Freelancer, agency, or a subscription website?
One person, a project team, or a hosting term. The difference is who does the work and when the money is due.
Three people can build the same five-page site and send three completely different bills. A freelancer quotes a project. An agency quotes a larger project, often with a deposit. A subscription studio, including ours, charges no build fee and covers the work with hosting. None of those is automatically the expensive one until you add up the year and the hours you will spend managing it.
This page does not invent a freelancer's day rate or an agency's average invoice. Those numbers are not published in one place, and a made-up range would be worse than none. It does state our price, because it is the offer: $0 down and $249/mo hosting.
A freelancer is a person and a calendar
A freelancer can be an excellent fit. You talk to the person who designs the page. The risk is the same fact: if they get sick, take a larger client, or disappear, the project waits. Ask who writes the copy, whether hosting is included after launch, and what happens to the files if you stop working together. Get the timeline in writing. We will not pretend every freelancer is slow or cheap. We have no source for that.
You are also the project manager. Feedback, photos, and the login to the domain all sit with you. That is fine if you want a collaborator. It is a poor fit if you wanted the website off your desk.
An agency is a team and a scope
An agency is the right call for a large or unusual build: many page types, a store, an integration, a brand system. You usually pay a build fee, and part of it is often due before work starts. Hosting and later edits are commonly separate. The people on the kickoff call may not be the people in the design file. Ask who your contact is and how quickly they reply.
For a straightforward local site, the agency scope can be heavier than the business needs. That is not an insult. It is a mismatch. Our packages page is where a larger Artol project would go. The $0 down offer is not that project.
A subscription is the build inside the hosting
With Artol you pay $0 down and $249/mo hosting. 12-month ownership terms: 12 months of hosting at $249/mo, then month to month. Leave earlier and the remaining hosting or a buyout of the build is due. The site is fully turnkey: we write, design, build, launch, and host it. It is live in less than a week. A deep business audit and competitive market research are part of the work, not an add-on.
You are not hiring a rotating cast, and you are not assembling the site yourself. The team is 100% US-based, made in the USA, in Yardley, PA. We reply within one business day. Hosting includes SSL, daily backups, two small content updates a month, and Google Business Profile setup. The limit is scope. Stores, custom apps, and large multi-section sites are not this offer.
Who you are actually hiring
| Compare | Freelancer | Agency | Artol subscription |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | One person | A team, with a project manager | Our studio, fully turnkey |
| When you pay | A project fee, on their terms | A build fee, often partly upfront | $0 down, then $249/mo hosting |
| Writing | Ask; it may be you | Usually in the scope, confirm it | We write it |
| After launch | Hourly, or you edit it | A maintenance plan, or hourly | Two small updates a month |
| If the relationship ends | Ask who keeps the files | The contract decides | 12 months, then month to month |
Questions that work for all three
- What is due before you start?
A deposit, nothing, or the first month of hosting.
- Who writes, and who approves?
If the words are wrong, the design does not matter.
- What is a change after launch?
A small text edit and a new feature are not the same request.
- Where does the site live, and who can log in?
You should know this before the domain points at it.
- What do you keep if you leave?
Ask in the proposal, not after a disagreement.
How to choose without a fake price chart
Pick a freelancer when you want one maker and you can wait on one calendar. Pick an agency when the project is bigger than a local service site. Pick the subscription when you want the site done, the invoice at the start is the problem, and you accept a 12-month hosting term.
The cost guide is the money version of this page. Subscription versus buying outright is the ownership version. How the no-upfront offer works is the week-by-week version.
Questions we get asked
Is a freelancer always cheaper?
Not always. A low project fee can leave hosting, writing, and later edits for you to buy separately. Add the year up before you decide.
Do agencies charge before they start?
Often, yes. Many ask for part of the build fee before work starts. Ask for that in the proposal rather than assuming it.
What is Artol's subscription?
$0 down and $249/mo hosting. 12-month ownership terms: 12 months of hosting at $249/mo, then month to month. Leave earlier and the remaining hosting or a buyout of the build is due.
Can I hire Artol like an agency for a large site?
Large sites, online stores, and custom apps are outside the $0 down offer. They are described on the packages page.
