How transparent agency pricing changed how we work

Publishing our prices and salary ranges upfront isn't generosity: it's how we stay efficient. Every client who contacts us is already budget-qualified. Every candidate who applies already knows the numbers work. Here's the decision behind that, and what changed when we made it.

A few years ago, a recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn about an Operations role that looked interesting: it was a reputable company and the job description sounded like a real challenge.

I started by asking about the salary range. The answer was: "There is no range for the job. We usually ask candidates what they're expecting, and then we see if it aligns with the rest of the team."

So… I ended the process right there. They were asking me to invest hours of my time in preparing cover letters, portfolio prep, multiple interview rounds, etc. to apply to something I had no way to evaluate. That's not a selection process; it's a guessing game dressed up as one.

I've thought about that interaction a lot since, and it shaped how we run both hiring and pricing at Concealed.

Why We List Salary Ranges on Every Job Posting

Because of that experience, every job post we publish at Concealed includes the actual salary range. Not a "competitive package" line and some other fluff. Upfront numbers.

Candidates deserve to know if a role is worth their time before they spend hours in the application process.

Withholding that information doesn't protect a company: it filters out the people who value their own time and won't play the guessing game. We would rather have a shorter list of applicants who are genuinely aligned than a pile of CVs from people who will discover the numbers don't work in round three.

Why We Publish Our Prices on the Homepage

Clients face the exact same frustration when dealing with design and development agencies. So we put our prices on the homepage.

If you are looking for a Framer development agency to build a single-page website, you know it costs $2,000. Each additional page is $800. A senior developer available full-time for your project is $10,000 a month. Looking for custom internal tools to improve your company's processes? We analyze the work, then provide a fixed scope and budget before anything begins. There are no billing surprises.

We applied that same fixed-scope logic for Grafibeira — a custom internal tool that saved their team 2 hours per day and increased processed orders by 10%.

That information is public so you can decide, before contacting us, whether we are the right fit for your budget. If the numbers don't work, we've saved you and us a 30-minute call. If they do work, the conversation that follows is faster, more focused, and entirely honest.

Why Fixed-Price Projects Work Better Than Hourly Billing

To make transparent pricing work, we had to abandon timesheets and hourly rates completely.

The problem with hourly billing isn't the maths — it's the incentives. It puts the client in the position of monitoring time rather than evaluating outcomes. Every extra iteration or phone call costs you something unpredictable. You can't plan your budget, and frankly, neither can we.

Fixed pricing changes that dynamic. When we scope a project, we align on what gets built and exactly what it will cost, before we start.

If we underestimate the work: that is on us, and we absorb the cost.

If we deliver faster: that is a win for everyone, rewarding efficiency instead of dragging out hours.

No surprise invoices. No hidden fees. No anxious wait to see what the month actually cost you.

Transparency Is Operational Efficiency

Publishing our prices and salary ranges isn't an act of generosity.

By removing the guessing games, the clients who reach out to us are already qualified, and the candidates who apply are already aligned. Every conversation starts from a place of mutual trust because we've taken uncertainty off the table.

We are a lean team, and time is our most valuable asset. Transparency is how we protect it: ours and yours.

If the numbers work for you, let's talk about your project.

Written by Catarina Coimbra, COO at Concealed — a Framer Expert agency based in Lisbon building fast, scalable websites and custom internal tools for companies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Concealed publish its prices publicly?
Yes. Our prices are listed on the homepage. A single-page Framer website starts at $2,000, with additional pages at $800 each. Full-time developer availability is $10,000 per month. For custom internal tools and larger projects, we provide a fixed scope and budget before work begins — no open-ended billing.

Why do most design agencies not publish their prices?
The most common reason is that projects vary significantly in scope, so agencies prefer to qualify clients in a call first. The trade-off is that it creates a guessing game for clients and wastes time on both sides when budgets don't align. We believe the efficiency of pre-qualified conversations outweighs the discomfort of publishing numbers publicly.

What is fixed-price agency billing and how does it work?
Fixed-price billing means the cost of a project is agreed upfront before work begins. We define the scope — what gets built, what is excluded, and what the deliverables are — and quote a single price against that scope. If the work takes longer than expected, we absorb the cost. If we deliver faster, the client pays the same agreed price. There are no timesheets and no variable invoices.

Is fixed-price or hourly billing better for web design projects?
Fixed-price billing is better for clients who want budget certainty. Hourly billing is better for open-ended work where the scope is genuinely unknown. For most Framer website and internal tool projects, scope can be defined clearly upfront, which makes fixed-price both fairer and more predictable for everyone involved.

How does transparent pricing benefit clients?
It removes the qualification overhead. Clients who reach out already know whether the budget works, which means the first conversation is about the project, not the price. It also removes the anxiety of open-ended billing — you know what you're spending before you spend it.

How does Concealed price custom internal tools?
For custom internal tools, we analyze the requirements first and then provide a fixed scope and budget proposal. There is no upfront price because every tool is different, but the proposal is fixed — once agreed, that is the number, regardless of how the build goes on our end.