How to Choose a Web Development Company in Pakistan — 7 Questions to Ask First

Pakistan has thousands of web development agencies — Upwork profiles, Facebook pages, WhatsApp portfolios. A handful are genuinely good. The rest range from mediocre to outright fraudulent. The problem is they all look the same at the proposal stage.

This guide gives you seven concrete questions to ask any agency before signing a contract. We've included honest answers to each — including how we'd answer them ourselves.

1. Can you show me a live website you built?

Not a screenshot. Not a Figma mockup. A URL that opens in a browser right now.

Any agency with real production experience will have at least two or three live URLs they can share. Ask for one that's similar to what you need — an e-commerce store if you want a store, a dashboard if you need a portal.

When you visit the URL: check that it loads fast, works on mobile, and doesn't have broken links. These are the simplest indicators of code quality — an agency that ships broken navigation or a 6-second load time on their showcase project will do the same on yours.

Red flag: "We can't share client work due to NDAs." Genuine NDAs cover source code, not a live URL anyone can visit. This answer almost always means there's no work to show.

2. Who actually writes the code?

Pakistan has two kinds of agencies: ones with in-house developers, and ones who outsource your project to freelancers on Fiverr after collecting your deposit. Both may quote the same price and present the same portfolio (which they didn't build).

Ask: "Who will be writing the code on my project? Are they employees or contractors? Can I speak to them before we start?"

A legitimate agency will have no problem with a 15-minute intro call with the developer. An outsourcing broker will deflect or change the subject.

What to listen for: Specific names, specific roles, and the ability to answer technical questions about the stack they'll use. Vague answers like "our senior team" with no names are a warning sign.

3. Is this a fixed price or an hourly estimate?

The difference matters more than most clients realise. A fixed-price proposal means the agency has scoped your project properly and is accountable for delivering it within budget. An hourly estimate means risk is entirely on your side — every scope question, bug fix, or integration issue adds to your bill.

Some agencies quote low fixed prices to win the work, then bill hourly for anything not explicitly in the original spec (which they wrote vaguely on purpose). Ask to see the full feature list in the proposal — if it doesn't specifically describe each screen and function, it's not a real scope.

What good looks like: A proposal that lists every page, every user role, every integration, and every feature with enough detail that you could hand it to a different developer and get the same result.

4. What happens if the project takes longer than quoted?

This is where you separate professionals from amateurs. Every project encounters unexpected complexity. The question is who absorbs it.

A well-run agency will say: scope changes and timeline overruns caused by client-requested changes are billed separately; delays caused by our own estimation errors are on us. That's fair. What's not fair is an agency that quietly extends timelines indefinitely while billing monthly retainers for "ongoing work."

Ask them to describe a time a project ran over and what they did. Listen for specifics — vague reassurances ("we always deliver on time") are not the same as a concrete answer.

5. Do I own the source code and all credentials from day one of launch?

This should be non-negotiable, but many Pakistani agencies retain the codebase as leverage — especially for ongoing maintenance fees. Some host your site on servers they control, meaning they can take your business offline if you stop paying.

You should own: the Git repository, the hosting account (in your name), the domain (registered to you), and all API keys and credentials. These should be handed over on launch day, not held until the final payment clears.

What to put in the contract: "Source code, server credentials, domain registrar access, and all third-party API keys are transferred to the client upon deployment, prior to final payment."

6. What does post-launch support cost and what does it cover?

Every project needs small fixes after launch — browser edge cases, data corrections, minor feature tweaks. Most agencies either charge nothing (meaning they'll ignore your messages) or charge an opaque "monthly maintenance fee" with no defined scope.

Ask for a written breakdown: what's included in a monthly retainer, what's billed as additional work, and what's the guaranteed response time for a production outage.

A reasonable setup for a typical business website: 30 days of free bug fixes post-launch, then a monthly retainer at a fixed rate for minor changes, with emergency downtime response covered.

7. Can I speak to one of your previous clients?

This is the most powerful filter and the most underused. Agencies with satisfied clients are happy to make an introduction. Agencies with a trail of unhappy clients will find reasons not to.

You're not looking for a PR reference — ask the client directly: did the project finish on time, was the final price close to the quote, and would you hire them again?

Two genuine references outweigh any portfolio, any testimonial page, or any sales pitch.

What we'd answer

Since we wrote this guide: yes to all seven. We have live URLs, in-house developers in Karachi, fixed-price proposals with full feature lists, a written policy on scope changes, client-owned code and credentials at launch, a defined monthly retainer structure, and we'll connect you with previous clients on request.

If you're evaluating us alongside other agencies, book a 30-minute call. Ask us all seven questions. Then ask the others.