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Choosing a developer

How to choose a web developer without getting burnt

Most people hire a developer once every few years, which means you're making a technical decision with no way to judge the technical answer. The good news is that the things that actually predict a good outcome aren't technical at all — they're about scope, ownership and whether anyone answers the phone in month seven.

Rather just ask someone? Talk to us

In short

Judge a web developer on three things: work you can independently verify, a written scope with fixed pricing, and clear ownership of your code, domain and hosting. Ask to visit live sites they built, insist on the scope in writing before any payment, and confirm every account will be registered in your business name.

Developer, designer, agency — what's the difference?
A designer decides how it looks and how it works for the user. A developer builds it. An agency sells you a team that includes both, plus project management and usually marketing. A studio is a small agency where the people who sell the work are also the people who do it. For a small business site any of these can work; what matters far more than the label is whether the person doing the work is senior enough to make good decisions without supervision.

What different budgets actually get you

Australian market ranges for a marketing website in 2026, excluding ongoing hosting and care. Custom software is a separate conversation.

Under $1,000
DIY or template
A builder subscription and your own time, or a template lightly customised. Fine for getting online; you are the maintainer.
$1,000 – $3,000
Small template build
A freelancer configuring a theme. Reasonable value if the theme suits you and expectations are modest.
$3,000 – $10,000
Custom small-business site
Designed rather than themed, written for your business, built to be found. Where most serious local businesses land.
$10,000 – $30,000
Larger custom site
Many pages, integrations, e-commerce, content strategy, multiple stakeholders and a proper design system.
$30,000+
Web application
Logins, dashboards, payments, custom business logic. No longer a website — a product, with a product's ongoing needs.

What actually matters

  1. Look at live work, not a portfolio grid

    Screenshots prove nothing. Ask for three live URLs and visit them on your phone. Are they fast? Do the forms work? Search the business name in Google and see whether the site ranks. That five-minute check tells you more than an hour-long meeting.

  2. Insist on a written scope before any money moves

    It should say what is being built, what is explicitly not being built, what you need to supply, what happens if you want changes, and when payments fall due. Vague scopes are how projects turn into arguments. A developer who resists writing it down is telling you something.

  3. Check who owns what — in writing

    Your domain, your hosting, your code repository, your analytics, your Google Business Profile. All should be registered to your business, with you as the account owner and the developer given access. This is the single most common way businesses get trapped, and it costs nothing to prevent up front.

  4. Ask what happens after launch

    Websites are not finished when they launch — they need updates, security patches, backups and someone to call. Find out whether ongoing care is offered, what it costs, and what the response time is. If the answer is 'we'll invoice you hourly when you need us', budget for that reality.

  5. Beware the price that is much lower than everyone else

    Sometimes it's a genuinely lean operation. More often it's a template with your logo on it, an offshore subcontractor you'll never speak to, or a quote that omits half the work and will be corrected by variations later. Ask what's included, specifically.

  6. Talk to the person who'll do the work

    In small teams the salesperson is the builder. In larger ones they're often not. Ask directly who will write the code and design the pages, and whether you'll have contact with them. Handovers between a charming salesperson and an unknown production team are where quality quietly leaks out.

  7. Trust responsiveness during the quote

    How someone behaves while trying to win your business is the best version of how they'll behave once they have it. Slow, vague or evasive answers now are not going to improve after you've paid a deposit.

Before you sign

Every one of these is reasonable to ask for, and any good developer will say yes without hesitating.

  • Three live URLs of work they built, which you have actually opened on your phone
  • A written scope listing what is and is not included
  • A fixed price, or a clearly explained rate and a capped estimate
  • Confirmation that the domain, hosting and code will be in your business's name
  • The name of the person who will actually do the work
  • What happens after launch, what it costs, and how fast they respond
  • What happens if you part ways — can you take the site with you?
  • A payment schedule tied to milestones, not a single up-front lump sum

Where we'd tell you otherwise

If your needs are genuinely simple — a few pages, no bookings, no shop — a builder like Squarespace and a weekend of your own time may be the right answer, and we'd rather say so than sell you something bigger. Hire a developer when being found, being trusted and being contacted actually drives your revenue.

Want a second opinion?

Tell us what you're weighing up. We'll give you a straight answer, including when the answer is that you don't need us.

Email

jayson@pixelapps.com.au

Location

Macedon Ranges, Victoria

Serving clients across Australia

Common questions

Visit three sites they've built, on your phone, and check speed, forms and whether the business ranks in Google for its own name. Then ask for a written scope. Technical skill is hard for a non-technical buyer to assess; verifiable work and a willingness to commit things in writing are not.

It depends on the size of the job and your tolerance for risk. Freelancers are cheaper and more personal but are a single point of failure. Agencies have depth and process but you may never meet the people doing the work. A small studio sits between the two. We've written a full comparison if you want the detail.

A custom small-business site generally runs $3,000 to $10,000, larger custom sites $10,000 to $30,000, and anything with logins and payments starts around $30,000. Templates and DIY builders sit below that. Ongoing hosting and maintenance is separate — typically $50 to $200 a month.

No written scope, pressure for full payment up front, a refusal to name who's doing the work, domains registered in the developer's name, and a quote dramatically below everyone else's without an explanation of why.

Not strictly — plenty of good work happens remotely. Local helps most when you want someone to sit down with, when local search matters to your business, or when you want the recourse of dealing with a business in your own legal system.

Also worth a look

Last reviewed . Prices are indicative Australian ranges, not quotes.