Ask five business owners in the Philippines who built their website and you will hear every answer: an agency in Makati, a freelancer found on Facebook, a nephew, a template. You will also hear every outcome, from "best money we spent" to "we had to start over".
I'm Aldrian Loyola, an independent web developer. I am one of the two options on this page, so read it knowing that. I have tried to write the comparison I would want if I were the one hiring.
The short answer
- Hire a freelancer when the project is a business website, a WordPress site or a store, you want to deal with the person doing the work, and budget matters.
- Hire an agency when the project needs several specialists at the same time, such as brand strategy, video, copywriting, ad campaigns and development, and you want one company to manage all of it.
Most small and medium business websites fall into the first group.
Cost
An agency has salaries, an office, account managers and a profit margin to cover. That overhead is built into every quote. It is not a trick. It is what a team costs.
A freelancer has none of that, so the same website usually costs noticeably less. You are paying for the work itself.
The exception is the very cheap freelancer. A price far below everyone else usually means a bought template, a rushed job or a developer who will not be around next year. For how local pricing works, see web developer rates in the Philippines and how much a website costs.
Who does the work
At an agency, you usually speak to an account manager or project manager. The design may be done by one person, the build by another, and sometimes the build is passed to a subcontractor. That can work well, with strong internal process.
With a freelancer, the person you speak to is the person building your site. Nothing is lost between a sales call and the code. The limit is capacity: one person can only take on so much at once.
Communication and speed
Agencies have meetings, handovers and approval steps. Decisions take longer, and small changes can sit in a queue.
A freelancer can usually answer the same day and make a small change the same hour. For a business owner who wants something fixed today, that is the main advantage.
Range of skills
This is where agencies win. A full campaign needs a strategist, a designer, a copywriter, a developer and a media buyer. No single freelancer is expert at all of those.
A freelancer who is both designer and developer covers what a website needs: structure, design, build, speed and search basics. If you also need a brand film and a media plan, you need more people.
Risk and continuity
The common worry about freelancers is "what if they disappear?" It is a fair question. Reduce the risk with any provider by making sure that:
- The domain and hosting are registered in your name, in your own accounts.
- You receive all logins and the full source code.
- The site is built on common tools any developer can take over.
- There is a written scope and a clear payment schedule.
Agencies carry a different risk. Staff change, and the developer who knew your site may leave. The agency remains, but the knowledge may not.
Quality
Quality depends on the individual doing the work, not on the type of company. Good agencies and good freelancers both produce excellent sites. Weak ones of both kinds produce templates with your logo on top.
Judge the work itself:
- Open their past projects on your phone. Do they load quickly?
- Is the text easy to read and the next step obvious?
- Do the contact forms work?
- Can they explain, in plain words, what they did and why?
My own work is public: Lakeside Smile Studio, a sixteen-page practice website with zero accessibility violations in automated testing; Origin Code Technology, a WordPress design and build; and National Business Concepts, a full revamp for an accounting firm.
Side by side
| Freelancer | Agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Lower, little overhead | Higher, covers a team |
| Who you talk to | The person doing the work | Usually an account manager |
| Speed of small changes | Fast | Slower, goes through a queue |
| Range of services | Website design and build | Full campaigns, many specialists |
| Capacity | Limited to one person | Can run large projects in parallel |
| Continuity | Depends on the person | Depends on staff staying |
Questions to ask either one
- Who exactly will design and build my site?
- Can I see three live sites you built, and speak to one of those clients?
- Will the domain, hosting and code be in my name?
- What is included in the price, and what costs extra?
- How many rounds of changes are included?
- What happens after launch, and what does support cost?
- What will the site cost to run each year?
Clear answers are a good sign. Vague ones are your warning.
When I will tell you to hire an agency
If your project needs a brand strategy, a photo and video shoot, a large content team or a paid media campaign alongside the website, an agency is the right choice, and I will say so. I would rather lose a project than take one I cannot do well. I can still build the website part alongside your agency.
If a freelancer fits
Tell me about your business and what the website needs to do. You will get an honest reply and a fixed quote from the person who would build it. Start a project or send a message.
