last checked 2026-10-29 · UX Shortlist team · pricing references, not a ranking
What UX design costs in 2026
The Pricing Index covers 50 currently listable agencies: 33 publish a Clutch project minimum, with a median of $25,000; 29 publish a Clutch hourly band, with a median of $100–149 an hour. These are directory figures, not a market-wide survey or project quote. Published offers use different scopes: Phenomenon Studio lists a UX audit from $2,000 and a custom MVP from $40,000; its dedicated specialist starts at $8,000/month. A Duck.Design plan with UX/UI starts at $1,899/month,the $1,199 plan is graphic design. Clutch and agency price-page checks are dated in the agency records, with the latest check on 2026-10-29.
The UX Shortlist Pricing Index
| Firm size (Clutch band) | Median Clutch rate band | Profiles with a rate | Median Clutch minimum | Profiles with a minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2–49 people | $150–199/hr | 15 | $25,000 | 15 |
| 50–249 people | $50–99/hr | 7 | $10,000 | 11 |
| 250+ people | $100–149/hr | 7 | $50,000 | 7 |
| All firms | $100–149/hr | 29 | $25,000 | 33 |
The size rows are descriptive, not a rule that smaller agencies cost more or less. Only 15 small, 7 mid-size, and 7 large-firm profiles publish an hourly band in this pool. To calculate the index, we convert each published Clutch hourly band to its midpoint, take the median of those midpoints and map it back to a rate band; we calculate project-minimum medians from the numeric floors shown on Clutch. This means the minimum is a listed entry threshold, not a completed-project price. The dataset represents our currently listable agencies, not a representative sample of every UX provider. We retain the published fields, including anomalous values, and flag known conflicts on the relevant agency pages. See how we verify agency data for the wider method.
Cost by engagement type
UX audit
Audit prices depend on what is reviewed and what the deliverable includes. Phenomenon Studio lists UX audits from $2,000; Arounda lists projects from $6,000 and says it offers lighter audit packages. Baymard Institute prices ecommerce audits by scope. Nielsen Norman Group’s $40,000–$200,000 range is for customized consulting engagements, not a published fee for a review. Ask what evidence, research, prioritized recommendations, and follow-up are included; a higher quote may reflect a broader research or redesign scope.
UX research study
Custom study fees are rarely published as a comparable menu. MeasuringU’s benchmark reports are published products, mostly $1,999–$3,999 in our checked records; that is not the price of a custom study. Nielsen Norman Group’s $40,000–$200,000 consulting range covers custom engagements, not a per-study rate card. The $25,000 Clutch minimums at Blink UX and Key Lime Interactive are general profile floors, not research-study quotes. Recruiting hard-to-reach B2B or clinical participants can materially change the scope and cost, so ask whether recruiting and incentives are included.
MVP design and build
Published starting prices help set a scope conversation, but they are not interchangeable packages. Phenomenon Studio lists product discovery from $4,000, a custom MVP from $40,000, and a rapid MVP from $20,000; Arounda says projects typically start at $6,000. Arounda’s Clutch profile separately lists a $25,000+ minimum, so confirm which scope and source applies before comparing the 2 figures. These are starting points, not fixed quotes. No agency in this pool publishes a fixed MVP delivery date; agree milestones and acceptance criteria in the proposal. More context sits on the startup shortlist.
SaaS product redesign
Phenomenon Studio lists product redesigns from $15,000 and a dedicated specialist from $8,000/month; 3 months at that starting rate totals $24,000 before any additional scope. Musemind’s monthly plans publish 40, 80, or 160 design-support hours for $2,600, $4,800, or $7,800. These are different service models, not like-for-like redesign quotes. On our SaaS shortlist, Clutch minimums range from $10,000 to $50,000; ask what the minimum buys and who will do the work.
Subscriptions and research access
A monthly subscription, a dedicated specialist, and annual research access buy different things. Duck.Design’s plan that includes UX/UI starts at $1,899/month (its $1,199 plan is graphic design); Musemind lists $2,600–$7,800/month for 40–160 hours; and Phenomenon Studio lists a dedicated specialist from $8,000/month. These prices are not directly comparable until you check capacity, active requests, research, revisions, and whether development is included. For research access rather than agency delivery, Baymard lists annual Premium plans at $2,400 and $4,200; its custom audit is priced separately.
