Django web development shops come in three tiers: freelancers, agencies, and enterprise consultancies. The right answer is to hire a shop when the timeline is short, the scope is clear, and the team is small. Build in-house when the product is core to the business and will be maintained for years. The team that picks the right model for the situation has the right answer.
Table of contents
- The three tiers of Django shops
- The right time to hire a shop
- The right time to build in-house
- The right way to evaluate a Django shop
- The right way to engage a Django shop
- FAQ
The three tiers of Django shops
Freelancers: individuals or small teams, $50-150/hour, best for small projects under 3 months. Agencies: 5-50 person teams, $100-250/hour, best for medium projects 3-12 months. Enterprise consultancies: 50+ person teams, $200-500/hour, best for large projects 12+ months and ongoing support.
The right time to hire a shop
The right answer is to hire a Django shop when: the timeline is short (less than 6 months), the scope is well-defined, the team does not have Django expertise, or the project is a one-off that will not be maintained for years. The wrong answer is to hire a shop for the core product of the business — the right answer is to build that in-house.
The right time to build in-house
The right answer is to build in-house when: the product is core to the business, the codebase will be maintained for years, the team has or can hire Django expertise, and the long-term cost of ownership is lower than the cost of continuous contracting. The wrong answer is to build in-house for a one-off marketing site that will be replaced in a year.
The right way to evaluate a Django shop
The right answer is to look at: their GitHub or portfolio, the projects they have shipped, the references from past clients, the team’s Django experience (years, projects, specific packages), and the proposal’s technical depth. The wrong answer is to pick the cheapest.
The right way to engage a Django shop
The right answer is a small pilot project first, then a longer engagement if the pilot is successful. The wrong answer is to sign a 12-month contract without a pilot.
FAQ
What does a Django shop cost?
Freelancers: $50-150/hour. Agencies: $100-250/hour. Enterprise: $200-500/hour.
What is the right Django shop for a startup?
A freelancer or small agency. The right answer is to start small and scale up as the product grows.
What is the right Django shop for an enterprise?
An enterprise consultancy with a track record of large projects.
How do I find a good Django shop?
The right answer is through Django community channels (DjangoCon, the Django forum, the Django subreddit), through referrals, or through a quick search for past Django projects on GitHub.
What is the right way to contract a Django shop?
A small pilot first, with a clear scope, deliverables, and timeline. The right answer is to keep the pilot under 2 weeks.
What is the difference between an agency and a consultancy?
Agencies typically build products. Consultancies typically advise and augment in-house teams. The right answer is to pick the model that matches your need.
If you are sizing the infrastructure for the kind of project this post covers, the RunxBuild hosting calculator is the right place to model the line items. The compute, the memory, the storage, the bandwidth, the database - each one is a separate number, and the team’s mental model for the platform is the sum of those numbers. The RunxBuild dashboard is where the team sees the actual usage in one place.
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