Freelancer or Agency in Kazakhstan: Which is Better for Web Development in 2026
This is one of the most common questions from Kazakhstani entrepreneurs when ordering a website. Short answer: depends on project scale and priorities. Detailed answer below.
Market Structure
Kazakhstan has ~350+ web agencies and 15,000+ IT freelancers, with ~4,500 specializing in web development.
A separate category: Individual Entrepreneur (ИП) developers — experienced developers registered as sole proprietors. They offer official contracts, legal accountability, and work under Kazakhstan's simplified tax regime (УСН 2%), which means lower overhead than agencies.
As detailed in our Kazakhstan 2026 tax regime guide, an ИП developer can save you 22% compared to working with a ТОО/Agency.
Price Comparison
Agencies charge 30-55% markup over the developer's actual rate to cover office rent, project managers, marketing, and profit.
| Service | Freelancer | ИП Developer | Agency | |---------|-----------|-------------|--------| | Landing page | 250,000 ₸ | 350,000 ₸ | 500,000-700,000 ₸ | | Corporate site | 1,500,000 ₸ | 2,000,000 ₸ | 3,000,000-4,500,000 ₸ | | E-commerce | 3,000,000 ₸ | 4,000,000 ₸ | 6,000,000-10,000,000 ₸ |
Decision Matrix
Choose a freelancer (individual) if: budget under 500,000 ₸, standard task, personal recommendation.
Choose an ИП developer if: budget 500,000 — 10,000,000 ₸, custom functionality needed, official contract required, direct communication preferred, Kazakhstan integrations needed (Kaspi, 1C).
Choose an agency if: budget 10,000,000+ ₸, need parallel team (designer + developer + tester simultaneously), government tender requiring ТОО entity.
Red Flags When Hiring in Kazakhstan
❌ Reject immediately if:
- Promises a corporate site for 100,000-200,000 ₸
- Requires 100% upfront payment without contract
- Cannot show live work examples
- Promises Google top ranking in 1 month
For government procurement, see our developer selection checklist for Kazakhstan tenders.
Also read our complete website development guide for Kazakhstan 2026.
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