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Custom WordPress Development: Hourly Rate vs. Fixed Fee?

Custom WordPress Development_ Hourly Rate vs. Fixed Fee Pricing

When deciding what type of pricing method you prefer for your website, you should consider your budget and the complexity of the project. Based on this information, your WordPress agency can recommend the best custom website development solution and website cost.

Web development companies have different pricing strategies. Some charge based on hourly rates, while others offer fixed fees. Additionally, some WordPress agencies provide pre-made packages that can be a reasonable choice for smaller websites. There’s also the WordPress retainers model that we at DevriX developed for our clients.

Read on to find out what different website pricing models include and how dev companies charge for custom website development.

Custom WordPress Development Hourly Rates

It’s a common model for WordPress agencies and web developers to charge on an hourly rate. There are different costs related to the WordPress project development. You need a team of developers, designers, a project manager, quality assurance testers, and other people involved in the technical process, and skipping any step will negatively affect the final result.

Some agencies offer different rates depending on their costs for development vs. design, testing or project management. Others total the fees in one price and sell development on a daily, weekly or monthly basis as a group feature.

However, larger projects usually include additional communication between the project manager and the client, and revisions that could not be estimated upfront. Therefore, whilst it’s safer for the agency to sell hours or days, and increase the cost in the event of issues or communication overhead during the WordPress development, this could lead to extra charges for the customer.

Fixed Fee Pricing

The fixed fee pricing model is usually a good fit for customers who need custom WordPress development as they may plan their expenses accordingly. The amount of work is estimated upfront and a fixed number is provided based on the billable hours together with the proposal.

While it may seem better from a client’s perspective, this website pricing model could lead to complications for both sides.

Website development companies that don’t charge hourly try to put fewer development hours in the process to avoid additional charges. This could affect the end product quality and lead to less testing or code reviews. Also, during the project development, clients may come up with additional feature requests and enhancements that haven’t been discussed upfront and cannot be added within the agreed budget.

On top of that, to ensure that the specification stays intact, the agency has to spend a few days preparing a complete custom WordPress development project proposal. This may be an overhead for smaller or medium size clients as it could cost 10-40% of the entire project development cost.

Furthermore, the fixed fee pricing model still holds the risk of either exceeding your budget or not receiving the desired outcome.

Web Development Packages

In order to simplify the specification and evaluation process, some web agencies offer custom WordPress development packages. They are strictly limited to a list of available themes (design layouts) and a number of pages or a given subset of features.

This is a good fit for smaller websites, but as soon as the client requests additional features that are not included in the package, the pricing exercise immediately gets complicated and the project could easily get out of control.

Custom WordPress Development Based on Your Budge

At DevriX we always ask about the customer budget ranges. We believe that purchasing a web solution is an essential process, just as buying a new car or a condo is. You need to do your research, identify your requirements, and define what you want and what’s the best you can afford for your money.

WordPress agencies calculate costs differently, but custom website development projects are usually in similar price ranges.

At DevriX we consider your budget, and, based on it, we provide a custom fixed fee solution based on our hourly rates. Also, weshare our rates with our clients so that you can anticipate what charges may come from any additional communication or extra features that you may request during the development process.

If you are unsure of your budget, that’s also fine – we offer a Business Consulting program discussing your requirements and the technical challenges that creating your unique website may present. In the end, we estimate your project and build it for you.

Bottom Line

There are different ways a web development agency can charge its clients for building a custom WordPress development project. However, every pricing model has its pros and cons, and every website is unique and requires a personal approach.

That’s why, when deciding on an agency and considering your options, you should look for individual solutions that fit your project’s specifications, your requirements, and your budget.