Design system
No agency on our design system shortlist publishes a fixed price for a full system program. 6 of 8 firms list a general Clutch project minimum: 5 at $50,000 and Instrument at $250,000+. Those are profile floors, not system-specific quotes. Public case timelines also vary: Rangle.io reports Sanofi’s Elements system took 10 months, while its Kenvue composable-platform case covered more than 80 brands in 3 months. Ask what the quoted phase includes,components, documentation, governance, engineering, migration, and adoption support.
Enterprise UX program
Clutch minimums do not reveal a full enterprise-program budget. On our enterprise shortlist, 7 of 8 profiles publish a minimum: $5,000 at Work & Co and frog, $25,000 at FuseLab Creative, $50,000 at Think Company, Method, and Netguru, and $75,000 at Codal. The median of those listed thresholds is $50,000, but unusually low profile floors may not reflect a current enterprise scope. Compare staffing, governance, research, integrations, procurement needs, and the duration of each phase in a scoped proposal.
What drives the price
4 factors explain most of the spread in UX agency pricing: who does the work, where they sit, how specialized the domain is, and whether the offer is productized.
Seniority first: principal-led shops like GoInvo ($150 to $199, $100,000 minimum) sell experts, not pyramids. Geography second: comparably rated delivery costs $25 to $49 from Odesa and Tallinn and $150 to $199 from Chicago. Specialization third: UXDA charges $200 to $300 an hour because financial UX is all it does, and regulated-domain firms price the compliance literacy in. Productization last, and it cuts prices down: fixed menus and monthly plans, from Phenomenon's $2,000 audit and $8,000-a-month specialists to subscription sellers like Musemind ($2,600 to $7,800 a month) and Duck.Design ($1,199 to $1,999), exist to remove quoting friction, and they are consistently cheaper than the same hours billed loose.
Questions buyers ask
- What is the median hourly rate for a UX design agency?
- The median published Clutch band is $100–149 an hour across 29 of the 50 listable agencies in our pool. The reported range runs from $25 to $49 at firms such as Arounda and Merge to $200 to $300 at UXDA and Instrument. This is a directory-pool median, not an estimate of the whole market or a quote for your project.
- What project minimums do UX agencies set?
- The median Clutch-listed minimum is $25,000, across 33 of the 50 listable agencies. The published floors run from $1,000 to $250,000. Treat these as profile thresholds, not project budgets or typical fees; confirm the minimum and scope directly with the agency.
- Why do agency rates vary so much by firm size?
- In this pool, the medians are $150–199/hr for small firms (15 published bands), $50–99/hr for mid-size firms (7), and $100–149/hr for large firms (7). The groups are small and descriptive: location, specialization, seniority, and the team assigned to your project also affect a quote.
- What should a good UX design quote itemize?
- 6 things at minimum: discovery and research scope with participant counts, the flows and screens in scope, design system deliverables (tokens, components, documentation), the handoff format for engineering, the revision policy, and who owns the files and IP at the end. A quote that lists only a total and a timeline leaves every one of those as a future argument.
- Is offshore UX design delivery cheaper in practice?
- Some agencies outside your market publish lower hourly bands, but those bands do not prove that total project cost or quality will be lower. Our pool includes Qubstudio at $50–99/hr and Arounda at $25–49/hr; Clutch ratings are context, not a controlled comparison of outcomes. Compare the named delivery team, scope, research and recruiting, revision limits, handoff, and required meeting overlap before comparing rates.
- How accurate are Clutch rates and minimums?
- Clutch rates and minimums are profile data, not quotes, and can be stale or inconsistent with an agency’s own site. The Index includes the published values in our records, including unusually low thresholds, rather than silently removing outliers; known conflicts are called out on the relevant shortlist pages. Empty fields are excluded from that median and shown as Not published.
Where to spend it
What changed
- Pricing examples reconciled with agency price pages; Clutch minimums clarified as profile thresholds, not project budgets.
- Cost guide published; Pricing Index computed from the listable agency pool.