The Cost of Working with a UI UX Design Agency

It takes anywhere between 90 to 270 hours for a UI/UX design agency to plan, design, and refine an app’s user experience (UX). The cost of this can range from $5.4k to $16.2k, depending on how complex the task is.

Designing the app’s user interface (UI) can take the agency anywhere between 40 to 400 hours. This can cost anywhere between $2.4k to $24k, depending on the project’s complexity and the number of screens and functionalities your app has.

But, if you are aware of how UI/UX design projects work, you know that it is a continuous process. That means you have to maintain your engagement with the UI/UX design agency for a long time after your project is launched.

Maintenance, design revisions, updates, and other ongoing costs add anywhere between $5k to $20k per year to your annual budget. Here is your overall cost of working with a UI/UX design agency in 2025:

Are these costs worth it? It would be good to break down the work that UI/UX design agencies do and the value they bring to answer that question with certainty.

The Costs Involved in Working With a UI/UX Design Agency

Let us go through the process of working with a UI/UX design agency, step by step:

1. Initial Contact

Inquiry: You reach out to the agency via email, phone, or their website

Response: The agency acknowledges your inquiry and may ask preliminary questions to understand your needs. This helps them gauge the scope of your project and prepare for a more detailed discussion.

Cost Range: Typically free

This step involves preliminary discussions and does not require any significant resources or time commitments from the agency.

2. Discovery Call

Purpose: A brief conversation to clarify your project goals, timeline, and budget

Discussion Points

• Overview of your business and target audience
• Specific problems you want to solve
• Current design challenges or existing products

Outcome: The agency provides an overview of their services and how they can assist you, setting the stage for deeper exploration in subsequent meetings.

Cost Range: 0 to $100+

Reasons: A smaller agency may not charge anything for this step. But, a larger, more experienced UI/UX design agency might charge upwards of $100 for the time spent by their personnel to understand your needs and provide insights.

3. First Meeting

Agenda: A more in-depth discussion about your project

Activities

• Presenting your ideas and expectations
• Discussing the agency’s design process and methodologies
• Exploring potential design solutions and strategies

Outcome

• Establishing mutual understanding and alignment on project goals
• Ensuring everyone is on the same page before moving forward

Cost Range: $200 to $1k

This meeting requires more in-depth preparation and discussion. The cost varies based on the number of team members involved and their hourly rates. More complex projects may necessitate additional research or more senior personnel.

4. Proposal and Agreement

Proposal Preparation

The agency drafts a proposal outlining:

• Scope of work based on insights from previous discussions
• Timeline for each phase of the project
• Pricing structure that reflects the complexity of the work involved

Review: You review the proposal, ask questions, and negotiate terms if necessary to ensure it meets your expectations

Agreement: Both parties sign a contract to formalize the partnership; you both agree on a clear framework for collaboration

Cost Range: $300 to $1.5k

Preparing a detailed proposal involves time for research, drafting, and revisions. The complexity of the project and the level of detail in the proposal influence the total costs of this step.

5. Discovery Phase

Research

The agency conducts market research, user interviews, and competitor analysis. It gathers insights about user needs and pain points. This phase is crucial for defining problems accurately.

Workshops

These are collaborative sessions involving brainstorming and defining user personas based on research findings. The agency visualizes target users’ characteristics and behaviors.

Deliverables

A project brief, user personas, and use case scenarios are created. Initial ideas for the design that guide future phases are finalized in this stage.

Cost Range: $5k to $15k

Costs for this phase are driven by the need for specialized skills, tools for user research (surveys, interview setups), and the duration of the phase.’

The amount of time + money it takes to conduct market research, user interviews, and workshops varies based on the project scope.

6. UX Design Phase

Wireframing

• Developing low-fidelity wireframes that outline the basic structure of the product (without getting into details)
• These wireframes serve as visual guides for layout and functionality

Prototyping

• Creating interactive prototypes to visualize user flows and interactions
• This step allows your team to experience how users will navigate through your product

User Testing

The agency gathers feedback from users to refine the designs based on their experiences during testing sessions.

Iteration

The agency addresses identified issues and makes adjustments based on feedback and testing results.

Cost Range: $5k to $25k

The costs for this phase depend on the complexity of the design, the number of iterations required, and how many high-fidelity prototypes are created. More complex projects with several features may incur higher costs than $25k.

7. UI Design

Visual Design

Once UX is established, designers focus on creating high-fidelity design prototypes. The high-fidelity prototypes feature colors, typography, imagery, and other visual elements.

Collaboration with Developers

Designers from the agency work alongside your developers to ensure that their visuals align with your product’s technical capabilities.

Design Handoff

The agency prepares design specifications and assets for your developers with tools like Figma. By the end of this stage, your developers have everything they need to implement the design.

Cost Range: $5k to $15k

Producing high-fidelity designs involves significant design work and attention to detail. The range reflects the number of UI design assets your product requires.

8. Development Support

The agency works closely with your developers to ensure the accurate implementation of the designs. They address all technical issues that arise during development and make design adjustments based on real-time feedback.

Cost Range: $1k to $5k

If extensive UI/UX design changes are needed during development, it can lead to additional costs.

9. Launch

The agency conducts final checks and adjustments before you go live with the product.

Cost Range: $1k to $5k

If your team needs multiple adjustments or technical support on launch day, you may have to pay the agency extra fees. But usually, all the steps taken before prevent such costs from arising. You may not have to spend anything in this phase.

10. Post-Launch Review + Maintenance

After the launch, the agency analyzes user engagement and performance metrics. It collects user feedback based on real-world usage. The agency then plans for updates and enhancements based on user needs.

Continued support for updates is offered and the agency troubleshoots any UI/UX issues that arise over time.

Cost Range: $5k to $20k per year

Your UI/UX maintenance costs vary based on the frequency of design updates your product needs.

Are These Costs Worth It?

Are the costs of working with a UI/UX design agency ($12.8k to $60.2k and more) worth it? We are going to argue yes, because:

Risk Management

Working with a UI/UX design agency from the start eliminates the risk of your product facing expensive usability issues later down the line. Fixing such issues after your product’s release can cost 4–5 times more than what you pay an agency to get things right.

Your brand also faces reputational losses if you launch a substandard product with poor design.

Attract Premium Users

The average user does not pay premium prices for a poorly designed product. Your chances of attracting paying customers increase significantly if your product’s design is optimized to deliver world-class experiences by a top UI/UX design agency.

UI/UX Design Expertise

The level of expertise a UI/UX design agency brings to the table is itself worth its weight in gold.

Be it meeting Google’s Page Experience expectations or creating personalized onboarding experiences to suit your user base’s needs — a top agency does everything in its power to give your product a major edge in the market.

No Design Hassles

Which is cheaper — hiring a UI/UX design agency or building your own team?

Hiring a UI/UX design agency is much cheaper than building your own team where you’ll have to pay each member $129k per annum.

The agency handles everything related to your product’s UI and UX. Your internal team does not have to face any design-related hassles.

Outsourcing Makes It Cheaper

Do not wish to spend around $60k hiring a UI/UX design agency in the US? Outsourcing this work to Eastern Europe or Asia slashes these costs in half.

Conclusion

If you are spending upwards of $150k on developing a digital product, spending less than half of that (even less if you outsource) on a top-class UI & UX design agency is worth the money. A top agency gives your product the UX edge it needs to resonate with your users and build a loyal user base.