You need a large agency when…
You have a complex project with 20+ people, need 24/7 SLA support, want huge team redundancy, or have strict compliance requirements (banking, pharma, public-sector tenders).
Comparison
Agency, freelancer or us? An honest comparison.
Not every project is for us. Some are better run by large agencies, some by a reliable freelancer. Here is the table you would find in an NDA advisory — without the NDA.
Comparison across 9 dimensions
We took the parameters clients most often weigh during selection. No spin — including areas where we are weaker.
| Dimension | CodeDock | Large agency | Freelancer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who leads the project | A senior architect directly — from the first call to handover. Never an account manager between you and the engineer. | Typically account manager + delivery lead. The real architect is reachable, but through 2–3 layers. | One person = one layer. Direct communication, but no senior backup. |
| Speed of decisions | 48 hours from first call to architecture proposal. No approval loops. | Weeks. Every decision goes through PMO, legal, compliance. Often for a good reason, but slow. | Minutes. One person decides. |
| Architectural design depth | Architecture Decision Records, diagrams and risk analysis before any contract. Architecture-first is a core principle. | High quality, but often a deliverable that comes after signing and invoicing. Very formal, sometimes over-formal. | Usually skipped — "let's start coding and we'll see". Some seniors do it, but rarely. |
| Team size | Senior architect + 1–3 specialists based on need. Never a junior team. | 10+ people on the project: seniors, juniors, QA, BA, PM. Robust, but expensive. | One person. Great for their strengths, a bottleneck for everything else. |
| Technical code ownership | Whoever designed the architecture writes the production code. The architect does not vanish after kickoff. | Architect designs, junior team implements. Frequent drift from the original design. | Full ownership, but no second opinion. |
| Legacy & enterprise domain knowledge | Enterprise integrations, ERP, payment gateways, legacy migrations — our daily work. | Deep knowledge, often with in-house frameworks. Expensive but solid. | Variable. Some yes, most are focused on one technology. |
| Hourly rate range | €100–150/hr. | €150–300/hr, often with fixed project overhead. | €50–120/hr. Lower, but without redundancy. |
| Support after handover | 30 days of free bug-fix. Optional retainer (hours cap). Or nothing, if you do not need it. | Formal SLA contracts, expensive, but 24/7 availability. | Ad-hoc, depends on that person's availability. |
| Visibility into ongoing work | Online client portal: logged time day by day, status of every request, quotes in hours and money to approve before work starts. | Monthly report and status meetings. Hour-level detail often only with the invoice. | E-mail or phone, ad hoc. Time records depend on how the person keeps them. |
Who leads the project
- CodeDock
- A senior architect directly — from the first call to handover. Never an account manager between you and the engineer.
- Large agency
- Typically account manager + delivery lead. The real architect is reachable, but through 2–3 layers.
- Freelancer
- One person = one layer. Direct communication, but no senior backup.
Speed of decisions
- CodeDock
- 48 hours from first call to architecture proposal. No approval loops.
- Large agency
- Weeks. Every decision goes through PMO, legal, compliance. Often for a good reason, but slow.
- Freelancer
- Minutes. One person decides.
Architectural design depth
- CodeDock
- Architecture Decision Records, diagrams and risk analysis before any contract. Architecture-first is a core principle.
- Large agency
- High quality, but often a deliverable that comes after signing and invoicing. Very formal, sometimes over-formal.
- Freelancer
- Usually skipped — "let's start coding and we'll see". Some seniors do it, but rarely.
Team size
- CodeDock
- Senior architect + 1–3 specialists based on need. Never a junior team.
- Large agency
- 10+ people on the project: seniors, juniors, QA, BA, PM. Robust, but expensive.
- Freelancer
- One person. Great for their strengths, a bottleneck for everything else.
Technical code ownership
- CodeDock
- Whoever designed the architecture writes the production code. The architect does not vanish after kickoff.
- Large agency
- Architect designs, junior team implements. Frequent drift from the original design.
- Freelancer
- Full ownership, but no second opinion.
Legacy & enterprise domain knowledge
- CodeDock
- Enterprise integrations, ERP, payment gateways, legacy migrations — our daily work.
- Large agency
- Deep knowledge, often with in-house frameworks. Expensive but solid.
- Freelancer
- Variable. Some yes, most are focused on one technology.
Hourly rate range
- CodeDock
- €100–150/hr.
- Large agency
- €150–300/hr, often with fixed project overhead.
- Freelancer
- €50–120/hr. Lower, but without redundancy.
Support after handover
- CodeDock
- 30 days of free bug-fix. Optional retainer (hours cap). Or nothing, if you do not need it.
- Large agency
- Formal SLA contracts, expensive, but 24/7 availability.
- Freelancer
- Ad-hoc, depends on that person's availability.
Visibility into ongoing work
- CodeDock
- Online client portal: logged time day by day, status of every request, quotes in hours and money to approve before work starts.
- Large agency
- Monthly report and status meetings. Hour-level detail often only with the invoice.
- Freelancer
- E-mail or phone, ad hoc. Time records depend on how the person keeps them.
When to choose which
An honest guide, not a pitch. Where we are not a fit, we send clients elsewhere.
You need a freelancer when…
You have a clearly defined, narrow task (a specific integration, migrating one module, a short consultation). You do not need architectural responsibility or a team — just capable hands.
Let's talk when…
You are building a new SaaS, need an enterprise integration, or are migrating a legacy system to the cloud — and you want the person designing it to also build it.
5–15 person team€20k–200k2–6 months
Where we are weaker
No consultant is good at everything. Here are areas where others will deliver better.
- We do not run a 24/7 support desk. We offer post-handover SLAs, but not at a large-agency level.
- We are not for the first greenfield startup MVP on a €10k budget. At that price point a freelancer will serve you better.
- We do not do narrow product design/UX — we have reliable partners, but it is not our core.
- We do not do isolated DevOps-only consulting without code delivery. We lead end-to-end projects with both infra and application layers. For pure Kubernetes / Terraform consulting, a DevOps specialist is a better fit.
Still not sure?
Free 30 minutes. You describe the problem, you get an honest recommendation — even if it means going elsewhere.Pick a timeDirectly with a senior architect. 30 minutes, free, no commitment.