By Mehdi HassanMany agencies sell websites they don't build. Paid media shops, SEO firms, PR agencies and brand consultancies all have clients who need a new site, and hiring designers and developers for that demand is expensive and lumpy. White-label web design fills the gap. Done well, the client never feels a seam. Done badly, the agency's reputation carries someone else's missed deadlines.
How does white label web design work for agencies?
White label web design works by splitting the work along the client relationship. The agency sells the project, owns the strategy and the client, and invoices under its own name. A partner designs and builds the site to the agency's brief, usually under the agency's brand, and is paid by the agency rather than the client.
The arrangement suits agencies whose core service isn't websites but whose clients keep asking for them. It's one of the routes we cover in our guide to marketing agency website design, where we also look at agencies building their own sites.
Responsibility | Agency | White-label partner |
|---|---|---|
Selling and pricing to the client | Yes | No |
Strategy and positioning | Usually | Contributes |
Copy | Depends on agreement | Depends on agreement |
Design and development | Reviews | Yes |
Client communication | Leads | Joins if agreed |
Billing the client | Yes | Bills the agency |
Support after launch | Owns the relationship | Delivers if contracted |
What are the models for outsourcing agency web design?
There are four common models for outsourcing agency web design: freelancers per project, white-label production companies, dedicated design partners on retainer, and building an in-house team. They differ mostly in how much the partner behaves like part of your agency.
Model | How it works | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
Freelancer per project | Hire individuals as projects come in | Occasional, small sites | Availability and inconsistent quality |
White-label production company | Submit briefs to a vendor that builds at volume | Many similar, template-led sites | Templates and little strategic input |
Dedicated partner on retainer | A fixed team works as your design and dev arm | Steady demand and custom work | Needs enough work to justify the monthly fee |
In-house hires | Employ designers and developers | High, predictable volume | Salary cost and idle time between projects |
The right model depends on volume and ambition. If you sell a handful of simple sites a year, freelancers are fine. If you sell custom, strategic sites regularly, a dedicated partner gives you consistency without payroll. Our comparison of the best website agencies for early-stage startups uses similar criteria for choosing any outside team.
Should the partner be invisible or introduced to clients?
Decide this before the first project. In a fully white-label setup, the partner never appears, and the agency relays every message. In a team-extension setup, the partner joins calls as part of the agency's team, often with agency email addresses or simply introduced as 'our design and development team'.
Invisible partners keep the agency in full control but slow everything down, because every question passes through an account manager. Introduced partners make projects faster and feedback clearer, at the cost of the client knowing more people. Many agencies find the second model gives better sites, as long as the contract prevents the partner from working with the client directly.
What should a white label website design contract include?
A white label website design contract should settle ownership, confidentiality, non-solicitation, scope, revisions and support before any work starts. These terms protect the agency's client relationship and make sure the final client can own their site.
- Ownership and transfer. Who owns design files and code, and how they pass to the agency and then the client. Our guide to who owns the website in agency contracts explains the usual structures.
- Confidentiality. The partner doesn't disclose the client or the arrangement unless agreed.
- Non-solicitation. The partner won't approach or accept the agency's clients directly for an agreed period.
- Scope and change requests. What's included, how extra work is priced and approved.
- Revisions and approvals. How many rounds, who signs off and how long feedback can take.
- Support and hosting. Who handles bugs, updates and hosting after launch, and for how long.
How do agencies price white label websites to clients?
Agencies usually price white label websites by adding a margin to the partner's cost that covers strategy, project management, client communication and risk. The margin varies widely with how much the agency contributes, so there's no standard figure worth quoting.
Fixed partner pricing makes this easier. If your partner charges a known price per site or per month, you can build packages for clients without re-quoting every time. That's the logic behind a productized offer, which we cover in productized agency website. Whether to then show those packages publicly is a separate decision, discussed in should your agency show pricing.
For example, suppose an SEO agency sells two sites a month
Hypothetical example: an SEO agency closes about two website projects a month on top of its retainers. Hiring a designer and a developer would mean salaries during slow months and a skills gap in copy and animation.
Instead, it works with a design and development partner on a monthly retainer. The partner joins kickoff and review calls as the agency's web team, the agency leads strategy and client relationships, and its SEO team handles keyword and content planning. The agency packages each site at a price that covers the partner's monthly cost, its own time and a margin.
How do you choose a white label web design partner?
Choose a white label web design partner by testing them on real work, not by reading their portfolio. Look for craft, communication and reliability, and check that they're comfortable working under your brand and process.
Check fit with your clients
Look for work in the industries and platforms you sell, such as Webflow, Framer or Next.js, and at the level of custom design your clients expect.
Meet the people who will do the work
Make sure the designers and developers you'll rely on are the ones on the call, not only a salesperson.
Review the contract terms
Confirm ownership, confidentiality, non-solicitation and support before the first brief.
Run a paid test
Start with one real project or a short paid trial and judge quality, speed and how they handle feedback.
Agree on communication rules
Decide channels, response times, who talks to the client and how files are branded.
Scale gradually
Move more projects to the partner once the first ones have gone well.
Pros
- Sell websites without hiring a full design and development team
- Access to specialist skills like custom animation and code
- Capacity that grows and shrinks with demand
- Keep the client relationship and margin in your agency
Cons
- Quality depends on a team you don't directly manage
- Extra handoffs can slow projects without clear communication rules
- Your reputation carries the partner's mistakes
- Weak contracts can leave ownership or client relationships unclear
What does a design and development partner retainer look like?
A design and development partner retainer gives your agency a fixed team for a monthly fee, working on whatever web projects you have in the queue. It feels closer to in-house staff than a vendor, because the same people learn your clients, standards and process.
That's how our retainer works. For $6,000/month, Designify acts as an ongoing design and development team: words, design and code from one team, joining customer calls, with no hourly tracking. We build in Framer, Webflow and Next.js and design in Figma. If you'd rather test the fit first, our $1,000 trial week is one week of design and development before committing. Retainers suit agencies with steady demand; if you sell one site a quarter, a per-project partner may make more sense.
