If you are about to hire someone for your website, you have probably noticed that some people call themselves web designers, some call themselves web developers, and plenty of agencies say they are both. Hiring the wrong one wastes money and time, so here is a plain-English guide to who does what.
The short answer
A web designer decides how your site looks and how people move through it. A web developer makes it work: the code, the features, the integrations, and the fixes. For a simple site, one person often does both. For anything with real functionality, the building matters as much as the look.
What a web designer does
- Plans the layout and how visitors move from page to page
- Chooses colors, fonts, images, and the overall look and feel
- Designs how the site looks on a phone, tablet, and desktop
- Often builds the finished site using a platform like WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix
- May also help with a logo and brand identity
What a web developer does
- Writes the code that makes the site run, and turns designs into a working site
- Builds custom features: bookings, memberships, payments, customer logins, and connections to other software
- Makes the site fast, secure, and reliable
- Fixes errors, broken plugins, failed updates, and hacked sites
- Moves a site from one platform or host to another
Developers are often described as front-end (what visitors see and click) or back-end (the database and server behind it). Many do both.
Where they overlap
On smaller projects the line blurs. Many web designers are comfortable customizing WordPress, and many developers have a good eye for layout. People who do both well are sometimes called designer-developers. A small studio like ours is built that way, so you deal with one team from the first sketch to the final fix.
Who to hire for your situation
- A simple, good-looking site for a small business: a designer who builds, or a designer-developer
- Your site works but looks outdated: a designer, or a redesign from a designer-developer. See our guide on redesign or repair
- Something is broken, slow, or showing errors: a developer
- A custom feature like online booking, memberships, a customer portal, or an online store with special needs: a developer, ideally one who also cares about design. A good example is our digital magazine platform
- A new logo and brand: a designer who does branding
- Moving from one platform to another: a developer, working with a designer if the look is changing
- An app or web tool that someone built with AI and is stuck: a developer, which is what our AI App Help service is for
Platform matters too
If your site will live on WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix, many designers can handle it. If it will be custom-built with something like Next.js, or it needs integrations, you want a developer. If you are not sure which platform suits you, our comparisons of WordPress and Shopify and WordPress and Squarespace can help.
Freelancer, studio, or agency?
- A freelancer is one person. You get direct contact and usually lower cost, but depend on that person's availability
- A small studio is a few people with different strengths. You get direct contact and more range, with less overhead than a big agency
- An agency brings a larger team and a process, with account managers and project managers. That suits big projects and big budgets, and it costs more
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Who will actually work on my site, and who will I talk to?
- Who owns the domain, the hosting account, and the website files when we are done?
- What exactly is included in the price, and what costs extra?
- What happens after launch? Who fixes things when they break?
- Can I see live websites you have built, and speak to someone who hired you?
- How long will it take, and how will we communicate along the way?
Warning signs
- They register your domain or hosting in their own name and will not transfer it
- There is no written agreement about scope, price, and ownership
- A template is being sold as "custom"
- Vague quotes, or a price that is far lower than everyone else's
- Slow or missing replies before you have even paid
If you have already been burned, our guide on what to do when your website person disappears will help you take back control. For more on picking someone, see what to do before hiring a WordPress developer and how to choose a web designer.
Not sure which one you need?
Tell us what you are trying to do. We will tell you honestly what the job needs, whether that is us or not.
Common questions
Q: Do I need a developer if I use Squarespace or Wix?
Not usually. Those platforms are built so non-programmers can run a site. You may still want a developer if you need something the platform cannot do, or if you are moving off it.
Q: Which costs more, a designer or a developer?
It depends on the person and the project. Custom development tends to cost more than template-based design because it takes more time and skill. Our guide to website costs gives real ranges.
Q: Can one person really do both well?
Many can, especially on small and mid-sized projects. Ask to see both their designs and the working sites they built, and ask who handles what.