Design Agency Pricing Guide 2024

If you’re planning to hire a design agency, it’s important that you know how much it will cost so you can budget accordingly. Learn more about how much it will cost to hire a design agency and the factors that will influence their hourly rates.

Great designs can make your brand stand out, show that your business is professional, and help grow brand recognition.

To get the most out of their visual assets, companies turn to design firms to create everything from print designs to logos, graphic designs, web designs, and more. But how much does it cost to hire a design firm?

The answer depends on the scope of your project, what assets you’re looking to create, as well as the design team’s experience and location.

This pricing guide goes into detail about how much companies usually spend on design projects and how much design companies will charge for their labor. With this information, you can develop a better understanding of how design firms price their services and create a budget for your upcoming design project.

As seen in the table above, most design projects on Clutch cost just a few thousand dollars. The relatively low cost makes hiring a professional design firm accessible for businesses of all sizes.

However, this doesn’t mean that all design projects are this affordable. Certain services cost more than others. Additionally, the more deliverables you’re looking for, the more expensive the total project cost will be.

To get an accurate estimate of your project cost, you must discuss your needs and clearly outline the deliverables you expect to receive from your design team.

What Services Do Design Agencies Offer and How Much Do They Cost?

While most design projects are relatively affordable for businesses of all sizes, the overall cost of the project depends largely on the type of design and the assets being delivered.

Designers can support your brand and ensure the look and feel of your business is accurately portrayed across a variety of different media. Whether you’re looking to build a website, design a new product, want to invest in print marketing, or simply need a few visuals, there are designers that specialize in what you need.

However, some of these services are more expensive than others. After all, designing the interface for new software is more complicated and technical than creating a few infographics or designing a new logo.

This table breaks down some of the most popular types of design and what you can expect to pay for a project of that scale. Click on each service to learn more about the details of how those services are priced.

Note: Price ranges above are in U.S. dollars

While some design companies specialize in just one type of design, others offer a combination of these services, whether that’s a combination of UX/UI and web design, graphic design and logo design, or even all of the above.

This is particularly valuable for businesses looking to design more than one asset or for those planning to completely revamp their brand. By hiring a design company that offers several different services, businesses can make sure there is consistency across all of their brand assets. Consequently, these businesses are able to communicate their brand message more effectively.

Additionally, design firms with more resources and service offerings can better support their clients, especially if their partnership is ongoing. This makes it easier to work with them on additional projects in the future or to bring them on retainer.

How Much Do Design Agencies Charge for Their Services?

The average cost of hiring a design company on Clutch ranges between $25–$49 per hour.

These rates include everything that is needed to bring your vision to life. If you haven’t hired a design company in the past, you may be surprised to learn how much time and effort design companies put into creating the look and feel of your design.

Depending on what you need designed and the scope of the project, design companies can spend a significant amount of time understanding your vision and sketching possible designs.

This often requires meetings with client leadership, surveys, and market research. With a better understanding of your brand and what you’re looking to accomplish, they will sketch ideas and concepts for you to review. You may have to go through several iterations and feedback before coming up with a solution that everyone is happy with.

Design Companies And Their Pricing Models

Each design firm has different packages and different approaches to their process. For example, it’s common for logo designers to offer packages that include how many designs they will present as well as how many iterations they will go through.

This means that companies can choose between cheaper packages that only include maybe 10 designs that they can choose from and more expensive packages that include a hundred potential logo designs.

Web design companies, however, often charge based on an hourly rate. Therefore, more complex websites that take longer to develop are usually more expensive.

Understanding how design companies approach different projects and how they are likely to charge you may inform how you budget for the project. Be sure to ask design firms you’re interviewing about how they charge for their services and whether or not they offer different pricing models.

Design Focus Areas & Hourly Rates

Design can be used to support many areas of your business, but how much a design firm charges depends on what they’re actually designing.

According to data collected by Clutch, designers will charge higher hourly rates for more extensive projects such as designing annual reports or creating brochures compared to other design projects.

This table shows how hourly rates are impacted by the asset a designer is creating.

Note: Price ranges above are in U.S. dollars

If you’re looking to hire a design firm to create many different assets for your business, be sure to scope the project thoroughly. Then discuss with your design company how much time they will allot to each product or how much it will cost.

When you receive an invoice, you can expect to see a breakdown of how much it costs to design and produce each asset. You should not be surprised by the cost of your designs.

What Impacts Design Rates?

• Project scope
• Experience
• Location
• Team size 

As discussed above, the cost of hiring a design company is largely determined by the scope of the project. What are the deliverables? How much time are designers spending on the project? And what expertise do they have? After all, more technical design expertise, like those associated with UX/UI design, are likely to be more costly.

However, there are several other factors that contribute to the cost of hiring a design company as well.

Designers with more experience will charge higher hourly rates because they’ve established themselves in the industry. Clients are clamoring to work with them, so they’re able to charge more.

Additionally, the number of designers working on your project will have a big impact on the overall cost. The larger the project, the more people will be brought on to the project to provide support. If you have a team of five or more designers working, you will inevitably be charged more than if you simply have a design freelancer working on the project.

Companies looking to keep their design budget relatively small, however, should consider working with off-shore designers. According to data collected by Clutch, design companies in Southeast Asia offer lower hourly rates than those in the US.

As long as you can manage communication with design companies in different time zones, hiring a service provider in different areas of the world can keep your costs low while ensuring that you receive high-quality designs.

However, if you’re worried about working with companies so far away, you can also save by working with “nearshore companies.” For instance, a US-based company may want to hire a Canadian design firm to lower labor costs, while a company in the UK can save by hiring a firm in Spain or Ukraine.

Hiring a Design Firm Can Be Affordable; Creating High-Quality Designs is Well-Worth the Cost

Most companies can afford to hire a design company to support their design needs. Especially for large projects, hiring a design firm that can create high-quality images and designs is a great investment. These designs can be used over and over again to improve brand awareness and capture the attention of investors, employees, and potential customers.

However, it’s important to note that not all design projects are super cheap. After all, more technical design services like web design are more expensive than simple graphics.

Still, with proper budgeting, companies of all sizes can use these design services to improve the look of everything from their annual reports to their business cards, banners, and infographics.