Baked vs a design agency
Agencies do great work, usually on a project: a scope, a price, a timeline. Baked works month to month instead. Here is how the two compare.
Side by side
BakedA design agency
PricingA flat monthly plan: $8,999 a month for Basic, $12,000 for Pro. YC companies get 10% off ($8,099 or $10,800), and referrals take off another 10% each.Priced per project after scoping, often with a deposit and change requests billed on top.
Getting startedBook a 30-min intro call, join your private Slack channel and drop in your first request as soon as you're in.Proposals, scoping calls and a contract before work begins.
SpeedMost requests are ready to review within a day. Basic gets 2-3 updates a week, Pro gets 3-4 updates a week.Set by the project plan, with set rounds of review.
Changing courseChange priorities any day. Drop the next request in Slack.Changes to scope usually mean a new estimate.
How you work togetherAsync in a private Slack channel. No standing meetings.Status meetings, account managers and scheduled presentations.
CommitmentNo contracts. Pause or cancel any month.A contract for the project, sometimes with a minimum term.
When Baked makes more sense
- Your plans change week to week, as they do at an early-stage startup.
- You want to talk to the people doing the work, in Slack, not through an account manager.
- You need brand, product, site and launch work to keep moving together.
When a design agency makes more sense
- You have one large, fixed-scope project with a set budget and deadline.
- You need a big team on many workstreams at once, with formal project management.
- Your company needs procurement, long contracts or on-site work.
Questions
How is a design subscription different from an agency?
Is the quality the same as an agency?
Senior designers who have worked at Meta, Netflix, HubSpot and Expa, and been founding designers at 25+ startups. Recent work is on the work page, including Inkbox (YC S26), which went from no brand to launch in 12 days.
Do you do fixed-price projects?
Work runs on the monthly plans. Book a 30-min call and we'll tell you honestly what a month can cover.
Who you'd work with
- Nick, founder and creative director17+ years in product and marketing design, including Meta.
- The teamSenior designers who have worked at Meta, Netflix, HubSpot and Expa, and been founding designers at 25+ startups.
- Since 2023Three years in, Baked has grown from one person to a team of 10, worked with 150+ clients, all without a single cold email or DM.
- ClientsWe work with 11 YC companies, 8 from the current S26 batch, including Inkbox, Stoa, tash, OpenTag, Belvedir, Spaceflow, Coach AI and Context Dev. Text.AI, Orchid and Menza are from W26.
Next steps
See if it fits in a 30-min call, or start today on a plan.
Also: Baked vs hiring a full-time designer · Baked vs hiring freelancers