How to choose a web studio or IT contractor without making a mistake
Portfolio, contract, payment by milestones and rights to the result — a checklist that will help you choose a reliable contractor for a website, an app or automation.
Choosing the contractor is half the success of a project. A good team will warn you about risks and meet deadlines; a poor choice leads to missed deadlines and rework. Here is what to check before paying.
Studio, freelancer or IT company
A freelancer is cheaper and more flexible and suits small tasks: a landing page, edits, configuration. The risk is that one person may fall ill or disappear.
A web studio is a team of a designer, a developer and a manager. It suits websites and online stores and usually works under a contract.
An IT company or integrator handles complex systems, CRMs, integrations, apps and support. It costs more but takes responsibility for the result and ongoing maintenance.
What to check about a contractor
- Portfolio. Live projects similar to yours. Open the websites from the portfolio: do they work, do they load quickly, are they convenient on a phone?
- Reviews. Ask for the contacts of 1–2 clients and call them. Reviews based on completed deals are worth more than reviews "from the website".
- Legal status. An LLC or sole proprietor, ready to sign a contract and issue an invoice.
- Understanding of the task. A good contractor asks questions about your business instead of simply naming a price.
- Communication. How quickly they reply, who your contact person will be and how often you will get reports.
What the contract should include
- The scope of work and the result of each milestone.
- Deadlines for each milestone.
- The price and payment terms.
- The number of revisions.
- Transfer of rights to the design and code, and of access to the website, domain and hosting — to your company.
- The warranty period and the cost of support after launch.
Payment by milestones
Don't pay 100% upfront. The usual scheme is an advance for the first milestone, then payment for each next milestone after acceptance. For example:
| Milestone | Result | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Analysis and prototype | Page structure | 20–30% |
| 2. Design | Page mockups | 20–30% |
| 3. Development | A working website on a test address | 30–40% |
| 4. Launch | The website on your domain, access handed over | the rest |
Warning signs
- A price far below the market with no explanation of what is included.
- Refusal to sign a contract, or "let's agree verbally".
- A demand for 100% prepayment.
- An offer to register the domain and hosting "in our name, it's more convenient".
- Not a single project you can open and check.
- A promise of "first place in Google within a week".
Questions to ask before work starts
- Who exactly will work on the project?
- How many revisions are included in the price?
- What happens if deadlines are missed?
- How much does support after launch cost?
- Who will own the rights and access?
How to choose a contractor on GHOST.TJ
Only companies and sole proprietors that have passed document verification are listed on the platform. Each has a profile with a portfolio, services and reviews — and a review can only be left after a completed contract. Work can be organized by milestones: the contractor delivers a milestone, you accept it in your dashboard, and then an invoice is issued. The contract, invoices and act of acceptance are generated automatically.