A design agency for seed-stage startups designs the first product, website or brand for a company that has raised a small round and is still working out what it sells. Where the studios below publish a price, it starts at $2,200 a month or $2,500 a project.
You raised a small round. There's a half-built product, a few months of runway and a deck that promises more. Most of what you need from design right now is small: one clear homepage, and one product flow people can finish.
We work with seed-stage startups too, so this list isn't ranked. Studios are in alphabetical order, us included, and nobody paid to be on it.
How we picked
A studio made the list if:
- its own site names pre-seed or seed-stage startups as clients
- it designs a product, a website or a brand for startups
- it says how you buy: a project, a sprint or a monthly plan
- it's a studio, not a solo freelancer
We left out freelancers, template shops and studios that say "startups" without naming a stage. Prices, ratings and client names come from each studio's own site or Clutch profile.
The six studios at a glance
Four of the six publish a price or a starting budget, and Parallel sets a minimum on Clutch. Hexcode publishes no price.
| Studio | Based | Best for | Price signal (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 925Studios | Remote, registered in India | Product, site and brand from one pod | Starting budget $7,000 (its own site) |
| Grabbag Studio | Not stated on its site | B2B SaaS sites on six fixed bundles | Website bundles starting at $15,000 (Launch) to $80,000 (Scale) |
| Hexcode (us) | Indore, India | Brand, site and product, sprint by sprint | Not published |
| Parallel | San Francisco and Bangalore | Seed to Series A, retainer or sprints | Clutch minimum $10,000+, $50 to $99/hr |
| Synced | Not stated on its site | Fixed-price sprints from pre-seed | Projects from $2,500, Brand Sprint $4,000, subscription $5,990/mo |
| Wavespace | Not stated, lists offices in 10 countries | Low-cost brand packs and subscriptions | Design subscriptions from $2,200/mo, Webflow builds not priced |
The numbers behind it
| Studio | Clutch | Named clients |
|---|---|---|
| 925Studios | 4.8 (32 reviews, per its site) | MARA, Solana, Jupiter |
| Grabbag Studio | Not checked | None named on its site |
| Hexcode (us) | Profile, no reviews yet | Serval, LlamaIndex, Riveter (YC F24), Haven, Drizz, Jooba |
| Parallel | 4.8 | UrbanPiper, Enchanting Travels, Inhouse |
| Synced | Not checked | Cluely, drae.ai, Interview Coder, Carlinker |
| Wavespace | 4.9 (250+ reviews, per its site) | Kodezi, Delve, Recruitly, Cerebra |
Figures from each studio's own site or Clutch profile, checked . "Clutch minimum" is the minimum project size a studio sets on Clutch, not a quote. Where a rating says "per its site", the studio states it and we haven't checked it on Clutch. Named clients are ones the studio names on its own site.
Notes on each studio
925Studios
A remote studio registered in India. A post on its site says that for a pre-seed or seed team, the product screens, the marketing site and the brand assets come out of the same four-person pod, and that it offers a risk-free 7-day trial. Its pages give two starting points, $7,000 on one and $4,000 on another, so confirm before you scope. The $7,000 and the 4.8 rating come from its own blog, since we found no Clutch profile.
Good fit if: you want product, site and brand from one pod, with a trial before you commit.
Grabbag Studio
Builds websites for B2B SaaS startups at the angel, pre-seed and seed stages, sold as six bundles from Launch at $15,000 to Scale at $80,000. The bundles include 5 to 25 punch card hours and two to four weeks of support after launch, and it says a site takes 6 to 8 weeks. It names no clients and no location on its site, so ask for references. Brand work goes through its parent company, Huck Finch.
Good fit if: you're a B2B SaaS startup and want a website on a fixed bundle with a stated timeline.
Not a fit if: you need product design, not only a website.
Hexcode (us)
A 15-person studio in Indore, founded in 2020, with US overlap until 1pm PT. We work with startups from seed to Series B, and run brand, website and product design in two-week sprints with a demo each Friday. We don't tag our clients by funding stage, so ask us for seed-stage references. We don't publish a price and have no Clutch reviews yet. See our website design work
Good fit if: you want one team for brand, site and product as the company grows.
