A new website is a large, visible project, so it pays to know who you are hiring. This guide looks at eight top web design agencies, Clay, Ramotion, Big Drop, Lounge Lizard, Digital Silk, Baunfire, Instrument and Huge, and sets out what each studio says about itself on its own site: where it works, how long it has been around, what it builds and which clients it names.

Nothing here is sponsored, and the list order carries no rank.

How we selected the studios

Each agency had to meet every criterion below at the time of our review on October 26, 2026:

  1. Web design is a core service, shown in the studio’s own service menu.
  2. The studio’s website is live and names at least one office or headquarters address.
  3. It shows a history, shown through a founding year, time in business or a project count.
  4. Clients appear only if the studio names them on its own pages, in a case study or client list.
  5. No third-party sources for facts. We ignored directories, award sites and review platforms.

Team sizes, project counts and client names are as published by each agency. None of the eight post a price list.

Top web design agencies at a glance

Studio Base History Main focus
Clay San Francisco 16 years in business UI/UX design and branding
Ramotion San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York Since 2009 Branding, web design and UX design
Big Drop New York, Miami, Los Angeles Since 2013 Web design and development
Lounge Lizard Long Island and New York City 1998 Web design, e-commerce and marketing
Digital Silk Miami Not stated Branding, web design and marketing
Baunfire San Jose Not stated Websites for Silicon Valley firms
Instrument Portland and New York 20 years Brand, product and marketing design
Huge Brooklyn origins; New York address 1999 Brand, products and commerce

1. Clay

Clay describes itself as a UI/UX design and branding agency headquartered at 300 Broadway, San Francisco. It also lists offices in New York, Austin, Denver, Lisbon and Belgrade. Its About page counts 78 team members, 16 years in business and 529 projects completed, and its homepage names early-stage clients such as Coinbase and Uber and enterprise clients including ADP, Amazon, VMware and Cisco.

Services:

  • Brand strategy, verbal identity and visual identity
  • Digital products for consumer and enterprise users
  • UX design and UI design
  • Web design and development
  • Design systems

Price: quote-based; no figures on its site.

Strengths: product and UX design next to branding, with case studies for Slack and Snapchat.

Limitations: its industry pages highlight fintech and crypto, so firms in other sectors should ask for relevant examples.

Good fit for: tech companies that want brand identity and product design from one team.

2. Ramotion

Ramotion lists locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Its About page gives 70 team experts, a start in the industry in 2009 and 350+ projects completed. It describes itself as combining design, technology and psychology to deliver business results.

Services:

  • Branding, brand strategy, brand identity and rebranding
  • Web design for startups, B2B and SaaS companies
  • UX design and design systems
  • Web app development
  • Team extension and ongoing UI/UX design

Price: quote-based; no figures on its site.

Strengths: packaged brand programs for startups and SaaS firms, from creation to redesign.

Limitations: the menu leans toward software companies, so local service firms may find less tailored work.

Good fit for: SaaS and B2B startups that need a brand and website before a product release or funding round.

3. Big Drop

Big Drop calls itself a full-service digital agency and says it has worked with Fortune 500 companies, SMBs and start-ups since 2013. It lists offices at 169 Madison Avenue in New York, on SW 7th Street in Miami and in Culver City for Los Angeles.

Services:

  • Web design
  • Web development
  • Digital marketing
  • AI services
  • Branding and ongoing support

Price: quote-based; no figures on its site.

Strengths: design, build, marketing and support from one team, with offices on both coasts.

Limitations: the About page is short and does not give a team size.

Good fit for: mid-sized companies that want a new site plus ongoing support and marketing.

4. Lounge Lizard

Lounge Lizard was founded in 1998 by Ken Braun and Sharon Sexton Braun in a spare bedroom on Long Island. It now lists offices at 991 Main St in Holbrook and in New York City, Washington DC, Nashville, Miami, Charleston, Richmond, Las Vegas and Austin. Its About page shows results such as a 200% increase in featured story web sessions for TDK.

Services:

  • Web design and e-commerce development
  • Digital marketing and AI search
  • Social media management and paid media
  • Branding and creative
  • Mobile app design and development for iOS and Android

Price: quote-based; no figures on its site.

Strengths: more than two decades of web work and a wide office network.

Limitations: with many offices, check which one would run your project.

Good fit for: organizations that want ecommerce web design or a new site combined with marketing.

5. Digital Silk

Digital Silk lists its address at 17975 Collins Ave Suite 3401 in Miami, with locations in New York, Chicago and San Diego. Its About page counts 150+ team members, and its CEO and founder Gabriel Shaoolian is described as having worked with brands including Google, Microsoft, Sony, the NFL and NASA.

