Is an agency cheaper than hiring in-house?

It depends on your volume of work. For roughly a project a quarter, you pay an agency for the build and not the idle time between; a full-time hire makes sense once there's a steady, full-time stream of automation work to own.

Who owns the work if an agency builds it?

You do. We hand over the source and document it so your team can maintain or extend it - you're not locked into us to keep it running.

In-house hire vs an automation agency

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Criterion by criterion

5 criteria

Time to first working system

Agency build (Evenops): Weeks - we start scoped and already know the tools
In-house hire: Months - sourcing, hiring, onboarding first

Ongoing internal context and priorities

Agency build (Evenops): We learn it, but you own it day to day
In-house hire: Lives in the person's head, always current

Cost at one project a quarter

Agency build (Evenops): Pay for the build, not the idle time between
In-house hire: Full-time salary whether there's work queued or not

Breadth of tools already used in production

Agency build (Evenops): Whatever the scope calls for
In-house hire: Limited to what that one hire already knows

Same-day small requests, no scoping call

Agency build (Evenops): Goes through a scope and a queue
In-house hire: Can just be asked, no handoff needed

Which one is right for you

When In-house hire is the right call

If you have a steady stream of automation work every week and want someone embedded who knows your systems without being briefed, hiring in-house is the right call - that's what full-time headcount is for.

When Agency build (Evenops) is the right call

When the work comes in bursts, or you need breadth across tools no single hire has used in production, an agency build gets you a working system without carrying a salary between projects.

Common questions

2 questions

Is an agency cheaper than hiring in-house?: It depends on your volume of work. For roughly a project a quarter, you pay an agency for the build and not the idle time between; a full-time hire makes sense once there's a steady, full-time stream of automation work to own.
Who owns the work if an agency builds it?: You do. We hand over the source and document it so your team can maintain or extend it - you're not locked into us to keep it running.

See our services and pricing to weigh it up.

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