Compare · Ownership
If you cannot leave, you do not own it.
What website ownership actually means, the arrangements that quietly trap businesses, and the four questions worth asking any agency before you sign.
See what we'd doDo I own my website if an agency builds it?
Only if your contract says so. Ownership means three separate things: the domain registered to you, the design and content files in your possession, and the ability to move hosting without permission. Plenty of agreements grant one or two and quietly withhold the third, which is enough to keep you.
The three things that have to be yours
People assume ownership is one thing. It is three, and an arrangement can fail on any one of them while sounding generous on the other two.
- The domain, registered in your name with you as the admin contact. This is the one that hurts most to lose
- The files, meaning the design source and the content, in a form someone else could pick up
- The hosting, or at least the freedom to move it without needing permission
The arrangements that quietly trap people
None of these are necessarily scams, and some are offered in good faith. They become traps at the moment you want to leave, which is exactly when you have the least leverage.
- A proprietary platform you cannot export from, so the site cannot exist anywhere else
- The domain registered to the agency, sometimes as a convenience that nobody revisits
- "We host it for you" with no stated way to move, which is fine until it is not
- Design files never handed over, so a rebuild means starting from a screenshot
- A cancellation clause that takes the site down, which is a rental described as a purchase
Where the trade-off is real
To be fair to the model: a proprietary platform can be genuinely good value if you never leave. Maintenance is somebody else's problem and the monthly cost is often lower. The risk is not that it is bad, it is that the cost of the arrangement is invisible right up until the day you want out. Go in with that priced, not discovered.
How we do it
You own the site, the domain and the files from day one, on both plans, and that stays true if you stop working with us. On the upfront plan there is no commitment at all. We say this on the pricing page and in the contract, which is the only place it counts.
Not sure what you own right now?
Send us your current setup and we will tell you plainly what you control and what you do not.
Book site reviewOwnership questions.
What happens to my site if I stop paying?+
With us, you keep it. The site, domain and files are yours and stay yours. Ask any agency this question directly, because the answer varies enormously and it is the one that matters most.
Should the domain be registered to me?+
Yes, always, with you as the registrant and admin contact. An agency can have access to manage it. Recovering a domain registered to someone else ranges from slow to impossible.
What if the site is built on a platform I cannot export?+
Then you own the content but not the build, and a move means a rebuild. That can still be an acceptable deal, but you should know you are making it before you sign rather than two years later.
What should I ask before signing?+
Four questions. Who is the domain registrant? Do I receive the design and content files? Can I move hosting without permission? What happens to the site if I cancel? Hesitation on any of them tells you more than the answer.