Working with a developerComparison
Freelancer, development company or in-house team: who should build it
The label matters less than the work: how defined it is, how many skills it needs, and how long it will keep changing.
On this page
Choose a freelancer for a well-defined piece of work with a clear end that you can check yourself. Choose a development company when the work spans design, build and support and needs several skills under one agreement. Build an in-house team when software is your product or changes every week. You can also use more than one over time.
A freelancer is one self-employed person who takes on work for clients. A development company is a business whose team designs, builds and supports websites and software for clients. An in-house team is developers you employ.
We are a development partner, which puts us in the development company column, so read this knowing that. Our own website design and development work follows the scope and handover described at the end.
Which one fits your project?
Find the row that describes your work.
| If this is true | Then |
|---|---|
| One defined piece of work with a clear end, such as a landing page, a theme change or a fix, that you can check yourself | A freelancer. One person to talk to, little process, and a scope small enough to judge. Pay by milestone. |
| The work spans design, build, connections to your tools and testing, or runs on into support, and you want one party answerable | A development company, with a written scope. Several skills sit under one agreement; ask who is named on the work and who covers absences. |
| Software is your product, or it changes every week, and someone in the business can manage developers | An in-house team. You carry the hiring and the management, and the knowledge stays with you. |
| You don't yet know what you need | A short, paid discovery first. It ends in a written scope you can take to a freelancer, a company or your own hires. |
| Leave it aloneA freelancer you trust built your site, still answers, and the work is small | Keep working with them. Put access and a handover note in writing. |
How do a freelancer, a development company and an in-house team compare?
None of the cells below is guaranteed by the label, so treat each as a question to ask.
| Question | Freelancer | Development company | In-house team |
|---|---|---|---|
| What work fits | A defined task with a clear end: a page, a theme change, a fix, a specialist job. | Work with several parts: design, build, connections, testing and support. | Work that never really ends, because the software is the business. |
| Who covers when someone is away | Depends on the person: some work with a partner who covers, many don't. Ask who steps in. | Depends on its size and staffing. A small company can have the same gap. Ask who is named and who covers. | Depends on the team. A team of one has the same gap as a freelancer. |
| Range of skills | Often deep in one or two. More skills means more people to find and coordinate. | Often several, under one agreement. Ask which are on staff and which are subcontracted. | Whatever you hire. A full mix takes several hires. |
| Your management time | Light for one task. Heavier when several freelancers must fit together. | Decisions and feedback at each milestone, through one point of contact. | The most: hiring, reviewing, priorities and keeping skills current. |
| Code and accounts | Ask for every account in your name from day one. Easy to skip on a small job. | Ask for the same, and check what the agreement says about code and design. | Inside the business, but check accounts are in the company's name, not one employee's. |
| Support after launch | Agree how and when they can help after launch, if at all. | Ask for a written arrangement that says what's covered and how fast they respond. | Your team supports it, for as long as the people who know it stay. |
A freelancer fits a clear, defined task
A freelancer fits work with a clear edge: a landing page, a theme change, a fix, or a specialist job you can describe in a paragraph. You talk directly to the person doing the work, and a small job can start quickly. A freelancer who specialises in one platform is often what a specialist task needs.
The limits come from the arrangement, not the person. Unless cover is agreed, the work waits when they are ill or busy. A project that needs design, build and testing means finding several people and fitting their work together yourself.
Not sure whether the task needs a designer or a developer? Our guide to web designers and web developers separates the two jobs.
If you hire through a freelance marketplace
A freelance marketplace is a website where clients post work and freelancers offer to do it. Read its terms on payments and disputes before you pay anything. Those terms won't write your scope or put your domain in your name.
A development company fits work with several parts
A development company fits work that spans design, build, connections to your tools, testing and support. One party is answerable for all of it, under one agreement. Whether someone can pick the work up when a person is away depends on the company, so ask.
Bringing in a team when you lack the skills yourself is a recognised route. The UK government's guidance for its own buyers calls it buy-to-build. It also asks buyers to plan how they will manage the technology once it is built.
The trade-off is process. A written proposal, milestones and reviews take time to set up, which can be more than a one-hour fix needs. You may also deal with a project lead rather than the person writing the code.
