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Studio vs freelancer: who should build your product?

A freelancer is the right choice for a small, well-defined job with one skill. A studio is the right choice when the work needs more than one person, a fixed date, or someone accountable after launch. Here is how the two compare on the things that decide a project.

Side by side

	Freelancer	Authect (fixed-price studio)
Price model	Hourly or day rate; per-project for small jobs	Fixed price per project, agreed before work starts
Typical cost	Lower per hour; total depends on hours actually spent	Higher than a solo rate, lower than an agency retainer; no overruns
Speed	Depends on one person's availability; pauses when they are ill or booked	3–6 weeks for most projects, planned around the team
Skills	One or two (a designer, a front-end developer)	Design implementation, backend, infrastructure, AI, security in one team
If someone leaves	The project stops	The same team stays; knowledge is in the repository and docs, not one head
Security and compliance	Rarely included	Security audit, GDPR basics, cookie consent, privacy and terms in every project
After launch	Ad hoc, if they are available	Optional monthly support; handover documentation either way
Code ownership	Usually yours, if the contract says so	Yours from the first commit; your repository, your infrastructure

When a freelancer is the better choice

The job is one skill and one deliverable: a logo, a set of illustrations, a WordPress fix, a small script.
You have a technical lead in-house who can review the work and own it afterwards.
Budget is under a few thousand dollars and the deadline is soft.
You already know and trust the person from previous work.

When a studio is the better choice

The product needs several skills at once: backend, front end, infrastructure, sometimes AI.
A date matters (a launch, a fundraise, a client commitment) and you need someone accountable for it.
You want a fixed price so the budget cannot drift.
Nobody in your team will maintain the code, so it has to arrive documented, tested and monitored.
The product handles customer data or payments and needs a security review before launch.

The hidden costs people miss

With a freelancer, the visible rate is low but the invisible costs sit with you: writing the specification, coordinating between two or three freelancers, testing, deployment, and finding a replacement mid-project. Founders typically spend 5–10 hours a week on this, which is a real cost if your time is worth anything.

With a studio, the visible price is higher, but the specification, coordination, testing and deployment are inside it. The risk you should check is lock-in: make sure the contract assigns the code to you and that the stack is standard. Authect builds on Next.js, Node, Postgres and common cloud providers precisely so any competent developer can pick it up later.

How Authect works, in one paragraph

A 15-minute call to understand the goal, a one-page scope with a fixed price and a confirmed timeline, then a senior team building in your Slack with weekly previews. Most projects go live in 3–6 weeks. Every project includes a cybersecurity audit, compliance basics, SEO and Core Web Vitals, unlimited revisions within scope, and full ownership of the code.

Common questions

Is a studio always more expensive than a freelancer?

Not on the total. A freelancer's hourly rate is lower, but hours are open-ended and the coordination, testing and deployment work lands on you. A fixed price caps the total and includes those pieces. For a one-skill job under a few thousand dollars, the freelancer is usually cheaper; for a multi-skill product, the studio often is.

Can a studio work with a freelancer I already use?

Yes. Authect regularly builds from a freelance designer's Figma files and pairs with them during the build. The designer keeps the design; we own delivery.

What if I only need one developer?

Then hire one. A studio is for work where a date, a fixed budget or several skills matter. If it's genuinely a single-developer task with no deadline, a good freelancer is the right tool.

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