--- title: "White-label web development: models, prices, contracts" description: "Per-project, hourly and capacity models, published prices from seven white-label providers, and the NDA, non-solicit, IP and QA terms agencies need." url: "https://dardo.studio/en/blog/white-label-web-development-guide/" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-17T23:34:57.245Z" --- [Blog](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/) # White-label web development: how agency partnerships work, what they cost and how to contract How white-label web development works for agencies: pricing models, published prices from seven providers, who talks to the client and the clauses to insist on. By [Nicolás Cerón](https://dardo.studio/en/nicolas-ceron/) ·October 17, 2026 ![Backstage of an old theatre at night, with ropes, set pieces and amber work lamps around a single closed crimson curtain.](https://dardo.studio/_astro/01M563FGHK4SPPE0N5VTG917XX_SQw5u.webp) ## Key takeaways - White-label partners sell development per project, by the hour or as monthly capacity, plus per-site maintenance plans; the unit of sale decides who carries the cost of idle time and overruns. - Published prices read on 17 October 2026 include USD 199 for a wholesale 15-page custom site at AgencyPlatform and an effective USD 94–141 an hour at Codeable once its 17.5% fee is added. - Monthly capacity plans work out to roughly USD 15–36 an hour, but fewer hours a day means a longer calendar: a 120-hour build takes about a month at 5–6 hours a day and three months at 2. - A website rarely qualifies as a US work made for hire, so ownership has to pass by signed assignment from the partner's people to the partner, to your agency and on to your client. - When the partner is an individual, the Defend Trade Secrets Act's whistleblower-immunity notice belongs in the NDA; without it, you can't recover exemplary damages or attorney fees under the Act. ## The short answer White-label web development means a partner builds the websites your agency sells, under your agency's name: you keep the client, the contract and the invoice, and the partner stays out of sight. Partners sell it three ways: per project, by the hour or by a monthly block of capacity, plus per-site plans for maintenance after launch. Published prices we read on 17 October 2026 run from USD 59 for an AI-assisted five-page site and USD 199 for a custom 15-page one to USD 80–120 an hour plus a 17.5% fee on a vetted marketplace, and from about USD 15 to USD 36 an hour once monthly capacity plans are divided by the hours they include. Price is the easy part to compare. What protects your agency is the contract: a copyright assignment that can flow on to your client, a non-solicitation clause that covers accepting work as well as asking for it, accounts held in your name or your client's, and written QA and handover standards. ## How white-label development works The agency sells, scopes and manages the client; the partner designs or builds, tests and hands over; the client sees only the agency. Within that, the commercial model decides how risk is shared. | Model | How it's priced | Fits | Watch for | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | Per project | A fixed quote for a written scope | Occasional overflow, or a build type you don't offer | Scope gaps that turn into change orders | | Hours or retainer | Prepaid blocks of hours, or a monthly allotment of hours per day | A steady stream of small builds, edits and fixes | Unused hours, queues at busy times, unclear seniority | | Dedicated capacity | A named developer or team for a monthly fee | A predictable pipeline of builds | Utilization: you pay whether or not you sold the work | | Per-site maintenance | A monthly fee per site | Care plans you resell after launch | What counts as an "edit", and who answers the client | Many agencies combine them: per-project builds for new sites, then a per-site plan once each one launches. ## Published prices from white-label providers These are prices that providers publish on their own sites for agency or white-label work, read on 17 October 2026. Few providers publish anything; most quote after a call. The table isn't a ranking, and the units differ, so read the last column before comparing numbers. | Provider | Model | Published price | What it buys | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [AgencyPlatform](https://www.agencyplatform.com/white-label-web-design/) | Per project, wholesale | USD 59 (AI-assisted site, up to 5 pages), USD 99 (up to 10), USD 199 (custom site, up to 15 pages), USD 499 (ecommerce, up to 50 products) | One-time builds on WordPress, Shopify, Webflow and others; prices at its Gold membership rate | | [Codeable](https://www.codeable.io/pricing/) | Hourly marketplace | USD 80–120 an hour estimate, plus a 17.5% service fee | Vetted WordPress freelancers, paid through escrow | | [UnlimitedWP](https://www.unlimitedwp.com/) | Monthly hours | USD 747 (1–2 hours a day), USD 1,497 (2–3), USD 2,997 (5–6); or 40 hours for USD 1,200 | White-label WordPress development for agencies | | [Delesign](https://www.delesign.com/pricing/developer) | Monthly