Web agency or digital product studio

An agency is usually hired for a deliverable: a campaign, a website, one specific piece of work. A digital product studio takes charge of a company’s digital core and looks after keeping it working after delivery, within an agreed maintenance plan. Both are legitimate, and they serve different needs.

The usual mistake is to compare two different jobs on price.

It is a small provider that defines, designs, builds and evolves digital products (internal tools, platforms, applications) with a business objective written down from the start.

What sets it apart from an agency is not size or price: it is how far its responsibility reaches and how long it lasts.

This comparison describes types of supplier, not specific companies. Some agencies work like studios and some studios work like agencies: what matters is what each one actually signs up to.

What is delivered

An agency usually delivers a site or a self-contained piece of work. A studio delivers a system or product with a written business objective.

Who is accountable for the result

At an agency, it is usually split between account management, design and development. At a studio, one named person owns it from start to finish.

How it is measured

An agency is satisfied if the work is live and looks good; a studio, if it meets the criteria agreed at the outset.

What happens after delivery

With an agency it depends on the contract and often ends there. A studio plans for evolution and maintenance.

Code ownership

It varies by supplier, so ask. Who owns the code, and what is delivered with it, should be in writing.

When it fits

An agency, for a web presence, campaigns and one-off pieces. A studio, when the project is a tool the company will work with every day.

• If you want a simple information website, carefully designed and with few changes afterwards, an agency or an independent professional will serve you well and will be more proportionate.
• If you already know exactly what you want to build and have someone to maintain it, you can go straight to development without an analysis phase.
• If you need a campaign or a one-off piece with a deadline, an agency is made for exactly that.

Eight questions you can answer simply by reading it, without asking for anything more. If any of them has no written answer, you already know what to ask.

• Does it say what is in scope and what is out of scope? A scope that excludes nothing grows by itself, and someone pays for it.
• Does the price come after the scope? A price given before the problem has been defined is a gamble.
• Is it delivered in phases you can review? That way you can stop or change course without losing everything.
• Who owns the code, and what documentation is delivered? Both should still serve you just as well if you change supplier tomorrow.
• In whose name are the important accounts (domain, hosting, third-party services)?
• Who maintains the system afterwards, and on what terms?
• How is it decided which changes go in once the project has started?
• Who will you be talking to during the project? A person who replies, not a mailbox.

This is the case where starting with a preliminary analysis helps most: a short phase that turns the problem into a scope, a plan and an estimate that hold up, and whose document is yours even if someone else builds afterwards.

Consulting and discovery

What it is and what it settles

Is a digital product studio more expensive than a web agency?

There is no rule. What changes is what each proposal includes: the scope, responsibility after delivery, code ownership and maintenance. Compare those before the final figure, because two quotes with the same number can cover very different work.

Can I start with an agency and move to a studio later?

Yes, as long as you keep what makes the change possible: the code, the accounts in your name and some documentation. That is the case covered by our guide on taking over software built by another company.

How long does a project take?

It depends on the scope, which is why the scope is defined before starting. Be wary of any fixed deadline given before the problem is known: it is a guess, not an estimate.

What should I do if I don’t know what I need?

Start with a preliminary analysis. It turns the problem into a scope, a plan and an estimate, and leaves you with a document to decide whether to go ahead, change approach or not do it at all. The document is yours, and it works just as well if someone else builds the project.

Taking over software built by another company

What to check for another team to take over software built by another company: code, accounts, infrastructure, dependencies and tests.

How much custom software costs and what drives it

What the price of custom software depends on, how to estimate it rigorously and how to compare two proposals without being sold an invented number.