· 4 min read
Agency, Freelancer, or In-House: Which Is Smarter?
Agency, freelancer, or in-house designer? Each path has real trade-offs. Here's how to choose the right model for your ecommerce business.
Ecommerce
Bad UX kills sales.
Slow sites, confusing flows, and “meh” mobile experiences send your customers running faster than you can say “free returns.”
But here’s the kicker: great UX design doesn’t just look pretty—it converts, retains, and drives growth. So the question isn’t if you need a UX designer for your ecommerce store. It’s how you get the job done right. If you’re unsure where your current UX is actually leaking revenue, the conversion diagnostic framework shows the systematic approach professionals use.
You’ve got four old-school options:
- Hire an ecommerce agency
- Bring in a freelancer
- Build your own UX team
- DIY (if you hate free time)
Or… there’s the better way. But let’s break down the usual suspects first.
Option 1: Ecommerce Design Agency
Great if you enjoy paying premium for process charts and email chains.
Agencies offer “full-service,” but you’re often stuck in a PowerPoint parade before a pixel ever gets pushed. And if you’re a mid-sized brand? Prepare to be their side hustle, not their star client.
Pros:
- Access to a big team (designers, strategists, devs)
- They’ve worked across different verticals
- Speed… if you’re their #1 priority
Cons:
- Expensive monthly retainers (€5k-€25k+)
- Junior designers doing the heavy lifting
- Slow turnarounds, rigid scopes
Verdict: Agencies can deliver polish-but it’s often slow, costly, and overkill unless you’re swimming in budget.
Option 2: Freelancer
Flexible, fast, often flaky.
A solid ecommerce UX freelancer can do wonders. But the best ones? Booked out for months. The rest? Maybe great, maybe ghosted-you’re gambling either way.
Pros:
- Direct communication
- Lower cost than agencies
- Often highly skilled solo operators
Cons:
- Availability roulette
- Limited scalability
- You manage them (and the deadlines)
Verdict: Best for short projects. Risky if you need ongoing design firepower or fast iteration.
Option 3: Hire In-House
Full control, full cost, full onboarding headaches.
If you’ve got the budget and time to build a team, this can work. But UX isn’t just hiring “a designer”-you need someone who gets ecommerce flows, conversion psychology, accessibility, and systems thinking.
Pros:
- Aligned with your brand and team
- Fast collaboration (once they’re onboarded)
- Long-term investment in knowledge
Cons:
- Recruiting takes time and money
- You’ll probably need multiple hires (UI, UX, research)
- Slower to scale, harder to change
Verdict: Smart for big brands with deep pockets. Not lean. Not fast.
Option 4: DIY UX
Sure, Lisa, learn Figma, UX strategy, and mobile flow optimization between meetings.
We love the hustle. But DIY ecommerce UX is like doing your own dental work. Technically possible. Probably painful. Definitely not recommended.
Pros:
- Free (on paper)
- Builds internal awareness
Cons:
- Steep learning curve
- Costly UX mistakes
- Time suck you can’t afford
Verdict: Good for learning. Bad for leading.
Option 5: BTNG Unlimited
A senior ecommerce UX design partner-on tap, on your side, always ready.
I designed BTNG Unlimited to give growing ecommerce brands what they actually need: consistent, high-impact UX design without the hassle of hiring or the fluff of agencies.
You get:
- Clean, conversion-first design
- UX improvements that actually move KPIs
- Predictable delivery and cost
- Zero ghosting, zero fluff, zero layers
Pros:
- Senior-level ecommerce UX experience (20+ years)
- Unlimited design requests, fixed monthly rate
- Start, pause, cancel anytime
- Fast turnarounds, high-touch support
Cons:
- Doesn’t come with a pizza party or “ideation sprints”
- Only available to brands serious about performance
Verdict: Built for ecommerce brands who want world-class UX that actually sells.
So… Which Route Wins?
Here’s the truth:
If you’re looking for lean, strategic, KPI-driven ecommerce UX design without the agency bloat or freelancer roulette-you won’t beat BTNG Unlimited.
No overhead. No slow ramp-up. Just world-class ecommerce UX design that helps your store convert, retain, and grow.
Ready to stop choosing and start scaling?
What to read next
The right model for ecommerce UX depends on the stage of your store and the pace of change you need to support.
- Ecommerce Conversion Benchmarks Europe 2025 - measure your current conversion performance to set informed design priorities
- The €50,000 Ecommerce Mistakes - identify the UX and design mistakes worth fixing first
- The Conversion Diagnostic Framework - how to diagnose your conversion problems before deciding who to hire to fix them
- Ecommerce Conversion 101 - the fundamentals of conversion optimization, regardless of who does the work
Prefer to skip the hiring decision entirely? Our design subscription provides senior ecommerce UX on demand.