hours | USD 649 a month | A web developer with 2 hours of development a day | | [Penji](https://www.penji.co/pricing/) | Monthly subscription | USD 1,995 a month (Agency Partner); USD 4,500 (Dedicated Team) | Agency Partner covers web and landing page design on a white-label platform; front-end development starts at Dedicated Team | | [WP Buffs](https://wpbuffs.com/plans/white-label/) | Per-site maintenance | USD 89–359 per site a month, 20% off for partners with 2 or more sites | Updates, monitoring, edits and support under your brand | | [GoWP](https://www.gowp.com/pricing/) | Per-site maintenance | USD 39 or 99 per site a month, plus USD 49 a month per agency for white label | Maintenance and small edits; your domain and support identity on client-facing parts | Two things stand out. AgencyPlatform's custom 15-page site for USD 199, delivered within three business weeks with up to two design revisions, is priced for volume: its entry plan is pitched "for the plumber, salon or café". And maintenance is where publishing a per-site price is most common among the providers we read; it's repeatable work. ### What the capacity plans cost per hour Monthly plans sell hours per working day, so the hourly cost depends on the month. Assuming 21 working days: - UnlimitedWP Starter: USD 747 for 21 to 42 hours, about USD 18 to 36 an hour. Pro: USD 1,497 for 42 to 63 hours, about USD 24 to 36. Business: USD 2,997 for 105 to 126 hours, about USD 24 to 29. Its hour buckets work out to USD 30 an hour. - Delesign: USD 649 for 42 hours, about USD 15 an hour. - Codeable: USD 80 to 120 an hour plus 17.5% is USD 94 to 141 an hour. Take a build your team estimates at 120 hours. On Codeable it costs about USD 11,280 to 16,920 and starts when you hire the expert. On UnlimitedWP's Business plan, at 5 to 6 hours a day, it fits in roughly one month for USD 2,997. On Delesign's 2 hours a day it takes about 60 working days, three months, for about USD 1,947. The cheapest hour is also the slowest calendar, and none of these prices tells you the seniority of the person doing the work, how much QA is included or what happens when the estimate is wrong. Ask each finalist to quote the same written scope; our [website brief builder](https://dardo.studio/en/tools/website-rfp-template/) produces one. Dardo doesn't publish a white-label rate: each project gets a written quote with its scope and exclusions, so you can add your margin. Our other published starting prices are on the [pricing page](https://dardo.studio/en/pricing/). ## Who talks to the client Decide this per project and write it into the statement of work, because it changes how much the partner can see, say and promise. | Setup | What the client sees | Works well for | Risk | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Behind the scenes | Only your team; every message goes through your project lead | Builds from your approved designs | Your lead becomes a relay and a bottleneck | | Partner as "your team" | Partner staff on calls and email under your agency's name | Projects with frequent technical questions | The client builds a relationship with people you don't employ | | Support under your brand | A help desk, reports and emails with your branding | Maintenance and care plans | The partner answers your client directly, so tone and response times are its, not yours | Providers that publish their approach describe the third setup in detail. WP Buffs connects one of your agency's email addresses to its help desk and sends weekly reports under your brand. GoWP's white-label add-on puts your branding, domain, sending address and support identity on the client-facing experience. AgencyPlatform says it never contacts your clients directly. Whichever setup you choose, the partner should never quote, invoice or pitch your client. ## NDAs, non-solicitation, IP and invoicing ### NDA Sign a mutual NDA before you share client files: what's confidential, how long the duty lasts, and that client data is returned or deleted at the end. If the partner is an individual freelancer rather than a company, add one clause most templates miss. The [Defend Trade Secrets Act](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1833) requires a notice of whistleblower immunity in any contract with an "employee" that governs trade secrets or confidential information, and it defines employee to include individual contractors and consultants. Without the notice, you can't recover exemplary damages or attorney fees under the Act from that person. ### Non-solicitation Write it in both directions. The partner agrees not to solicit or accept work from the clients you introduce, for a stated period after the last project; your agency agrees not to hire the partner's staff, or to pay a placement fee if it does. "Or accept" matters: a client who finds the partner on their own and asks for a quote isn't being solicited, and a clause that only bans soliciting may not cover it. How far courts enforce these clauses depends on the state and on how narrow the clause is, so have counsel set the scope and duration. ### IP: a chain from the partner's people to your client Your