White Label Website Design: How Agencies Outsource and Resell

By Umair Ali Sadaqat · Updated September 18, 2026 · Editorial policy

White label website design means a partner builds the site and you sell it under your brand. How the model works, what it costs, how to pick a partner, and when a white label builder is the better fit.

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This page is about outsourcing the design work to a partner who builds sites you sell as your own. If you would rather run your own branded builder and make the sites yourself, see the We.Inc white label website builder.

For agencies: White label website builder: your own branded AI builder (book a demo)

White label website design is when another company designs and builds websites that your agency sells under its own name. You own the client, the brand and the price; the partner does the production work and stays invisible. As of September 2026 there are two ways to do it: outsource the labour to a design partner, or resell a white label website builder.

Book a demo of the white-label builder: your agency's own AI website builder under your brand. Pricing is tailored to your volume and setup, so you get your exact price on the call. How white-label pricing works.

This guide covers how both models work, what to put in writing, how to price, and which one fits which kind of client.

How white label website design works

The flow is the same with almost every partner:

You sell. You win the client, agree the scope and set the price.
You brief. You pass the partner a written brief: pages, content, brand assets, examples and deadlines.
The partner builds. Designers and developers produce the site to your brief, usually on a staging link you can review.
You review and present. You check quality, request fixes, and present the site to the client as your work.
You launch and support. The site goes live on the client's domain, and you handle the relationship from then on.

The client never talks to the partner. Your margin is the difference between your price and the partner's wholesale fee, minus your own time on sales, briefs and review.

Outsourced design vs a white label builder

There are two very different things sold as "white label websites."

	White label design partner	White label website builder
What you buy	Labour: a team builds each site	A platform: a branded builder you and clients use
Cost shape	A fee per project or per page	A flat monthly plan
Turnaround	Days to weeks per site	Minutes for a first draft
Custom work	Strong: anything the brief describes	Good within the builder's range
Your main job	Writing briefs and checking quality	Onboarding and supporting clients
Recurring revenue	Only if you add care plans	Built in: clients pay monthly on your portal
Best for	Bespoke, high-budget projects	Small business sites at volume

Many agencies end up using both. Custom brand sites go to a design partner; the long tail of small business clients goes onto a builder. Our white label website builder guide covers the builder side in depth.

What to look for in a white label design partner

A partner is effectively your production team, so vet them like a hire:

A portfolio in your niche. Ask for live sites, not screenshots, and check them on a phone.
A paid test project. One small real job tells you more than any call.
A named contact. You want one person who owns your account, not a ticket queue.
Clear revision limits. Two rounds of changes is common. Know what a third costs.
Written ownership terms. Designs and code should transfer to you or your client on payment.
Non-solicitation. The partner must not approach your clients directly.
Post-launch support. Agree how bugs found after launch are fixed, and how fast.

Put all of this in a short agreement before the first real client job.

Writing a brief a partner can build from

Most white label projects that go wrong fail at the brief. A good one includes:

The client's business, audience and the one action the site should drive (call, book, buy).
A page list with the purpose of each page.
Final copy, or a clear note on who writes it.
Logo files, colours, fonts and photos.
Two or three sites the client likes, and what they like about each.
Must-have features: forms, booking, a map, reviews, a blog.
Technical details: platform, domain, hosting and any integrations.
The deadline, with a date for the first review.

If you sell website builds often, the website design RFP template doubles as a brief format.

How to price white labelled websites

Price on the value to the client and your total cost, not on the partner's fee alone. Your cost includes the partner fee, your sales time, brief writing, review, client meetings and a buffer for changes. Quotes vary widely by scope and partner location, so collect real quotes for your typical project before you set list prices.

The bigger lever is recurring revenue. A one-off build pays once. A monthly plan that covers hosting, edits and support pays every month. Our website care plans guide walks through how agencies package this, and how to build website packages for small business clients shows how to turn it into tiers.

Protect the relationship with a clear quality check before anything reaches the client: test every page on a phone, click every link and form, and read all the copy once more. Partners make mistakes; your brand should catch them first.

Where the design-partner model breaks down

Outsourcing labour works well for a handful of large projects. It gets harder when you sell many small ones:

Every site needs a brief and a review. Your time per site does not fall much as you grow.
Small edits become tickets. A client wants a new photo; you forward it to the partner and wait.
Margins are thin on small budgets. A small business with a modest budget leaves little room once a partner and your time are paid.
Recurring revenue is bolted on. The client relationship ends at launch unless you sell a separate plan.

This is where a white label builder fits. Instead of paying for labour per site, you give each client a login to a branded builder, and they (or you) make changes in minutes.

The builder route: your brand, a full site from one description

We.Inc is an AI website builder you run under your agency's own name, colour and logo, with a branded builder and client portal. Clients describe their business, the AI builds a complete site, and they edit it visually.

Your portal and client sites run on your own domain, there is a 0% transaction fee, and clients pay you through your own Stripe. Pricing is tailored to your volume and setup. Book a 30-minute demo and you get your exact price on the call: Book a demo. See how white-label pricing works or the white label overview. If you are starting from scratch, how to start a website reseller business is the companion guide.

Which model should you choose?

Choose a design partner when each project is large, custom and one-off. Choose a white label builder when you want many small business clients on monthly plans. Choose both when your client list has both. The test is simple: if most of your time goes into briefs and edit tickets for small sites, move those clients onto a builder and keep the partner for the work that needs one.

Book a demo. Your brand, your domain, and a 0% transaction fee. Pricing is tailored to your volume and setup, so you get your exact price on the call. See how white-label pricing works or read the white label overview.

Frequently asked questions

What is white label website design?

White label website design is when a design or development partner builds websites that your agency sells under its own brand. The client only ever deals with you. The partner stays invisible, works to your brief and is paid a wholesale price you mark up.

How much does white label website design cost?

Partners price per project or per page, and quotes vary widely with scope, platform and the partner's location, so get two or three written quotes on the same brief. The alternative is a white label website builder, a monthly platform fee; on We.Inc that is tailored to your volume and setup and quoted on a demo (https://calendly.com/hey-we/30min).

Is white label web design legal and ethical?

Yes. It is a normal subcontracting arrangement, like a builder hiring an electrician. Be honest about what you deliver and who is accountable, put confidentiality and ownership terms in writing with the partner, and make sure your client contract covers subcontractors if they ask.

What should a white label web design agreement include?

Scope and revision limits, turnaround times, who owns the code and designs (it should be you or your client on payment), confidentiality and non-solicitation of your clients, how bugs after launch are handled, and what happens to files if you end the relationship.

What is the difference between white label web design and a white label website builder?

White label web design buys labour: a partner builds each site. A white label website builder buys a platform: you and your clients build sites yourselves inside a builder that carries your brand. The first scales with people and project fees; the second scales with a monthly plan.

Can I combine outsourced design with a white label builder?

Yes, and many agencies do. Use a design partner for the few custom projects that need it, and a white label builder for small business clients who want a good site fast and a monthly plan. That keeps partner costs for the jobs that justify them.

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