Website delivery models

How to Hand Off a Website to a Client: The Three Delivery Models

By Shreyas Raj. Written from my YouTube video, about 21 minutes long.

Video: How To Hand Off A Website To Clients (3 Models) on the AI with Shreyas Raj YouTube channel.

Short answer: There are three ways to deliver a website: a full handoff, a care plan with a small monthly fee, and a retainer or partner plan. Use full handoff for your first ten clients, move to a care plan after that, and keep the retainer for larger clients with constant changes. Pitch only one model per call.

What you will learn

The three delivery models and what each means for code, hosting, domain and payment
Which model fits your first 10 clients, the next stage and larger clients
Why you should pitch one model instead of a menu
How to structure upfront payment and approvals
Why you should never sell a retainer as hosting
Red flags that tell you to walk away

Why most web developers stay stuck

Most website developers are not stuck because they cannot build a website. In my experience it is because they lack a clear delivery roadmap, the clarity a client needs to stay with you for a long time. In this video I go through the three delivery models I have used in my agency and explain which is easiest to start with and which is hardest.

Match the model to your agency stage

For your first five to ten clients, keep everything as a full handoff. It builds trust and helps you collect testimonials, and a smaller website is not valuable enough to support a monthly retainer yet. After roughly ten clients you can move to a care plan. After around twenty-five clients there is a better chance of meeting a larger client who wants a retainer or partner plan, and deal sizes there can be much larger.

These numbers are not fixed rules. They depend on your situation and on what you learn during the sales call.

The reason I tie the model to stage is that each one asks the client for more commitment. A beginner with no testimonials will struggle to justify a monthly fee, so remove that barrier and use the project itself as your proof.

Model 1: full handoff

You hand the GitHub repository over to the client when the project is done. They own the hosting, which can sit on Netlify or Vercel, and for one project the free tier is usually enough. They own the domain and the DNS, although I would help set it up in your early days to give them a good experience.

Payment is one time, a clean break. It suits technical clients and smaller projects, in the video I say around the $2,000 to $5,000 range. The risk is that there is no recurring revenue and no lock-in.

If you have ever built a site, you know the code normally lives on GitHub. In a full handoff you simply transfer that to the client once the project is complete and the payment has been settled.

Model 2: care plan

Here you build the website and also charge a small fixed monthly fee, for example $200 or $500 a month on a $5,000 site. You keep the repository, host it for free, and point their domain. Pitch it as insurance: you make small changes and keep the site up, so if anything breaks they can call you.

To keep these clients, give them something new every month or two, such as a trial of a new voice agent or chatbot, so they feel the value and do not feel they are paying for nothing.

The retainer only makes sense when the client has a real reason to keep you around. If their site rarely changes, a monthly fee will feel like a tax, so choose the care plan only for businesses that actually need ongoing work.

Model 3: retainer or partner program

This is the high-ticket model. You sell the website for a larger amount and keep a monthly retainer with constant upgrades. You hold the repository, manage everything, and the hosting can be chargeable depending on scale. It fits mid-size companies and SaaS-style sites with many moving parts, in the video I put the project value at roughly $5,000 to $10,000 or more. It has the highest commitment and the highest reward.

Pitch one model and lock the terms early

Never present a menu of three packages. It confuses the buyer and loses the sale. Decide during the call which model fits, and present just that, for example a website for a fixed amount plus a monthly fee, with a reason why.

State the payment terms on the first call, not later. In my process we finalize the design before taking money, because taking payment and then showing mockups the client does not like leads to refunds. Then it is 50 percent upfront and 50 percent on completion, which I treat as non-negotiable because it filters out time wasters. Hold weekly relationship calls and lead the project yourself rather than waiting for the client.

On the question of handing over code before payment, I say there is a degree of trust involved. I have seen people in my circle build everything, hand over the repository and then not get paid. In my own case I often send the code together with the invoice, because the client has been talking to me and is happy with the work. Use your judgement based on how well you know the client.

Weekly calls matter more than they look. They make the client feel valued and show that you are serious, and they give you a natural point to suggest new upgrades.

Pricing, honesty and red flags

To anchor your price, you can point out that agencies in the US typically start around $5,000 for a single site, so you can sit below that while delivering strong work. Never price below $500 as an absolute beginner, and once you have some experience avoid pricing below $1,000.

Be honest about retainers. Do not say it is for hosting, because the client can search that in seconds. Sell care, maintenance, reliability and bug fixes instead. Walk away from clients who haggle hard and distrust everything, go silent for days then resurface, want to start with nothing upfront, or have a vague scope. In the video I say that whatever is on paper is what they get.

One last thing I mention is authority. You do not need a YouTube channel to show it. You need to speak confidently in a calm voice and avoid sounding submissive or desperate, because clients do not like that and you will stay stuck on low-value work.

Watch the full video to see the delivery diagram, the onboarding flow and the client red flags explained in my own words.

Watch the full video See EducateXAI

Results vary and depend on your effort. Read the results disclaimer.

Questions people ask

Which delivery model should a beginner use?

In the video I recommend a full handoff for your first five to ten clients. It builds trust and testimonials, and the project is usually not valuable enough yet to support a monthly fee.

What is a care plan?

A care plan is a small fixed monthly fee on top of a one-time build. You keep the repository, make small changes and keep the site running. I describe it as insurance for the client's bigger website investment.

Should I offer clients multiple packages?

No. In my experience a menu confuses people and costs you the sale. Decide which single model fits during the call and pitch only that one with a clear reason. That is what I found works in practice.

How should payment work?

I take 50 percent upfront and 50 percent on completion, with design approved first. In the video I say that working with nothing upfront has burned me, so I treat the split as non-negotiable.

More from the channel

Prefer short reads? Start with the EducateXAI guides.