An in-house team fits when software is the business
An in-house team fits when the software is what you sell, or when it changes every week. The knowledge stays in the business, and priorities can change daily without a new proposal.
The cost is in people and time. You hire, manage, review the work and keep skills current, and one hire rarely covers everything. The UK Service Standard asks for a multidisciplinary team: people with a mix of skills who can create and operate a service sustainably.
You don't have to choose all at once: you can start with outside help and hire as the work settles. The UK government's service manual says to work only with contractors or suppliers who are prepared to pass on their expertise. It also asks for a plan to pass their knowledge to the rest of the team.
Whatever you choose, get five things in writing
Settle these before work starts, with any of the three.
Five things to get in writing, whoever builds it
- A written scope: what's included, what isn't, the timeline with milestones, what's needed from you, and the price.Anything not written down is an assumption, and two people rarely assume the same thing.
- Every account in your name, with the developer added as a user.The person who holds the login decides what happens to the site. Our guide for when a developer leaves lists the main accounts.
- Who owns the code and the design, and from when.GOV.UK's buying guidance tells its teams to be explicit about the ownership of intellectual property, including software code.
- How a change is handled: written up with its effect on time and price, and built only after you approve it.Scope usually shifts once people see the work. A written route keeps a small change from becoming a dispute.
- What happens after launch: a handover guide, a fix window, and who supports it from then on.Someone has to fix the first faults and close old logins. The UK service manual says outside people should get only the access they need, removed when it's no longer required.
Questions to ask before you sign
Ask these of a freelancer or a development company.
- Who will do the work, and who will I talk to day to day?
- Who covers when that person is away, and which skills the work needs are on your staff?
- What is in the written scope, and what isn't?
- How is a change handled, and when do I approve it?
- Whose name will each account be in, and from when?
- What happens after launch: a fix window, support in writing, or a handover to someone else?
For the first call, rough notes are fine.
Bring this to the call
- The work in a few lines: what it should do, and for whom. Our one-page website brief shows how.
- What you have today, and who built it.
- Every account you know of, and whose name it is in.
- Who in your business decides, and who gives feedback.
- Any date that matters, and why.
- Who will update and fix it after launch.
How we work as a development partner
You can hold us to the same five things. Before any build, you get a written proposal: what's included, what isn't, the milestones, what we need from you, and the price. Nothing starts until you've agreed to it in writing. Larger or less defined projects start with Discovery & Scope, whose written scope you own and can take to anyone.
While we build, you work directly with the people doing the work, with a written summary by email every week. Changes outside the scope are written up and approved first. At handover, the code is in your repository, the accounts are in your name, and our access is removed if you want.
Next step: write the work down in a few lines and list who holds each account today. Send it to us, and we'll reply within 24 hours with a few questions or a time for a call.
Questions
Should I use a freelancer or a development company for my website?
It depends on the work, not the label; the decision table matches the two to your situation. With either, ask who does the work and who covers absences.
Is a freelancer riskier than a development company?
Not by nature. The risk sits in what isn't written down, with either: a vague scope, accounts in someone else's name, no plan for cover or for after launch.
Should we hire in-house developers or use an outside team?
Hire when the software is what you sell or changes every week, and someone can manage developers. Starting with outside help and hiring later works too, if that help passes on what it knows.
Can a freelancer and a development company work on the same project?
Yes, if one person in your business decides, the written scope says who does what, and every account stays in your name. Give each of them only the access their part needs.
Who owns the code if someone else builds it?
Your agreement and your country's law decide that, so put it in writing before work starts. With us, you own the code and the design on payment, as the agreement says.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Define your purchasing strategy (buy-to-build; managing technology once built; ownership of intellectual property) Checked 25 Oct 2026
- GOV.UK Service Manual: Service Standard point 6, have a multidisciplinary team Checked 25 Oct 2026
- GOV.UK Service Manual: Working with contractors or third parties (passing on expertise; access removed when no longer required) Checked 25 Oct 2026
Reviewed and edited by Online Scope before publishing. Something out of date? Tell us at info@onlinescope.in. How we write the Blog.