Services:

  • Brand strategy, brand identity, logo design and rebrands
  • Custom web design and web development
  • Ecommerce web design
  • SEO and AI optimization, PPC and email marketing
  • Social media marketing

Price: quote-based; the site has a quote request form.

Strengths: branding, web and marketing under one roof, with before and after design examples.

Limitations: the client list on the About page refers to the founder’s experience, so ask which of those brands Digital Silk itself served.

Good fit for: brands planning a rebrand and a new site at the same time.

6. Baunfire

Baunfire is a web design and development company at 75 E Santa Clara St in San Jose, California. It describes a team of designers, developers, strategists and producers building websites for brands and startups in Silicon Valley. Its featured work includes corporate websites for Karat, Cellares, Lumana and Ambi Robotics.

Services:

  • Websites: UX, design and development
  • Creative marketing assets
  • Strategy

Price: quote-based; no figures on its site.

Strengths: a narrow focus on websites for technology and B2B firms.

Limitations: its site does not say when it was founded or how large the team is.

Good fit for: Bay Area tech and B2B companies that need a corporate website.

7. Instrument

Instrument calls itself a technology-led brand, product and marketing agency. Its About page lists 20 years of work, 350+ employees with access to the Stagwell network, and offices in Portland and New York plus remote staff. It was named Design Studio Agency of the Year 2026 by Campaign US, per its site, and its client roster includes Nike, Google, Netflix, Spotify and Patagonia.

Services:

  • Brand systems and identity
  • Product design
  • Websites
  • Marketing campaigns

Price: quote-based; no figures on its site.

Strengths: large brand clients and a team that designs across brand, product and marketing.

Limitations: its client roster points to large budgets, so smaller firms may not be its target.

Good fit for: consumer and tech brands that want a website as part of a wider brand system.

8. Huge

Huge was born in Brooklyn in 1999 and lists its address as 53 W 23rd St, New York. Its timeline includes JetBlue’s first website in 2005, a Google partnership from 2012 and a return to independence in 2024. The site counts 25+ years and 14 hubs, and features work for NBCU, CoinTracker, Big Green Egg and Darling Ingredients.

Services:

  • Brand strategy and design
  • Marketing and content
  • Products and platforms
  • Composable commerce

Price: quote-based; no figures on its site.

Strengths: long experience with large digital products, including a 14+ year partnership with Google.

Limitations: an enterprise focus, so a simple brochure site may be outside its usual scope.

Good fit for: large brands rebuilding digital products or commerce platforms.

Questions to settle before hiring a studio

Decide first whether you need a marketing site, an online store or a digital product. Baunfire, Big Drop and Lounge Lizard focus on websites. Clay, Ramotion and Instrument pair web work with brand identity and UX design. Huge and Instrument suit large product or commerce rebuilds.

Ask every studio how it will measure speed and usability. Google’s Core Web Vitals guidance sets good thresholds of 2.5 seconds for Largest Contentful Paint, 200 milliseconds for Interaction to Next Paint and 0.1 for Cumulative Layout Shift, measured at the 75th percentile of page loads. For web accessibility, the W3C’s WCAG overview explains that WCAG 2.2 has 13 guidelines under 4 principles, with success criteria at levels A, AA and AAA.

A short checklist for proposals:

  • Which CMS or platform will we use, and who can edit pages after go-live?
  • How will you test Core Web Vitals before go-live?
  • Which WCAG level will the site meet?
  • Who owns the design files and code when the project ends?
  • What is included in the quote, and what would count as extra work?

Check the case studies too. A studio that names clients in your sector, as Baunfire does for Silicon Valley firms and Clay does for fintech, can show you comparable work before you sign.

Once a new site is live, you may want to reach partners or press about it. Our guide to finding company contact information and our article on how to track down a person’s email cover that, and our note on email finders versus verifiers explains the difference between the two tools. Current plans are on our pricing page.

FAQ

How long does a website project take?

None of the eight publish fixed timelines. Ask each studio for a schedule based on your page count, content and integrations.

What is the difference between web design and UX design?

Web design covers the look and build of a site. UX design studies how people use it and shapes the flow, which matters for products and complex sites. Clay and Ramotion list both.

Do web design agencies also handle branding?

Many do. Clay, Ramotion, Big Drop, Lounge Lizard and Digital Silk all list brand identity or branding as a service.

What are Core Web Vitals?

They are Google’s measures of loading, responsiveness and visual stability. Good scores are an LCP of 2.5 seconds or less, INP of 200 milliseconds or less and CLS of 0.1 or less.

Should my new site meet WCAG?

Accessibility helps more people use your site. Ask your agency which WCAG level it designs to and how it will test that level before the site goes live.

Making a shortlist

Pick two or three studios whose focus and size match your project, send each the same brief and checklist, and compare their plans for speed, accessibility and handover. Also ask who will maintain the site once it is live, and what that support costs per month or per request.