Comparison 09 of 10For facilities management companies
Hire a freelancer or use a managed website service for your facilities company?
Short answer
Hiring a freelancer is a good route when you have a trusted designer, a clear one-off project and someone in-house to keep the site current after handover. A FacilityWebStudio managed site suits a facilities company that wants the build and everything after it, hosting, security, updates, articles and revisions, carried by one team on one monthly fee, with the build fee charged only after launch.
The project ends; the website does not
A freelance project has a finish line: the site launches and the invoice closes. For a facilities company, the site keeps needing work after that: a new region, a renewed certification, a changed response time, a plugin update, a hosting renewal. Unless the freelancer is retained, those land back with you.
Key-person risk
A single freelancer is one person with other clients. If they move on, the logins, hosting and domain details can go with them. We see facilities companies locked out of their own domain more often than anyone would expect. On a managed plan the domain is in your name from day one and the team, not one person, holds the work.
Where a freelancer genuinely wins
A freelancer can take on custom, unusual work outside a standard plan, sit in your office, and bill a one-off project with no monthly fee. If that matches your need and you have the upkeep covered, it is a sensible choice.
Hiring a freelancer and FacilityWebStudio, criterion by criterion
Twelve criteria a facilities buyer and a facilities owner both care about. Where a platform's result depends on how it is used, we say so rather than guess.
| Criterion | Hiring a freelancer | FacilityWebStudio |
|---|---|---|
| Speed and Core Web Vitals | Depends entirely on the freelancer's build and hosting choices | Custom-coded pages on a global edge network, 90+ PageSpeed guaranteed on mobile and desktop |
| SEO control | Depends on the freelancer's skill; ongoing SEO usually billed separately | Full control of titles, URLs, redirects, sitemaps and internal links, handled for you |
| Schema and JSON-LD | Included if the freelancer adds it | Organization, Service, FAQPage and BreadcrumbList on every relevant page, generated from the page content |
| AEO and GEO readiness | Depends on the brief and the writer | Answer-first copy, FAQ blocks, a service level table and an llms.txt file for AI assistants |
| Hosting and security | Chosen by the freelancer or by you; upkeep after handover varies | Managed Cloudflare hosting with SSL, CDN and DDoS protection, included |
| Maintenance burden | Yours after handover unless a retainer is agreed | None on your side; we run updates, security and uptime |
| Who does the work | The freelancer during the project, then your side | We write, build and update it. 5 revisions a month, each done within 2 to 5 working days |
| Content and blog | Usually a separate writing budget | 2 to 3 researched articles a week, written for facilities buyers |
| Design quality | Anywhere from template to fully custom, depending on the person | Designed for a facilities procurement reader, around a documented service level ledger |
| Accessibility and compliance pages | Included if the brief asks for them | Privacy, terms, cookie consent that gates scripts, accessibility statement, SMS consent wording |
| Cost model | One-off project fee, then hourly or retainer for changes | $137 to $747 a month, plus a $797 build fee invoiced after launch |
| Lock-in and ownership | Depends on whose name the domain, hosting and code are registered in | Domain registered in your name and transferred free if you leave; month to month with notice |
Competitor details are general descriptions or come from the sources at the foot of this page. Plans and features change, so check the provider's own site for current terms.
When each option is the better fit
When hiring a freelancer is the better choice
- You need something unusual that a standard managed plan does not cover.
- You have a freelancer you trust and someone in-house to maintain the site after launch.
- You prefer a one-off project fee to a monthly service.
When a managed FacilityWebStudio site wins
- You want the domain in your name and a team, not one person, holding the work.
- You want ongoing writing, updates and hosting in one fee instead of hourly change requests.
- You want to see and approve the finished site before paying the build fee.
Taking over from a freelancer
We start by confirming who holds the domain, hosting and any analytics accounts, and help you get them into your own name. Then we map the existing URLs, carry across accurate content, rebuild the site with redirects in place and take over upkeep from launch day.
- Existing URLs mapped and 301-redirected, so rankings carry over.
- Domain registered or kept in your name.
- Live in 7 to 15 days by plan; the $797 build fee is invoiced only after launch.
Next step
Want to see the difference on your own services?
Book a 30-minute demo and we show a site built for a facilities company like yours, side by side with what you run today. Plans from $137 a month.
Everything in each plan
Every feature of the package and the plan that carries it, so the comparison is against the whole offer, not just the website.
| Feature | Baseline Ledger$137/ month | Operating Ledger$297/ month + usage | Enterprise Ledger$747/ month |
|---|---|---|---|
| The website itself | |||
| Pages that open instantly | |||
| Service level ledger table | |||
| Location and service-area pages | |||
| Enquiries into your CRM | |||
| Compliance pages and accessible build | |||
| Search, answers and AI citations | |||
| SEO, AEO, GEO and schema | |||
| The AI Engine | |||
| AI receptionist with call summaries | |||
| AI chat on your website | |||
| AI replies on SMS, Messenger and Instagram | |||
| The Content Engine | |||
| Researched articles every week | |||
| Social posts and reels | |||
| Managed Google Business Profile | |||
| Management and ownership | |||
| Revisions and weekly detail updates | |||
| Managed hosting and security | |||
| Your domain, in your name | |||
| Move from your current site, rankings intact | |||
| Client portal for every request | |||
Every plan carries a $797 one-time build fee, invoiced only after your site is live and approved. The AI Engine plan adds AI usage on top of its monthly fee; text-message carrier fees are passed through at cost.
Client notes
What operators say after switching
We suspected our facility walkthroughs content existed in two versions. The audit found more. Everything now lives in one maintained reference, with the duplicates retired or redirected. Updates stopped being a treasure hunt.
Hazel EastwoodCustomer inquiries coordinator, hospitality venue facilities contractorTacoma, Washington Content audit and update process for facility walkthroughs
I appreciated being asked to separate new facility walkthroughs requests from ongoing conversations. The sender picks the route, which means the best-informed person does the sorting. Returning customers no longer repeat the whole form to ask one question.
Rebecca BollingerReception and bookings coordinator, university campus facilities providerWorcester, Massachusetts Inquiry categories and guided navigation for facility walkthroughs
Questions about hiring a freelancer and FacilityWebStudio
Is a freelancer cheaper than a managed website?
The project may cost less up front. The full comparison adds hosting, updates, security, changes billed by the hour and the writing a facilities site needs every month.
What if our freelancer registered our domain?
We help you move it into an account in your own name before launch. On our plans, the domain is always registered to you.
Can our freelancer and your team work together?
Yes. A freelancer can supply photography, branding or a custom asset, and we build it into the managed site.
Who fixes the site if something breaks?
On a managed plan, we do. Hosting, security and uptime are our responsibility for the life of the plan.
How are changes billed?
5 revisions a month are included, of any size, each within 2 to 5 working days. Extra revisions are a flat $20. No hourly billing.
When do we pay for the build?
The $797 build fee is invoiced only after the site is live and approved. You pay the first monthly fee to start.
Do we get the site files if we leave?
You keep your domain and your content. Ask us about the handover of site files when you give notice and we set out what is included.
Is this a comparison with a specific freelancer?
No. It compares the freelance route in general. Freelancers vary widely, and a good one can be the right choice.
This page compares a general category, not a named company. FacilityWebStudio is an independent website service.
Close of file
See a facilities site built for your service lines
A live walk-through, on your screen, from $137 a month plus a $797 build fee invoiced only after launch.