Web agency or freelancer: who should build your website?

Three tabs open: a Lausanne agency that does not publish prices, a freelancer found on LinkedIn, and a tool promising a website in an hour. The agency quote is three times the freelancer's. For the same site, apparently.

The right question is not "who is best" but "what does your project actually need". Here are the real differences, the risks on each side, and the questions that settle it.

The short answer

| | Freelancer | Agency | | --- | --- | --- | | Business site | CHF 2'500 to 6'000 | CHF 6'000 to 15'000 | | Typical timeline | 3 to 6 weeks | 6 to 12 weeks | | Contacts | One person | Project manager + team | | Skills covered | One person's | Design, code, copy, search | | If your contact leaves | The project stops | Someone takes over | | After delivery | Depends on availability | Maintenance contract |

The line-by-line costs are in our article on what a website costs in Switzerland.

When a freelancer is the right choice

A good freelancer is unbeatable on a precise scope: a 5 to 8 page business site, copy you supply, a short deadline, a budget under CHF 6'000. You talk directly to the person doing the work, with no project-management layer to fund.

The conditions for it to go well: the person shows delivered sites that are still online, not just mockups. They can say no to a vague request. And they put in writing what happens after delivery, because that is where the model reaches its limit.

The limit is simple: you depend on one calendar. The day your site goes down during their holiday, or the day they change careers, you are looking for someone willing to take over another person's work. Many refuse.

When an agency earns its price

An agency costs more because it bills several trades: design, development, copy, search visibility, project management. The price is justified when the project genuinely needs them.

Concretely: a site in two or three languages, online booking or payment, a rebuild with Google positions to protect, or a brand that requires custom design. These are projects where a mistake costs more than the gap between quotes.

The agency model's risk is the mirror image of the freelancer's: paying for structure your project does not need. If you are quoted CHF 12'000 for a simple business site with your own copy, you are paying for meetings, not work.

The test that matters more than size

The deciding question is neither price nor headcount. It is: what happens after delivery, and who owns what.

Ask both the same things. Who owns the domain, the copy and the site. What a change costs in six months. What happens if you want to leave. A serious provider, freelance or agency, answers all three in writing without taking offence. The one who dodges has already answered.

Five questions to ask before signing

Ask them as written, to both:

1. Is the price fixed, and what exactly does it include: copy, languages, basic search setup?
2. Who owns the domain, the content and the site once delivered?
3. Show me three delivered sites, still online, with the client's name.
4. Who does updates after delivery, and at what rate?
5. If I want to switch providers in two years, how does that work?

The answers will tell you more than any portfolio.

The third option nobody mentions

Between the solo freelancer and the fifteen-person agency there are small studios: two or three trades covered, without the management layer that inflates quotes. That is PHTM's model. You talk to the person building the site, the price is fixed and stated before you commit, and the domain and the site belong to you from day one.

The diagnostic is free: you tell us what the site needs to accomplish, we tell you what it costs and how long it takes. And if a freelancer is the right choice for your project, we will say so.

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Frequently asked questions

How much does a freelancer charge for a website in Switzerland?

Between CHF 2'500 and 6'000 for a business site, depending on page count and who writes the copy. Hourly rates in French-speaking Switzerland run from CHF 80 to 150. A markedly lower quote usually comes from abroad, with the limits that implies for follow-up and local search visibility.

How do you recognise a good web agency?

It publishes delivered sites with named clients, gives a fixed price rather than an open day rate, and answers the ownership question in writing. Team size and address say nothing; those three points say everything.

Should you choose a local provider in French-speaking Switzerland?

For a local business or service, yes, for one specific reason: local search. A provider who knows the Romandie market structures the site for searches made here, in the French spoken here, and can work on your Google Business profile. Done remotely, that work is almost always neglected.

Who looks after the site after delivery?

Settle this before signing, not after. Three models exist: a monthly maintenance contract (CHF 50 to 200), hourly billing when needed, or a site built so you can make routine changes yourself. All three are legitimate; no answer at all is not.