How to choose a white label web design partner

What you're actually buying

White label web design covers the design stage of a website: wireframes, high-fidelity page designs, responsive breakpoints, and a component system, delivered as files your team or a developer can build from. Some partners also build the site. If yours doesn't, pair them with white label web development or your own developers, and make sure the two can work from the same files.

Nine things to check before you sign

1. Portfolio depth, not just polish

Ask for full projects, not hero screenshots. You want to see interior pages, mobile layouts, and forms, because that's where most client sites live. Work in your clients' industries is a bonus, but process matters more than niche.

2. Source files and ownership

Confirm you receive layered, organized source files (usually Figma) for every project, and that you own them. Without them you can't make changes yourself or move to another partner, and the client's site is held hostage.

3. Revision rounds

"Unlimited revisions" and "two rounds" are both fine, as long as you know which you're buying and can set your client's expectations to match. Ask what counts as a revision and what counts as a new request.

4. Process and timelines

A good partner can tell you the steps (brief, wireframe, design, review, handoff) and how long each takes for a given project size. Vague answers here become missed launch dates later.

5. Developer handoff

Designs should arrive with specs a developer can build from without guessing: spacing, type scales, component states, and breakpoint behavior. Ask to see a past handoff file.

6. Platform and stack fit

A design that ignores the platform it'll be built on gets compromised in development. Make sure the partner designs with your stack in mind, whether that's WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, or a custom build.

7. Performance and accessibility

Heavy imagery and decorative animation can cost a site its Core Web Vitals and its search rankings. Ask how the partner handles image weight, font loading, color contrast, and keyboard navigation. These are cheaper to get right in design than to fix after launch.

8. Branding leaks

The partner's name should appear nowhere your client can find it: footer credits, HTML comments, file metadata, Figma project names, shared preview links, or invoices sent by mistake. Make "no partner credit anywhere" part of the agreement, along with a no-contact clause.

9. A pricing model that fits your pipeline

Per-project pricing suits occasional work. If you design something every week, a dedicated designer on a monthly retainer is usually cheaper and keeps your brand standards consistent. For reference, our project tiers are:

Ongoing design capacity is better bought as a dedicated designer at $800/month than as repeat projects. Stock photography and premium font licences are billed at cost.

Red flags

• They won't share source files, or charge extra to release them.
• Every portfolio piece is a homepage hero with no interior pages.
• No written scope of what counts as a revision.
• They want to join client calls or email your client directly.
• Templates passed off as custom design without saying so.

Start with a paid trial

Send one landing page first. It's small enough to be low-risk and big enough to show you how the partner communicates, handles feedback, and delivers files. If the trial goes well, move to a multi-page project. If it doesn't, you've lost a week, not a client.

For the bigger picture on working with partners, see what white label marketing is and how agencies use it.