Not a fit if: you need a price and a Clutch rating before the first call.
Parallel
Offices in San Francisco and Bangalore, per its site. Its homepage lists seed to Series A as its early-stage focus, and its design systems page says it adapts to stages from pre-seed to Series C. It describes forward-deployed design and engineering teams and publishes no price. Its Clutch profile shows a $10,000+ minimum and a 4.8 rating.
Good fit if: you want a team that can grow with you from seed through Series A.
Synced
Describes itself as for pre-seed tech startups and above, and says founders from pre-seed buy projects while Series A to C teams take the subscription. Its FAQ says projects start at $2,500: a Brand Sprint is $4,000 over two weeks, Website Launch is from $4,500, and the design subscription is $5,990 a month, which you can pause or cancel any month. It states no location. Named clients include Cluely, drae.ai and Interview Coder.
Good fit if: you want a fixed-price sprint for a brand or a site, and may add a subscription later.
Wavespace
Says it has served companies from seed to Series B since 2019. Its pricing page lists design subscriptions from $2,200 a month, and its FAQ says the Brand Starter Pack begins at $2,200 and the Brand Growth Pack at $4,400. It lists offices in 10 countries and no single headquarters. Its site shows a 4.9 rating from 250+ reviews, and its Clutch profile shows 4.9 from 16.
Good fit if: you want a published low entry price for brand or design work, on a pack or a monthly plan.
What should you design first?
Design what a customer meets first, usually the website or one product flow, and leave the rest until you have usage. Compare what each plan covers, not only the price.
| Your situation | Design this first | Leave for later |
|---|---|---|
| Selling before the product exists | A clear one-page site | A full brand system |
| Building the first version | The core flow, in a clickable prototype | Edge cases and settings screens |
| Raising the next round | A site and product that match what you say | A redesign of everything |
| Hiring your first designer | A short sprint to set direction | A long retainer |
Six questions to ask before you sign
- Which seed-stage clients can I speak to, and what did they spend?
- What do the first two weeks produce, and what do I own at the end?
- Can I stop after one sprint or one month?
- Who does the work, and are they online for part of my day?
- What happens if my product direction changes halfway?
- What's not included, and what would it cost to add?
Questions
How much does design cost for a seed-stage startup?
The lowest published starting prices on this list are $2,200 a month (Wavespace) and $2,500 for a project (Synced). 925Studios gives a $7,000 starting budget, Grabbag's website bundles run from $15,000 to $80,000, and Parallel sets a $10,000+ minimum on Clutch.
Should a seed-stage startup pay for a project or a monthly plan?
A project suits a defined job, like a website or a brand, and a monthly plan suits priorities that keep changing. Synced sells both: a Brand Sprint at $4,000 and a subscription at $5,990 a month. Wavespace sells design subscriptions from $2,200 a month, and Grabbag sells fixed website bundles.
How long does design take for a seed-stage startup?
Published timelines run from ten days to eight weeks. Synced's Ad Sprint takes ten days and its Brand Sprint two weeks, and Grabbag says a website takes 6 to 8 weeks.
Can one studio do product, website and brand?
Yes. 925Studios says the product screens, the marketing site and the brand assets come out of the same pod, Synced sells brand, web and product design, and we do all three.
Can I try a studio before committing?
Some offer a way in. 925Studios offers a risk-free 7-day trial and Synced lets you pause or cancel the subscription any month. Grabbag's Launch bundle refunds the deposit if it isn't the right fit after the strategy session.
Why isn't this list ranked?
Because we're on it. Ranking a list we compete in would tell you more about us than about the studios. So it's alphabetical, with the facts we could check.
Related
Spotted something wrong? Email shabbir@hexcode.design with a link and we'll fix it.
Spending the round carefully?
Thirty minutes, no deck. Tell us what you have to ship before the next milestone and we'll tell you what's worth designing now, even if the answer is one of the other five.
Book a call