client expects to own the site, so ownership has to pass through every link: from the people who write the code to the partner, from the partner to your agency, and from your agency to the client. Each link needs its own writing. The US Copyright Office's [Circular 30](https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ30.pdf) explains that a commissioned work is a work made for hire only if it falls into one of nine categories and both parties sign a written agreement saying so, and a website rarely fits. A transfer of copyright is valid only in a writing signed by the owner, under [section 204 of the Copyright Act](https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap2.html). The partner agreement should: - Assign the copyright in code, design files and documentation to your agency, with the right to assign it on to your client - Confirm that everyone who works on the project, subcontractors included, has assigned their rights to the partner - License, not assign, the partner's own pre-existing tools and code snippets, with a perpetual license your client can rely on - List what stays under third-party licenses: open-source libraries, fonts, plugins, stock images - Say when ownership passes, commonly on payment of each stage, and mirror that in your client contract If the partner is abroad, the assignment also has to work under its country's law; our guide to [nearshore web development in Latin America](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/nearshore-web-development-latin-america/) covers the local defaults. ### Invoicing The partner invoices your agency; your agency invoices the client. WP Buffs states the principle plainly: your clients pay you, you pay the partner, and payment stays separate to keep the white label intact. Set stages you can mirror in your own billing, the currency, and what happens if your client pays late. If you want the partner paid only when you're paid, say so in the contract and expect a higher price for carrying that risk. This section is general information, not legal advice; have a lawyer review both the partner agreement and your client contract together. ## QA and handover standards to write into the contract "Pixel-perfect" isn't a standard. Write down what will be checked, against what, and who signs it off. | Area | Standard to write | How to check it | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | Design fidelity | Matches the approved Figma frames at agreed breakpoints, including hover, focus, error and empty states | Side-by-side review on staging | | Browsers and devices | Named browsers and versions, and real devices for mobile | A test matrix filled in by the partner | | Accessibility | WCAG 2.2 Level AA for the templates built, including 24 by 24 CSS pixel targets (2.5.8) and focus never fully hidden by sticky headers or banners (2.4.11) | An automated scan plus a manual keyboard and screen reader pass | | Performance | Lab budgets before launch; field Core Web Vitals after: LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP of 200 milliseconds or less, CLS of 0.1 or less at the 75th percentile | Lighthouse on staging; field data once traffic arrives | | Search basics | Titles, descriptions, canonicals, redirects, sitemap and structured data | A crawl of staging and the redirect map | | Forms and tracking | Every form reaches its inbox or CRM; analytics events fire | Test submissions and a debug view | | White label | No partner names in footers, meta tags, code comments, package names or commit authors | Search the repository and page source | | Handover | Documentation, an account and license inventory, and editor training under your brand | A handover checklist signed by your lead | Automated accessibility checks are only a start: the W3C says evaluation tools [can't determine accessibility](https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/tools/selecting/), only assist. The criteria are in [WCAG 2.2](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/), and the Core Web Vitals thresholds come from [web.dev](https://web.dev/articles/vitals). Add an acceptance window, such as five working days to report defects, and a warranty period in which the partner fixes defects at no charge. ## Tools and access: accounts stay in your name or your client's The partner should work inside your accounts, never the other way round. If the partner holds the hosting, repository or domain, ending the relationship becomes a negotiation. - **Code**: keep repositories in your agency's or your client's GitHub organization and add the partner as [outside collaborators](https://docs.github.com/en/organizations/managing-user-access-to-your-organizations-repositories/managing-outside-collaborators/adding-outside-collaborators-to-repositories-in-your-organization) with access to the repositories they need, not the whole organization. - **Webflow**: Workspace plans let you [add agency and freelancer guests](https://webflow.com/pricing) without using paid seats, and an agency Workspace can join a client's Workspace as a guest, so the site can live with the client from day one. - **Figma**: on a paid plan, [every