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Need this kind of work shipped every month?
MWJ is a marketing agency for B2B IT, tech and software companies. Define the need, get an SP package — fixed scope, no retainers.
MWJ is a marketing agency for B2B IT, tech and software companies. Define the need, get an SP package — fixed scope, no retainers.
Short answer: a one-off redesign buys a new website at a point in time; a website subscription buys a website that stays current. For most B2B tech companies, whose products, pricing and positioning change every few months, a subscription that covers the build, hosting and monthly changes costs about the same over two or three years and avoids the website falling behind the product again.
The traditional model is familiar: a large project fee, several months of agency process, a launch, and then a separate maintenance retainer or an internal developer to keep the site alive. Within a year the site is out of date, and the cycle starts again. The subscription model spreads the cost and keeps the work going.
| One-off redesign | Website subscription | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Large fee up front or in milestones, then a separate retainer | One monthly fee covering build, hosting and changes |
| Time to launch | Often several months | Weeks, because the build process is designed for speed |
| After launch | Changes go into a queue or a new project | A set number of new pages and edits every month |
| Hosting and security | Often separate, sometimes your problem | Included |
| Ownership | Usually yours, but tied to the platform and agency | Should be yours: insist on owning the code and content |
| Risk | Big bang: everything changes at once | Continuous: small, reviewed changes |
If you choose this route, plan the maintenance from the start. A redesign without a plan for the next two years is the most expensive kind, because it gets repeated.
Be wary of subscriptions where the agency owns the site and you rent it. If you cannot take the website with you, you are locked in, and the monthly fee becomes leverage rather than service.
Website subscriptions are usually tiered by the size of the site, because the number of pages drives both the build and the upkeep. A small company site and an enterprise site with hundreds of product pages sit in very different tiers. Content writing, photography, video and new languages are typically priced separately.
When you compare offers, compare the total over two or three years: project fee plus maintenance plus hosting plus the cost of changes, against the monthly subscription over the same period. The subscription is often similar or lower, and the site is current for the whole period rather than only at launch.
Broadly, yes. Both describe a monthly model where the agency builds, hosts and maintains the site. The details that matter are what is included each month and who owns the site.
Over two to three years it is often similar or cheaper once you add maintenance, hosting and the cost of changes to the redesign fee. The difference is that the subscription keeps the site current.
With the right provider, yes. If the code lives in your own repository, you can take it in-house with a handover at any time.
We offer both models for websites for tech and IT companies: a monthly subscription that includes the rebuild, hosting and changes, or a milestone-based project with a full handover. Ask for a free landing page sample to see the quality before you decide.