Comparison
A good freelancer can build a very good law firm site, often at a fair project price, and suits a firm with a clear scope and someone to maintain the site afterwards. A managed studio suits a firm that wants continuity: a designer, a developer and a writer on one brief, weekly updates, and no single point of failure when someone is busy or moves on.
What it is
A freelance web designer or developer works alone or with occasional subcontractors, usually on a project fee with optional hourly maintenance afterwards. Quality and terms vary from person to person.
The best freelancers are excellent. The structural limit is capacity: one calendar, one set of skills, and a handover at the end of the project.
One calendar is a risk for a firm
When a freelancer is on holiday, busy with a bigger client or changes careers, the firm's site waits. For a firm with an intake deadline or a partner joining next week, that matters. A studio spreads the work across people who share the brief.
The handover problem
Many freelance projects end with a finished site and a login. Then the site drifts: bios go stale, fees change, nobody writes. A managed plan has no handover; the same team keeps working every week.
Ask about ownership up front
With any provider, confirm in writing who owns the domain, the hosting account and the content. On our plans the domain stays in the firm's name and you receive an export of your content and articles on cancellation.
Side by side
Twelve things a law firm should compare. Statements about A freelancer come from its own published pages, listed under sources, or describe it in general terms.
| What matters | A freelancer | AttorneyWebStudio |
|---|---|---|
| Speed and Core Web Vitals | Depends on the freelancer's stack and skill. | Hand-coded static pages served from Cloudflare's edge, 90+ PageSpeed on mobile and desktop, guaranteed and kept. |
| SEO control | Depends on the freelancer; often basic on-page setup. | A page per matter type, per office and per attorney, with written titles, canonicals, sitemaps and redirects, done for you. |
| Schema and JSON-LD | If the freelancer adds it. | LegalService, LocalBusiness per office, Person, Service, FAQPage and BreadcrumbList, generated from the same data as the page. |
| AEO and GEO readiness | Rarely part of a design brief. | Answer-first pages with FAQ blocks, an llms.txt file and consistent names for the firm, offices and attorneys. |
| Hosting and security | Often the firm's own hosting account, set up by the freelancer. | Cloudflare hosting, SSL, monitoring and versioned deploys inside the fee. No plugins or CMS login to secure. |
| Maintenance burden | Hourly or by arrangement, when available. | None for the firm. Weekly detail updates plus revisions, handled by the studio. |
| Who does the work | One person. | A designer, a developer and a writer at the studio, with a person to email. |
| Content and blog | Usually the firm supplies the copy. | 2 researched, cited articles a week (3 on Multi-Office), never written as legal advice. |
| Design quality | Can be excellent; depends on the individual. | A design system made for the firm and applied to every page, office and profile. |
| Accessibility and compliance pages | Depends on the brief and the individual. | Privacy policy, terms, cookie consent that gates scripts, an accessibility statement, WCAG 2.2 AA in mind, and the advertising disclaimers the firm specifies. |
| Cost model | Project fee, then hourly maintenance. | From $137 a month, plus a $797 build fee invoiced only after launch. No fixed term. |
| Lock-in and ownership | Depends on the agreement and handover. | The domain stays in the firm's name; on cancellation the firm gets an export of its content and articles within 14 days. |
Be honest
You know a freelancer whose work you trust and whose availability suits you.
You need a one-off build and have someone in-house to maintain it.
You want to pay once rather than monthly.
And when we are
You want continuity: a team on one brief, not one calendar.
You want the writing, weekly updates and hosting included.
You want routed intake and, on the AI Engine plans, after-hours answering.
Switching, or using both
Some firms bring us in when their freelancer moves on, others alongside them.
- 01If your freelancer built the current site, we coordinate the handover of the domain and any content.
- 02We rebuild on the new structure and redirect every old URL.
- 03Your freelancer can keep doing other work for the firm, such as print design, while the studio runs the site.
