for each distinct project phase. The final 10% use an equal monthly payment structure, dividing the total project cost over the project's duration.
Personal thought
Milestone based payments are the norm in the agency world. A percentage upfront, then milestones, and then after the final delivery.
About 45% of agencies offered an "immediate start," meaning they could kick off the project within one to two weeks of signing. Another 45% had a "standard lead time" of two to four weeks. The remaining 10% had a "longer lead time" of one month or more before they could begin new work.
An overwhelming 90% of the agencies I spoke with confirmed they could run the website and product design projects in parallel after an initial branding phase. This seems to be a standard practice aimed at accelerating project timelines for clients with multiple needs.
Approximately 41% of agencies use a "Standard Pod" model of three to five people. About 37% of agencies offer a "Lean or Designer-Direct" model with two to three people, often giving direct access to the designer. The remaining 22% use a "Comprehensive Team" model with six or more specialists for large-scale projects.
While most agencies didn't give a hard number, the most specific estimate I received was a request for the client's main point of contact to dedicate approximately five hours per week to the project, particularly in the beginning. Universal expectations included providing timely feedback to avoid delays, participating in kickoff workshops, and attending at least one weekly sync call.
100% of agencies cited Slack and Figma as their primary tools for communication and collaboration. The most common communication cadence, mentioned by over 90% of agencies, is a mix of daily asynchronous updates on Slack and one to two scheduled synchronous meetings per week.
Personal thought
Communication
Nearly 100% of agencies described a handoff process centered on delivering a well-organized Figma file with a complete design system. A majority, over 80%, also stressed the importance of involving the client's developers early in the process for technical validation. Post-handoff design QA support was offered by nearly all agencies to ensure the final build matches the design intent.
The agencies offered several flexible models for ongoing support. The monthly retainer or subscription model was the most common, offered by about 40% of agencies. Time & Material (hourly) support was offered by another 35% as a flexible, ad-hoc option. Finally, about 25% of agencies offered the ability to purchase a pre-paid "bank of hours" to be used as needed.
If 57 sales calls made one thing obvious, it's that the number you get quoted has very little to do with the work you asked for. Every agency received the same documented scope. The brand refresh came back anywhere from $1,500 to $125,000, median $15,300. The same 5 page website came back from $1,500 to $120,000, median $25,000. Product design was worse: 60% of agencies wouldn't put a number on it at all before another conversation, and the ones that did ranged from $2,500 to over $150,000 fixed, or $4,000 to $20,000 a month on subscription. Hourly rates ran from $25 to $195, with the median sitting between $55 and $90. Most of that spread is geography rather than craft. US teams average around $150 an hour, European teams around $60, Asian teams around $35, and nothing in these calls suggested the work gets better as the rate climbs.
Timelines tell the same story. A brand refresh without a logo lands at four to eight weeks for 54% of agencies, and 38% can do it in under four, so branding is rarely what holds you up. Websites stretched further: 43.5% quoted five to nine weeks and 34.8% quoted ten weeks or more. MVP design was the worst offender, with 52.6% of agencies quoting ten weeks or more for a five feature MVP. In most cases the longer timeline came from a rigid internal SOP, not from anything you'd see in the final work. Two numbers are worth holding onto when someone tells you their schedule is fixed: 90% of agencies confirmed they can run website and product design in parallel after an initial branding phase, and 90% can start within four weeks of signing, with 45% able to start inside two.
The reason these quotes are so hard to compare is that nobody includes the same things. 20% of agencies are design only and won't build anything. Of the rest, 45% hand development to an external partner, which means you're the one managing two companies when something breaks. Copywriting is a clean 50/50 split between agencies that write it and agencies that expect you to. Over 95% called UX research core to their process, but research is subjective enough that the claim means nothing until you ask open-ended questions about how they actually run it. CRO is the same trap: around 80% say they offer it, and a majority of those treated it as a synonym for SEO. Team size is noise. Whether an agency has 15 people or 50, what matters is the pod on your project, which is three to five people at 41% of agencies and two to three at another 37%, and how thin those designers are spread, since 62.5% run one to two designers per client.
So when you're choosing, ignore the deck and price the specifics. Get the scope line by line: is development in-house or partnered, is copy included, what does research actually mean here, who sits on the pod and how senior are they. Match the payment model to how well you know the scope, because 45% of agencies offer Time & Material, 35% offer fixed price and 20% will run a retainer, and half of them structure it as an upfront deposit followed by milestone payments. Settle the post launch arrangement before you sign, whether that's the monthly retainer 40% default to, hourly support at 35%, or a pre-paid bank of hours at 25%. And be honest about your own side of it. Expect to give the project around five hours a week, a weekly sync and daily availability on Slack, because every agency in this research named timely feedback as the thing that keeps a project on schedule.