Choosing a partner
A boutique studio, not an agency
Agency, freelancer, or studio? A straight look at the trade-offs — and where a small, dedicated studio is the right call.
The case
Most web work is sold by people who won't build it. Agencies run on layers — account managers, a sales team, junior production — and the polish you saw in the pitch can quietly thin out by the time it reaches a developer who's juggling a dozen accounts. You pay for the structure as much as the work.
A freelancer sits at the other end: direct and affordable, but often stretched thin, hard to reach, and a single point of failure when things get busy.
A boutique studio is the middle most people actually want — the directness of working with the makers, with the standards and reliability of a real practice.
What this means for you
You talk to the people writing the code. Decisions don't get lost in a relay. The work stays coherent because a small team holds the whole thing — the design, the build, the performance budget, the words.
The honest cost is capacity. A small studio can't take everything on, so the work is scheduled rather than instant. For most considered projects, that's a feature: it's why the quality holds.
How Koha works
Three or four projects at a time. You work with the studio, start to finish. We're honest about scope and timing — including when something isn't a fit — because the whole model only works if every project gets done properly.
Scoped to fit the work.
Every project is quoted on scope, not a template. See how Koha thinks about pricing — and what shapes the number.
Questions
Good to know.
- Isn't a boutique studio riskier than an agency?
- Different risk, not more. With a big agency you risk being a small account handed to junior staff. With a small studio you work directly with the people doing the work — the trade-off is capacity, which is why Koha takes on only a few projects at a time.
- What if you're busy when I need you?
- Then we'll tell you honestly, and either schedule you in or point you somewhere good. We'd rather lose a project than take one we can't do properly.
Start something
If it sounds like a fit, let’s talk.
Tell us what you’re working with — where it’s stuck, or what you’re trying to build. We read every enquiry and reply within a couple of days.