Why we give away websites to local businesses
We build free websites for local small businesses. Here's the honest business logic behind the offer — and what's in it for you.
Yes, really free. We design and build a website for your local business, you keep it — code, content, and all — and you pay us nothing for it. People are right to be suspicious of that sentence, so this post is the honest explanation.
The problem we kept seeing
Walk down any commercial street in Vancouver and look up the businesses you pass. A shocking number either have no website, or have one that hasn’t been touched since the early 2010s: not mobile-friendly, wrong hours, broken contact form, invisible on search.
These are good businesses. They don’t lack a website because they’re careless — they lack one because the market serves them badly. Agencies quote thousands. DIY builders eat your weekends and still look like templates. So the website stays broken, and customers quietly go elsewhere.
Why free actually works — for us
We’re not a charity, so here’s the business logic:
Portfolio and proof. We’re a small studio. A dozen local businesses with fast, clean sites — and owners happy to vouch for us — is worth more than any ad budget we could buy.
Word of mouth. Local business owners talk to each other. The café owner knows the florist knows the physiotherapist. Being “the people who built our site, for free, and were great to work with” travels.
Some of you will want more. Our actual business is custom software and AI: booking systems, automation, tools that save real hours. Some businesses that start with a free site later want those things, and we’d love to be the first call. That’s a hope, not a condition — most won’t, and that’s fine.
What the deal actually is
- We design and build the site. Fast, modern, mobile-friendly, findable on search.
- You pay for your own domain (roughly $15–20 a year, registered in your name).
- Hosting for a site like this is typically free on modern platforms; we set it up.
- You own everything. If we vanish tomorrow, your site doesn’t.
- We ask to show the work in our portfolio, and — if you’re happy — for a good word.
No fine print. No hostage-taking. The site is yours on day one.
The catch-shaped hole
Every version of this offer usually hides a catch: a monthly “maintenance fee,” hosting you can’t leave, a site that breaks if you stop paying. We’ve deliberately built the offer so none of those exist — because the entire value of the thing, for us, is that you’re genuinely happy and say so.
If that sounds useful for your business — or a business you know — claim yours here. One email is all it takes.