member or guest has a seat](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039960434-Manage-seats-in-Figma), and the seat type decides whether the partner can use Dev Mode. Budget it in the team that owns the files. - **Chat**: in [Slack Connect](https://slack.com/help/articles/115004151203-Slack-Connect-guide--Work-with-external-organizations), each organization owns its channels and chooses what profile details the others see. If your client mustn't know about the partner, keep the partner out of channels shared with the client. - **Hosting, DNS and domains**: in the client's name, with the partner on its own login and the lowest role that does the job. Remove access at handover, or keep it under a maintenance agreement. ## Risks and how to contract for them | Risk | What it looks like | Clause or control | | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Capacity disappears | The partner takes a bigger client, or a key developer leaves | Named people, notice period, code in your repository from day one, transition help at agreed rates | | Quality slips | Builds arrive untested or off-design | Written acceptance criteria, a QA report with each delivery, fixes at the partner's cost during the warranty | | Client poaching | Your client hires the partner directly | Mutual non-solicitation covering "solicit or accept" | | Hidden subcontracting | Work passed to people you never vetted | Subcontractors only with your written approval, bound by the same terms | | Data exposure | Client data in personal accounts or shared passwords | Individual logins, least-privilege access, deletion at the end | | Scope creep | Small requests that add up | A change-order process: estimate first, work after approval | | Your brand leaks | The partner's name in code, emails or its portfolio | No credits anywhere; portfolio use only with your written consent | | Liability mismatch | Your client contract promises more than the partner's does | Flow the key client terms down: deadlines, confidentiality, warranties, insurance | ## A checklist for choosing a white-label partner 1. They ask about your client's goals and constraints before quoting, and quote a written scope with assumptions and exclusions. 2. They name the people who will do the work, and you've spoken to the lead. 3. They'll sign your NDA and a mutual non-solicitation clause before seeing client files. 4. The contract assigns copyright to your agency with the right to pass it on, covering subcontractors. 5. They work in your accounts and repositories, under identities you assign. 6. They show a sample QA report and handover pack from a past project, with client details removed. 7. They state turnaround and response times, and their working hours in your time zone. 8. They explain how they handle a change request from your client. 9. They can show live builds you can test, even if white-label work stays under NDA. 10. A paid pilot, such as one template, is on offer before a larger commitment. ## Next steps Send two or three partners the same brief, ask each for a fixed quote and a sample QA report, and compare them against the checklist above. If you're weighing a freelancer against a studio for the partner role, our guide to [freelancers versus agencies](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/web-design-freelancer-vs-agency/) covers who carries which risk. Dardo is one option: a team of three in Bogotá that builds for agencies through [white-label web development](https://dardo.studio/en/services/white-label-web-development/), to the same standards as our [web development](https://dardo.studio/en/services/web-development/) service. ## Common questions **What is white-label web development?** It's an arrangement in which a partner designs or builds websites that your agency sells under its own name. Your agency keeps the client relationship, the contract and the invoice, and the partner's name appears nowhere in the work. The partner is usually invisible to the client, or appears as part of your team under your agency's name. **How much does white-label web development cost?** It depends on the model. Among providers that publish prices, wholesale builds start at USD 59 to 199 for small sites, a vetted WordPress marketplace charges USD 80 to 120 an hour plus a 17.5% fee, monthly plans run from about USD 650 to 4,500 a month, and white-label maintenance costs USD 39 to 359 per site a month. Compare quotes for the same written scope, because the units differ. **Will my client know that a partner built their site?** Not if the contract and the setup prevent it. Agree that the partner never contacts, quotes or invoices your client, that no credits appear in code, metadata or footers, that commits use identities you assign, and that the work stays out of the partner's portfolio without your written consent. What to tell a client who asks is your decision. **Who owns the code in a white-label project?