Question 1

Do I own my site, the code, and the domain?

Accepted Answer

Yes — fully. You own the code, content, design assets, and your domain. If you ever leave, we hand over a working git repository, design files, and DNS access. No lock-in, no licensing tricks, no proprietary platform you can't escape.

Question 2

What does the monthly cost drop to in Year 2 and beyond?

Accepted Answer

Care Basic is bundled with the build during Year 1 — $0/month while we amortize the $3,000 build over 12 months. From month 13 onward, Care Basic settles in at $150/month flat: hosting, monitoring, security patches, daily backups, SSL, and 2 edits/month. If you need more, you can move to Plus ($300/mo, $150 in Year 1), Pro Unlimited ($500/mo, $250 in Year 1), Self-Serve CMS ($400+/mo), or a Custom Retainer. There are no rebuild fees, no renewals, and no surprise bills — Care Basic stays $150/mo forever.

Question 3

Is hosting included in the build price?

Accepted Answer

Hosting, monitoring, security, daily backups, and SSL are all included in your Care plan — they're not a separate line item. You don't get handed a Vercel/AWS/whatever bill. We run the infrastructure on a modern global edge network and you pay one flat monthly rate.

Question 4

What's the site built on?

Accepted Answer

Custom code in a git repository — modern JavaScript framework, current HTML and CSS standards, no page builders or proprietary CMSes you can't migrate off of. It's the same modern product stack startups and product teams use today. You get the repo. Any developer with current web skills can pick it up.

Question 5

What happens if I cancel or stop paying?

Accepted Answer

The build itself is a contracted engagement — typical term is 12 months at the amortized monthly rate, but we sometimes do 3-, 4-, or 6-month terms depending on scope, and you can prepay the full build at any time to retire the contract early. Care is separate and month-to-month after a 90-day minimum on Plus / Pro (Basic has no minimum). When Care ends, we hand over the repo and DNS — we don't take your site down or hold the code hostage. The build is yours; we don't gate it behind the payment plan.

Question 6

Why monthly pricing instead of a big upfront project fee?

Accepted Answer

Websites aren't one-time projects — they're living systems. Monthly pricing amortizes the build over 12 months at 0% interest, includes ongoing care, and keeps us invested in your results instead of disappearing after launch. You don't need $5K–10K cash upfront to get a real site.

Question 7

Can I upgrade, downgrade, or add work later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Add styled pages, swap to Care Plus or Pro, or add features any time. Downgrade with 30 days' notice after the 90-day minimum. We re-quote scope changes transparently — no scope-creep tax.

Question 8

What's the total 3-year cost compared to a freelance or agency build?

Accepted Answer

A typical 5-page DW/Co. build is $5,000, paid down over 12 months with Care Basic bundled in. From month 13 onward, ongoing care is your call. Care Basic ($150/mo Year 2+) brings the 3-year total to ~$8,600. Care Plus ($300/mo, $150 Year 1) lands at ~$13,400. Pro Unlimited ($500/mo, $250 Year 1) lands at ~$20,000 with unlimited edits and same-day SLA. A local boutique agency build of the same scope realistically runs $8,000–$18,000 upfront plus $200–$700/mo in care — $15,200–$43,200 over 3 years. A high-end freelance build runs $5,000–$9,000 upfront plus $50–$200/mo ad-hoc — $6,800–$16,200 over 3 years, and you manage everything yourself. National/global agencies start at $25,000+ and rarely come in under $50,000 over 3 years.

Question 9

What exactly do I own when the build is paid off in month 13?

Accepted Answer

Everything. The git repository (full source code), all design files and assets, the database/CMS export, your domain (always yours), and any third-party accounts in your name (Google Analytics, Search Console, Mailchimp, etc.). We can host you forever, or we can hand it all over and you take it to any developer or hosting provider. There's no 'rental' model and no platform lock-in — it's custom code in a standard git repo, not a proprietary CMS or page builder.

Question 10

What's NOT included in the build price?

Accepted Answer

Things we don't include and would quote separately: custom logo design (the build includes a brand guide — color, type, layout direction — not logo creation); a custom photo shoot (we direct and source stock or your existing photography); content migration beyond ~10 pages of legacy content; ongoing SEO management or ad spend (we set up the SEO foundation; running campaigns is a separate retainer); email hosting like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 (we'll help configure DNS); custom email templates beyond transactional defaults; and any third-party SaaS subscriptions you choose to use (Mailchimp, Calendly, etc. — accounts in your name, you pay the vendor directly). If something is gray, we flag it before the SOW is signed.

