Industry · with editor
Machine shop website
Company site with the editor, reusable page templates and an enquiry form that accepts technical drawing uploads.
Web development for designers · Schwerte, Germany
Your design, built as a website your client owns outright.
I turn finished Figma, XD and Sketch designs into custom website code. No WordPress, no page builder, no plugins, no subscription. The client receives the source code and can take it to any host or developer.
01The comparison
What a website keeps costing after it goes live.
A side-by-side you can forward to your client. A typical theme-and-page-builder site is quick to start, then carries recurring licences and upkeep. An owned build is paid for once. Amounts are left as placeholders on purpose — fill in your real quotes.
Table 1
Cost items
| Item | Typical builder site | Owned build |
|---|---|---|
| Initial builddesign to working site | [setup price …] | [price from …] |
| Premium theme licence | [€ … / year] | Not needed |
| Page builder licence | [€ … / year] | Not needed |
| Plugin renewalsforms, SEO, backups, security | [€ … / year] | No plugins |
| Core, theme and plugin updates | [… hours / month], ongoing, with the risk that an update breaks the layout | No plugin stack to keep patched |
| Editing content | WordPress admin, shaped by the theme and builder | Optional editor — visual blocks, no monthly fee |
| Hosting | [€ … / year] | [€ … / year] or the client’s own hosting |
| “The theme can’t do that” | Workaround, extra plugin or rebuild | The code is changed directly |
Table 2
Year by year
| Year | What is paid | Typical builder site | Owned build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 0launch | Build | [€ …] | [€ …] |
| Year 1 | Licences, renewals, updates · hosting | [€ …] | [hosting only] |
| Year 2 | Licences, renewals, updates · hosting | [€ …] | [hosting only] |
| Year 3 | Often: theme no longer maintained, partial rebuild | [€ … + rebuild?] | [hosting only] |
| Year 4 | Licences, renewals, updates · hosting | [€ …] | [hosting only] |
| Year 5 | Licences, renewals, updates · hosting | [€ …] | [hosting only] |
| Five-year total | [sum …] | [sum …] |
Placeholders, not real figures. Content changes a client asks a developer to make are left out on both sides, because they depend on the project, not on the technology. A fair comparison uses the client’s actual quotes.
Beyond money
Design compromises
A theme sets the grid, the spacing and the components. Anything outside it becomes a workaround — the design bends to the tool.
Weight and speed
Builders ship code for every feature they offer. An owned build ships only what the design actually uses.
Lock-in
Content stored in a builder’s format is hard to move. Plain source code can go to any host or developer.
02What you own
At the end, this is the client’s — all of it.
No account with me is needed to keep the site running. The handover is concrete: files, access and documentation.
-
The source code
Every page, template and form, as plain HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP. Uploaded to the server or delivered as files.
-
The design system as a stylesheet
Colours, type scale, spacing and components from the design file, written as reusable tokens and classes — so new pages stay consistent.
-
The editor, if wanted
A lightweight editor of my own, not WordPress. No monthly fee.
- Visual block editor
- Texts, images, pages
- Versions and undo
- Personal accounts
- 2-factor login
- Separate mobile and desktop tweaks
-
Hosting access
Server, domain and editor logins in the client’s name. Hosting through me is a separate agreement; their own hosting is just as fine.
-
The freedom to leave
Any developer can continue from the code. There is nothing to cancel and nothing that stops working when they do.
Handover folderexample
- client-site/
- pages/ home, services …
- templates/ page patterns
- assets/
- styles.css design tokens
- main.js
- fonts/ · images/
- editor/ optional
- README how to deploy
- ACCESS logins, domain, hosting
Structure varies by project. What doesn’t vary: it is complete, and it is theirs.
03A fair note
When WordPress is the better choice.
An owned build isn’t right for every project. If yours looks like one of these, I’ll say so before anything is built.
- Large blogs and magazinesMany authors, daily publishing, comments and archives — a mature publishing platform does this well.
- Online shopsCatalogues, payments, stock and shipping belong in a dedicated shop system.
- Plugin-shaped featuresBookings, memberships or courses where an established plugin already fits the need.
- An in-house WordPress teamIf the client already maintains WordPress sites, staying there can be the sensible call.
For portfolio, company, service and product sites built from a finished design, owning the code is usually the calmer option over the years.
04Process
From design file to handover, in five steps.
You send the file
Figma, XD or Sketch — plus anything the client has already decided.
I check it first
Gaps and missing states — hover, empty, error, mobile — are flagged before building.
First page as the pattern
One page is built completely and agreed. It sets the system for the rest.
Remaining pages and states
The other pages, components and responsive states follow the pattern.
Handover
Uploaded to the server, or delivered as files — with access and documentation.
Progress is visible throughout. During the build, you and your client follow along on a private, password-protected preview address.
client.concepts.mika-engineering.com
05Selected work
Recent builds, without client names.
Education · DE / EN
Training academy website
Bilingual German and English site with the editor, so the team maintains courses and pages in both languages.
Own business
3D printing & engineering
My own site for 3D printing and engineering services: mika-engineering.de
06For your client
The short version, ready to forward.
The website is built from our approved design as custom code, not on a theme or page builder. You pay for the build once. After that there are no licences, plugin renewals or editor subscription — only hosting, at [€ … / year] or with your existing provider.
You receive the complete source code and all access. If you want to edit texts, images and pages yourself, a simple editor is included. And if you ever change agency or developer, the site goes with you.
[quote from a designer who has forwarded this to a client]
07Contact
Have a finished design that needs building?
Send the file or a link. I’ll look at it, flag anything missing and tell you honestly whether it’s a good fit.
hello@mika-engineering.com- Replies
- Usually the same day
- Build time
- Mostly evenings and weekends
- Size
- One person, small on purpose — so I can say no to projects that don’t fit
- Price
- [price from …] per project, quoted after checking the design
- Hosting
- Separate agreement, or the client’s own hosting
- Based in
- Schwerte, Germany