** Whoever the contracts say, which is why both contracts matter. Under US law a commissioned website rarely qualifies as a work made for hire, so the partner should assign the copyright to your agency in a signed writing, with the right to pass it to your client, and confirm that its own staff and subcontractors have assigned their rights to it. Third-party fonts, plugins and open-source code stay under their own licenses. **What should a white-label agreement include?** A written scope with acceptance criteria, a mutual NDA, a mutual non-solicitation clause that covers accepting work as well as soliciting it, a copyright assignment that can flow to your client, a list of what stays licensed, rules on subcontractors, QA and handover standards, a change-order process, payment stages and currency, and what happens if either side ends the relationship. Have a lawyer review it alongside your client contract. **Is white-label development the same as outsourcing?** It's a kind of outsourcing with one difference: the work is delivered under your agency's brand, and the partner agrees to stay invisible to your client. Ordinary subcontracting may be disclosed to the client, and the subcontractor may appear in the project or its portfolio. White-label agreements add the confidentiality, non-solicitation and no-credit terms that keep the client relationship yours. ## Sources & further reading Sources behind this page, with further detail from the original publishers. - [AgencyPlatform: White label web design and development for agencies](https://www.agencyplatform.com/white-label-web-design/) · agencyplatform.com - [Codeable: Pricing](https://www.codeable.io/pricing/) · codeable.io - [UnlimitedWP: White label WordPress development plans](https://www.unlimitedwp.com/) · unlimitedwp.com - [Delesign: Dedicated web developer subscription](https://www.delesign.com/pricing/developer) · delesign.com - [Penji: Pricing](https://www.penji.co/pricing/) · penji.co - [WP Buffs: White-label partner program plans](https://wpbuffs.com/plans/white-label/) · wpbuffs.com - [GoWP: Pricing](https://www.gowp.com/pricing/) · gowp.com - [Cornell Law School LII: 18 U.S. Code 1833, exceptions and whistleblower immunity notice](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1833) · law.cornell.edu - [US Copyright Office: Circular 30, Works Made for Hire](https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ30.pdf) · copyright.gov - [US Copyright Office: Copyright Act, chapter 2 (section 204)](https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap2.html) · copyright.gov - [W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/) · w3.org - [W3C WAI: Selecting Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools](https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/tools/selecting/) · w3.org - [web.dev: Web Vitals](https://web.dev/articles/vitals) · web.dev - [GitHub Docs: Adding outside collaborators to repositories in your organization](https://docs.github.com/en/organizations/managing-user-access-to-your-organizations-repositories/managing-outside-collaborators/adding-outside-collaborators-to-repositories-in-your-organization) · docs.github.com - [Webflow: Pricing, Workspace plans](https://webflow.com/pricing) · webflow.com - [Figma Help Center: Compare and manage seats in Figma](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039960434-Manage-seats-in-Figma) · help.figma.com - [Slack Help Center: Slack Connect guide, work with external organizations](https://slack.com/help/articles/115004151203-Slack-Connect-guide--Work-with-external-organizations) · slack.com [Nicolás Cerón](https://dardo.studio/en/nicolas-ceron/) Nicolás Cerón is the founder of Dardo, a brand, web design and development studio in Bogotá, Colombia. ## Related articles - [**Nearshore web development in Latin America: 7 countries compared for US companies**Time zones, English scores, developer counts, holidays, payments and IP rules for Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile and Uruguay.](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/nearshore-web-development-latin-america/) - [**Web design agency vs freelancer: who to hire for your website, and who carries which risk**Freelancer, small studio, large agency or in-house: who carries which risk, which projects fit each, how to vet them and the contract terms to insist on.](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/web-design-freelancer-vs-agency/) - [**How to hire web developers and designers in Colombia: vetting, contracts and payments for US companies**How a US company vets, contracts and pays a web team in Colombia: business checks, IP clauses that hold under both countries' laws, W-8 forms and red flags.](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/hire-design-team-colombia/) - [**Core Web Vitals in Latin America: how many sites pass in each country, and why mobile fails (2026 data)**In September 2026, a third of sites passed Core Web Vitals for mobile visitors in Colombia and Brazil, against 63% in the US. Data by country and what to do.](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/core-web-vitals-latin-america/) ## Keep exploring. - [Service · **White-label web design and development for agencies**](https://dardo.studio/en/services/white-label-web-development/) - [Your project · **Start a conversation**](https://dardo.studio/en/contact/)