I have an obvious interest in this question, so take the following with that in mind. I have tried to write the version I would want to read if I were the one hiring.
Where an agency wins
If the project needs several specialists at once, if it has to survive somebody leaving, or if your procurement process needs a company with insurance and a contract department, an agency is the right answer and a freelancer is a risk you do not need to take. Continuity is a real product and agencies genuinely sell it.
Where one person wins
If the work fits in one head, having it in one head is a significant advantage. Nothing is lost in handover, decisions happen in the moment rather than in a meeting, and the person who understood the problem is the person solving it. You also stop paying for the layer whose job is co-ordinating other people.
- Ask who is actually writing it, and whether you will ever speak to them
- Ask what happens if that person is ill for a fortnight
- Ask for the source, and check the answer is yes without conditions
The unglamorous middle
Plenty of work sits between the two, and the answer there is often a freelancer working alongside your existing team or agency. I am happy to work that way, either alongside your own team or white-labelled behind an agency. It is not a compromise so much as the arrangement that matches how the work is actually shaped.
Written by Denney, a freelance developer based between Richmond and Kingston. If any of this applies to something you are planning, available for new projects.
