Hi! I need a web application for my business. Should I hire an agency or a freelancer? What's the better value? Thank you.
Well a freelancer would probably be more cost effective but it all depends on what you need done. There are many resources you can find within this forum to get what you need.
You need to factor in the size of the project, how quickly you want it done, your budget. An agency is probably better, more hands on deck, more people thinking about the right solutions, fewer delays when people are sick, on holiday But there are overheads that you'll need to pay for.
For a small business a freelancer would probably be more cost effective and serve the purpose. Anything more than a small business site though, agency might be worth the extra cash.
There can be a big difference between what a small business needs and a "small business site" and we have no idea what the OP needs. By asking for a "web app" I'm guessing it's more than just a website with a dozen pages promoting the business or a small e-commerce site. Don't let the size of the business mislead you about the specs of the project.
According to my experience, you need to decide the below things before selecting a Freelancer or an agency. 1) Total allocated budget 2) Estimated time 3) Project Reliability If you have a good budget and want it with Reliability, then go with an agency. Freelancers mostly work for agencies and then do part-time jobs at home. The choice is yours! Best of luck. P.S. Many agencies' prices are equivalent to the freelancer's cost.
Freelancers tend to perform best when hired for a specialized task, while a professional development agency is best at delivering complete digital solutions, especially when the project is not yet completely defined.
I think it depends on the type of project it is, the agency only has the programmers for each job, for example if it is a job in php, the agency itself gets PHP programmers to make their site, but in the case of freelancers Like me, we don't work with agencies and we can create platforms or websites that the client needs, maybe the project needs it in 15 days, and as a freelancer I could do it in 20, because I work alone, these are things that don't really matter. Working with the freelancer is even better, because you know that your website depends on a single person who you are in contact with when you need to talk to them, and who will be there in case you want to make any urgent changes. When hiring an agency, the agency will only distribute the job roles between the programmers and they will create it, and if you need to make any changes, then you contact them, and they contact the programmers.
It's about finding the right person/agency to do the tasks. I have even seen agency's failing miserably even after the buyer paying 3 times of what a freelancer would charge and finally the work getting done by a freelancer at 1/3 the cost. At times even when you hire an agency and your budget it limited, your work finally gets done by a single junior / inexperienced developer which will mean a very bad quality work you won't we aware of. So, if you have time but low on budget then you can go for a freelancer. So choose wisely!
You need to verify your skills because in both cases you can come across really low quality services.