How to compare two web design quotes fairly
Two quotes for the same site can differ so much that one of them looks like a mistake. Usually neither is: they describe different jobs under the same name. To compare web design quotes fairly, you first have to make them describe the same thing.
Why do two quotes for one site differ so much?
Because each designer filled the gaps in your request differently. One assumed a ready theme and your own text. The other assumed drawn layouts, content entry and training. Both wrote "company website" at the top. Until you see what each one assumed, the totals tell you only that the two people imagined different projects.
How do I bring them to the same scope?
Make a simple table with one row for each thing you care about and one column for each quote. Pages and functions, design method, content entry, languages, platform, training, support, what is excluded. Fill in what each quote states. Wherever a cell is empty, write to that designer and ask. The empty cells are where the difference in figure is hiding.
What should I compare before the total?
How the design is made and whether you approve it before the build. Whether you can edit the site yourself, and how much of it. How long support lasts and what it covers. Who holds the domain, the hosting and the licences. These decide what the site costs you over its life, which the total on the first page does not show.
How should I read the lower quote?
Without suspicion, but with one question: what is not in it? Ask it directly. A low quote for a smaller job is honest and may be exactly right for you. A low quote for the same job needs explaining. If the answer is that changes, content entry or support are charged separately, add them back in your table and look again.
How should I read the higher quote?
With the mirror question: what does it include that the other does not? Sometimes the answer is real work you want. Sometimes it is work you do not need, such as functions for a later stage. Ask whether the scope can be reduced to what you need now. A good supplier will tell you what can come out and what should stay.
What if they are still close?
Then decide on the things a table cannot hold. Who answered your questions clearly and quickly? Whose past work is closest to what you want? Who asked about your business before quoting? You will be working with this person for weeks. The way they handled the quote is the best evidence you have of how that will feel.
How I handle it
Here are my rows for your table. Design: made in Figma, approved by you before the build. Editing: you get the dashboard and change text, images, products, prices and posts yourself. Support: 180 days from the day the site goes live. Stopping: for the first seven days you can stop the project and get your payment back in full. Payment: Vodafone Cash, InstaPay, bank transfer or PayPal. Tell me about your project and I will fill in the remaining rows.
New articles every day on our Facebook page: Learn with MK
Have a project in mind?
Tell me what you are building and I reply within 24 hours.