Question 11

What does '2 edits/month' actually include — and what if I need more?

Accepted Answer

Up to 1 hour of cumulative content/copy/asset changes per month rolled up into 2 edit batches. Swapping a hero image, updating a headline, adding a team member, fixing a typo — all standard edits, billed at our published hourly rate of $200/hr if you ever exceed the included hour. Larger changes (new sections, new pages, integrations, design overhauls) get quoted at the same $200/hr rate. Care Plus and Care Pro subscribers receive 20% off. Unused edits don't roll over. Care Plus and Pro tiers include more time and faster SLAs.

Question 12

What's your hourly rate for work beyond scope?

Accepted Answer

Single published rate: $200/hr for any out-of-scope work — implementation, design, copy, conversion work, discovery, architecture, advisory calls, all of it. Billed in 0.25-hour increments. Care Plus and Care Pro subscribers receive 20% off (effective rate $160/hr). Our productized website pricing (Foundation $3,000, Styled pages $500) effectively works out below the hourly rate because the build process is systematized — you're getting the same senior team at a lower per-hour rate when the scope fits the productized model. For larger ongoing engagements (Product, UX, Strategy, Web Apps, CRO, Content), a monthly Custom Retainer is typically more cost-effective than hourly billing.

Question 13

Does Care include ongoing accessibility monitoring?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We launch every site at WCAG 2.2 AA, and Care includes a quarterly accessibility check (alt-text reminders on new images, color-contrast spot checks on new content, keyboard-nav verification after major updates). Care Plus and Pro include monthly checks plus an annual full re-audit. Accessibility isn't 'one and done' — it's part of the ongoing operation.

Question 14

Are you an agency or a freelancer?

Accepted Answer

Agency. DW/Co. is a team of senior designers, developers, and strategists who've shipped product at BODi, Kenvue (J&J), ClearVoice (Fiverr), Altria/On!, and others. We embed with product teams, run CRO programs, and operate websites continuously. Pricing is positioned below boutique agency averages because we've systematized the website-build portion — but the team and rigor are agency-grade.

Capability	DW/Co. Productized + AI-augmented	High-end freelancer Solo, senior	Local agency Boutique, regional	Nationwide / global agency Mid–enterprise
Design & build
Custom design	✓	Variable	✓	✓
Modern stack (Next.js / React / Tailwind)	✓	Sometimes	Sometimes	✓
AI-augmented workflow (faster shipping)	✓	—	—	Rare
Responsive across all breakpoints	✓	✓	✓	✓
Quality & standards
WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility	✓	—	Sometimes	✓
Core Web Vitals optimized	✓	—	Sometimes	✓
Structured data (JSON-LD)	✓	—	Sometimes	✓
Cross-browser testing	✓	Sometimes	✓	✓
Ownership & flexibility
You own the code (full git repo)	✓	✓	Sometimes	Often locked
No proprietary CMS lock-in	✓	Variable	Often locked	Often locked
Hand-off to any developer	✓	✓	Difficult	Difficult
Build contract length	3–12 mo · prepayable	Variable	6–12 mo typical	12-mo+ typical
Operations & care
Hosting + SSL included	✓	—	Extra cost	Extra cost
24/7 uptime monitoring	✓	—	Extra cost	✓
Daily backups + rollbacks	✓	—	Sometimes	✓
Continuous security updates	✓	—	Extra cost	✓
Support & velocity
Senior team (no solo juniors)	✓	Solo	Mixed	✓
Response SLA (respond & start)	1 biz day	None	48–72h	Same biz day
Typical time to launch	1–2 weeks	Variable	4–8 weeks	8–16 weeks
Single point of contact	✓	✓	Sometimes	PM layer
Cost (5-page site)
Build cost	$5,000	$5,000–$9,000	$8,000–$18,000	$25,000–$75,000+
Monthly ongoing (Year 2+)	$150 flat	$50–$200 ad-hoc	$200–$700	$1,000–$3,000
3-year total	$9,500	$6,800–$16,200	$15,200–$43,200	$50,000–$150,000+
Predictable pricing	✓	—	—	Variable

A product & web studio you can scope in 60 seconds.

Three ways to bring us in.

Productized website

Embedded product team

Custom engagement

Configure your website build.

Agency quality. Productized speed.

The basics, handled.

Hosting + SSL

Uptime monitoring

Security patches

Care and support

Honest terms

The deal, plainly stated.

Common questions.

Pick a plan. We kick off this week.