Compare / Hiring an Agency
An agency sells you a project. Rehost leases you the operation.
The agency model: scope, quote, deposit, build, handoff. $15K to $150K later, you own software and a maintenance problem. The lease model: subscribe from $950/mo for the business stack ($250 per campus for faith, $350 for website-only), get access on a 15-minute call, go live in two weeks, and never take the handoff. The team that built it keeps running it.
When an agency is the right call.
If you're building novel product software (something with its own roadmap, its own engineering decisions, eventually its own team), a project engagement with a strong agency is the correct structure. You're buying invention, and invention is priced as a project.
Agencies also fit when your organization already employs the people who'll operate what gets built. The handoff lands on a desk that exists.
The economics, side by side.
Agency figures reflect the $15K–$150K range typical for custom app and website engagements; structures vary widely by shop. The comparison is structural: project economics versus subscription economics.
| Rehost | Typical agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost structure | Business from $950/mo (MAU-based); $350/mo website; $250/mo per faith campus | $15K–$150K project fee, often plus a monthly retainer |
| Cash before launch | First subscription month | Deposits commonly 30–50% upfront |
| Timeline | Access on the call; live in two weeks | 8–24 weeks typical, scope-dependent |
| After launch | Same team operates, updates, iterates, inside the lease | Handoff; changes become change orders or a retainer |
| Ownership | Domain, accounts, repo, and data in your name from day one | Usually yours at final payment; terms vary |
| Exit | Cancel monthly, keep everything | Project ends; future work is a new engagement |
This page isn't a claim about any particular shop; good agencies are worth their quotes for the right problem. It's about which economic shape fits an operating business.
Five differences that decide it.
- You're not buying a build. You're subscribing to an operating layer. The deliverable isn't a codebase in a handoff folder; it's a running operation (app, website, customer data) with a team attached. Custom work still happens; it's the upgrade path inside the lease, not the product.
- The quote conversation disappears. No scoping phase, no proposal deck, no negotiation. The price is published and the first call is activation: dashboard access, kickoff date, first month started, fifteen minutes.
- Maintenance isn't a separate contract. Post-handoff is where agency math gets expensive: retainers, hourly rates, "that's out of scope." The lease has no post-handoff because there's no handoff.
- Risk shape. A project front-loads risk: large deposit, long build, you find out at the end. A month-to-month lease prices its own confidence: if it stops earning the line item, you cancel and keep the domain, accounts, repo, and data.
- Two weeks because it's a stack, not a blank page. Agencies start from zero by design. The lease starts from an operating platform your stack is configured into; that's why live-in-two-weeks is the floor, with custom work continuing after launch.
Hire an agency if.
- You're building novel product software with its own roadmap and a future engineering team.
- You have in-house staff ready to own and operate the deliverable.
- You need a one-time build with no ongoing relationship, priced and closed as a project.
Lease from Rehost if.
- You want the outcome (running app, website, customer data) without hiring for it or project-managing it.
- $15K–$150K upfront is the wrong shape for your cash flow; a flat monthly line item is the right one.
- You want changes to keep shipping after launch without change orders.
- You want the moat in your name from day one, not at final payment.
Common questions.
Why is Rehost so much cheaper than an agency quote?
Different economics, not a discount. An agency prices each build from zero as a one-off project. Rehost leases configured access to an operating platform and amortizes the team across subscribers, with Business tiers from $950/mo based on monthly active users, month to month. You're comparing a project quote to a subscription, which is why the numbers look like different categories. They are.
Do I own the work like I would with an agency?
More immediately, in practice. Agency IP usually transfers at final payment. On the lease, the structure is yours from the start: domain on your registrar, app store accounts in your name, code in your repo, processor settling to your bank, data exportable on request.
What if I need something custom an agency would build?
Custom work is the upgrade path inside the lease, not a separate engagement. You ask, the team scopes it inside the subscription, and it ships into the stack you already have.
Is Rehost an agency?
No. Agencies sell projects and end at handoff. Rehost is a software lease with an operating team attached: the subscription is for the running stack, not a deliverable.
Related.
Method
The Method
The six principles behind how the lease actually runs.
Business
The business stack, from $950/mo
App, website, and customer data, operated for LA County teams.
Pricing
All pricing
Faith, Website, and Business: published, flat, month to month.
Company
What is Rehost?
The word, the model, and why it isn't an agency.