Our story
We were tired of watching businesses overpay for templated websites.
So we started Redstack to do the opposite: real custom design, code we actually write, and a website you actually own. Here's what we believe.
Toomanybusinessespayagencypricesforatemplatedwebsite.
WestartedRedstacktoendthat,withreal,customdesign.
Honestpricingyoucanreadataglance.
Andnotasinglerecycledtheme.
Anatomy of an overpriced website
We've seen the invoices. Here's roughly how a $12,000 'custom' website is built, and why we stopped sending them.
Invoice
Generic Web Agency Co.
#00-2847
- “Bespoke” design system actually: a $59 marketplace theme $4,500
- “Custom” homepage actually: drag-and-drop page builder $2,800
- Strategy kickoff call actually: 45 minutes, one slide deck $1,500
- Stock photography pack actually: seen on 40 other sites $1,200
- Plugin & form setup actually: free plugins, installed $900
- Project management actually: forwarding your emails $1,100
The theme cost them fifty-nine dollars.
Most of that invoice isn't design or development. It's confidence that you won't look under the hood. The same theme, the same builder, the same stock photos, quoted as if each one were made from scratch for you.
We're not against agencies charging for real work. We charge for ours. We're against charging bespoke prices for recycled work. So we tore the model up.
The Redstack way
A genuinely custom site, from $250.
Or you skip the agency, and the platform gets you
The cheaper route is a do-it-yourself website builder. The sticker price looks small, until every basic feature turns out to live one plan tier up. And the meter never stops.
Monthly statement
Popular Website Builder
Auto-renews
- Remove the builder’s badge the catch: their logo on your site until you upgrade $23/mo
- Let a form accept a file the catch: higher tier only, for a basic contact form $16/mo
- Room for more pages the catch: content capped until you pay to lift it $19/mo
- A second person to edit the catch: metered per editor seat $21/mo
- Security & DDoS protection the catch: sold as a premium add-on $15/mo
- More than 100 items in a list the catch: hard cap, upgrade to grow past it $18/mo
None of this is premium. It's just a website.
File uploads on a contact form. Security. Enough pages and list items to actually run a business. A second teammate who can edit. These aren't extras, they're what a website is. Off-the-shelf builders fence each one behind the next plan up, then bill you for it every month.
And it's rented, not owned. The content caps, the field limits, the per-seat fees: you're paying a monthly toll to use your own website, and the toll only climbs. Stop paying and the features wink out.
The Redstack way
Every one of these, included. And it's yours.
How we got here
Redstack didn't start with a logo and a pitch deck. It started with a problem we couldn't stop noticing.
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The frustration
Years inside the agency machine
We spent over a decade building sites at agencies that quoted $10k+ for what was, underneath, the same theme installed for the tenth time. And the businesses who dodged the agency to build it themselves just hit the other trap: a cheap-looking website builder that charged a monthly fee for every basic feature it had quietly fenced off.
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The decision
There had to be a better deal
So we started the opposite kind of studio: genuinely custom design, code we actually write, and pricing a small business can read without a calculator. No recycled themes, no surprise line items, and no monthly toll just to unlock the basics.
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The model
Custom, fast, and fairly priced
A real custom website from $250, hosting from $19/mo, and an in-house team of designers, developers and marketers. No outsourcing, no hand-offs, no lock-in.
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Today
150+ clinics, gyms & trades later
We’ve launched 150+ sites for clinics, gyms and trades on a modern headless stack, kept 98% of the clients who started with us, and we still quote the same way: what it costs to build, plus the work. Nothing invented in between.
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Sites for clinics & trades
0
Years of experience
0
Client retention
0
Lighthouse target
What we do differently
The model is simple. It's just rarely the one you're offered.
Full in-house team
Designers, developers and marketers under one roof. No hand-offs, no outsourcing, no mystery contractors padding the bill.
You own it, no rented platform
We build on a fast, modern stack, not a locked-down page builder. Security, file uploads and room to grow come included by default, never dangled behind the next plan up.
Honest, readable pricing
You see what it costs to build and what the work is worth. No inflated “strategy” line items, no recycled-theme markup, and no subscription creeping up for features you assumed were standard.
A partner, not a portal
Dedicated support from a team that knows your project, plus clear monthly performance reports in plain English.