What you get with us
Every capability of the managed site, and which plan includes it.
| Capability | Solo Practice$137/ month | Multi-Attorney$297/ month + usage | Multi-Office$747/ month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pages that open instantlyStatic, hand-built pages served from the edge, 90+ PageSpeed guaranteed on mobile and desktop. | Included | Included | Included |
| Practice area pagesOne well-structured page for every matter type the firm takes, written answer-first. | Included | Included | Included |
| Office and attorney pagesA location page for every office and a profile for every attorney, all inside one site. | Included | Included | Included |
| Intake routerThree questions, then the inquiry goes to the right office or attorney with the consultation terms shown. | Included | Included | Included |
| Inquiries into your intake CRMEvery form, router and call inquiry lands in the CRM your intake team already uses. | Included | Included | Included |
| Weekly detail updatesAttorney moves, new hours, new bar admissions and fee changes published every week without using a revision. | Included | Included | Included |
| Researched articles2 long-form, cited articles a week on the questions people search before they contact a firm. | Included | Included | Included |
| Search, answer and AI visibilityTechnical and on-page SEO, office and service-area pages, answer-first FAQs, schema and llms.txt, so search engines and AI assistants can read the firm correctly. | Included | Included | Included |
| Managed hostingCloudflare edge hosting, SSL, backups and monitoring inside the monthly fee. Nothing itemized. | Included | Included | Included |
| The AI EngineAn AI receptionist, site chat and SMS, Messenger and Instagram agents that take inquiries and book consultations, never give advice. | Not included | Included | Included |
| The Content Engine3 articles a week, 3 social image posts, 2 reels and a managed Google Business Profile for each office. | Not included | Not included | Included |
In their words
The old legal intake address sits in hundreds of our sent messages; breaking it was not an option. Every legacy address was catalogued, mapped and tested before go-live. The relaunch felt safe rather than hopeful.
Mohan RathoreNew inquiries coordinator, Dispute resolution practiceNaperville, IL GotPage migration and redirect mapping for legal intake on Solo Practice
Updating legal intake content used to mean describing a change by phone and hoping. Every change is recorded as old text, new text, approver, then published from that record. Far easier than narrating edits and hoping they survived the telling.
Frederick CaldwellClient services coordinator, Criminal defense practiceSt. Petersburg, FL GotContent approvals and change requests for legal intake on Solo Practice
The documentation for the legal intake pages assumes nothing about the reader. It covers who to contact, how to request a change and what to check after publication. It has already earned its keep during one absence and one staff change.
Isaac NorcottCompliance officer, General practice law firmProvo, UT GotStaff handover and maintenance notes for legal intake on Solo Practice
Questions about A freelancer and AttorneyWebStudio
01Is a freelancer cheaper than a studio?
Often for the build itself. Add the cost of maintenance, writing, hosting and the time the site spends out of date, and compare the total over two or three years.
02What happens if our freelancer disappears?
Make sure the domain and hosting are in the firm's name. If they are, we can rebuild the site and redirect its addresses. If not, the first job is recovering them.
03Can a freelancer build intake routing?
A skilled developer can. Ask who maintains the rules when offices and attorneys change. On our plans routing changes are weekly updates.
04Who writes the content with a freelancer?
Usually the firm. On our plans the studio writes practice area pages and 2 researched articles a week, for your approval.
05Do you work with freelancers we already use?
Yes. Many firms keep a freelancer for print, photography or brand work while we run the website.
06How do we check any provider?
Ask for recent law firm work, who owns what, the term, what is included monthly, and what happens when someone at the firm changes. Get the answers in writing.
07Is there a contract with you?
No fixed term. Cancel with 2 business days notice before your next invoice.
08Do freelancers know attorney advertising rules?
Some do. Ask. We write every page to avoid guarantees, outcome claims and comparisons, and add the disclaimers your jurisdictions require.
We aim to keep this comparison fair and current. If something about A freelancer has changed, email and we will correct it.
More comparisons
Talk to the studio
From $137 a month, live in 7 days, build fee invoiced after launch. Book a demo, or email the studio and a person replies within one working day.