Who should build your website: freelancer, agency, Redenn or yourself?

01Ownership and lock-in

Ownership is where the five options differ most, and it is rarely discussed before payment. With a marketplace freelancer, the domain and hosting are sometimes registered under the freelancer's own account, which becomes a problem the day they stop replying. Solo developers and agencies usually hand over ownership, but stock licences, templates and plugins can carry restrictions, so read the contract. DIY builders let you own content and domain while the site itself stays on the platform.

Redenn's position is written down. With Redenn, your domain is registered in your name from the start, at Cloudflare Registrar. Once the project is paid, the code and content we create are yours: at handover you get the code and every login, or we keep managing the accounts for you on a paid plan. Launch and Starter sites are built from Redenn templates. Your written quote says whether the template code is transferred to you or licensed for your site. Redenn never holds a client domain hostage.

02Total cost over three years

Only Redenn's column has numbers, because those are the prices we publish. Every other option genuinely varies by person, city and scope, and any figure we put there would be invented.

Prices are in Canadian dollars and exclude taxes. Any tax that applies is shown separately on your invoice.

03When to choose a Kijiji or marketplace freelancer

Choose one when the budget is tiny, the site is simple, and you are prepared to check a real portfolio, insist on the domain and hosting in your name, and accept that support may end at handover. Some marketplace freelancers are skilled and honest; the variation is the risk, not the category.

04When to choose a solo developer

Choose an independent developer when you have a clearly defined project and a person whose past work you trust. You get direct access and deep skill in their stack. The limits are capacity and continuity: one person can be on holiday, fully booked or out of the business, so ask what happens then.

05When to choose a traditional agency

Choose an agency for brand strategy, campaign creative, large content programs and projects with many stakeholders who need account management. You pay for the team and the process, usually as a project fee plus a retainer, which is appropriate at that scale and hard to justify for a five-page site.

06When to choose Redenn

Choose Redenn when you want a fixed published price, a modern Next.js build served from Vercel's CDN, your domain in your name with the code and every login handed over once paid, and CRM, automation and AI products that plug into the same site. You see the price before any work starts.

07When to choose a DIY builder

Choose a DIY builder for a hobby site, a club or a side project you enjoy editing every week with no budget for help. Be honest about your hours: if you are the business's only salesperson, evenings spent in a page editor are the real cost.