Brightbase fractional teams vs In-house

Scale your 
creative without scaling payroll

A fractional creative team that moves at your pace. 20x faster and 50% cheaper than full-time hiring or agencies and adjustable month-to-month.

Trusted by B2B saas brands just like yours
CoalesceSaviyntRevanateIntelloWispNoiseAwareNavis
CoalesceSaviyntRevanateIntelloWispNoiseAwareNavis
Brightbase fractional teams vs In-house

Scale your 
creative without scaling payroll

A fractional creative team that moves at your pace. Faster and cheaper than full-time hiring or agencies and adjustable month-to-month.

Get Started
fractional team Primary benefits

Your marketing team's new secret weapon

Imagine the power of an agency, the flexibility of freelancers, and the reliability of an in-house team, all in an adjustable monthly subscription.

Get Started
consistent quality

Work directly with a dedicated senior team.

Ultra-fast turnarounds

Familiar, available and ready. 

It’s your team, you’re first in line.

Flexible & Scalable

Easily adjust month-to-month.
No long contracts, or hiring cycles.

Full-Service at Fractional Cost

A full creative team with in-house availability for a fraction of the hiring cost.

understanding the differences

Brightbase + In-House Teams, a side-by-side comparison

Feature
Brightbase
In-House Teams
Skills / Roles
Top quality creative direction, design, dev, video and more built into one team with project management included.
Limited to current team skill set, slow to expand to new formats.
Cost
Saves 30–70% vs. hiring a full creative team.
In-house creative teams costs $300–800K/yr fully loaded.
Utilization
Pay only for productive hours. 100% utilization.
Pay for 40 hrs/week plus onboarding, meetings & admin.
Average productive utilization 50-60%.
Flexibility
Adjust hours month-to-month. Ramp up, down or pause as needed.
Locked into limited skills and full-time salaries.
Scalability
Scale up or shift skills instantly as needs change.
Requires hiring, training, and approvals.
Collaboration
One team that can handle all your requests.
Risk of silos and approval bottlenecks, or combining outside talent with inside workflows.
Speed to start
Start in days, with zero hiring costs or time vetting candidates.
3–6 months to hire, plus hiring resources time and cost.
brightbase vs. in-house teams

Savings by the numbers

Average saved / year
vs. an in-house team
30–50%
Typical savings vs. hiring in-house
creative direction, design, dev
$291K
Average time spent on admin, meetings
or training for in-house teams.
40%
Faster than hiring
an in-house team
20X

Calculate the savings for yourself

compared to hiring in-house

Savings by the numbers

Average saved / year
vs. an in-house team
30–60%
Typical savings vs. hiring in-house
creative direction, design, dev
$291K
Faster than hiring
an in-house team
20X
Utilization rate — only pay
for productive hours
100%
Calculate the savings for yourself
In-House Cost Calculator
client case studies

Returns from the field

  • Social Media
  • Slide Decks
  • Event Collateral
  • Website Design
  • Wordpress development
  • Logo & Branding
  • Brand Guide
Average yearly savings vs. a comparable in-house creative team
$394K
  • Logo & Branding
  • Slide Decks
  • Social Media
  • Website Design
  • Wordpress Development
  • Brand Guides
  • Ebooks
Conversion rate increase
after brand and website redesign
22%
  • Social Media
  • Slide Decks
  • Event Collateral
  • Website Design
  • Wordpress development
  • Logo & Branding
  • Brand Guide
Average yearly savings vs. a comparable in-house creative team
$498K
  • Logo & Branding
  • Slide Decks
  • Social Media
  • Swag
  • Campaign Identity
  • Event Collateral
Hours saved with AI-assisted
image generation
50+
  • Logo & Branding
  • Slide Decks
  • Ebooks
  • Brand Guides
  • Website Design
Series A funding raise
post brand design
$25M
  • Logo & Branding
  • Slide Decks
  • Social Media
  • Brand Guides
  • Ebooks
Average yearly savings vs. a comparable in-house creative team
$291K
  • Social Media
  • Slide Decks
  • Event Collateral
  • Website Design
  • Wordpress development
  • Logo & Branding
  • Brand Guide
Average yearly savings vs. a comparable in-house creative team
$394K
  • Logo & Branding
  • Slide Decks
  • Social Media
  • Website Design
  • Wordpress Development
  • Brand Guides
  • Ebooks
Conversion rate increase
after brand and website redesign
22%
  • Social Media
  • Slide Decks
  • Event Collateral
  • Website Design
  • Wordpress development
  • Logo & Branding
  • Brand Guide
Average yearly savings vs. a comparable in-house creative team
$498K
  • Logo & Branding
  • Slide Decks
  • Social Media
  • Swag
  • Campaign Identity
  • Event Collateral
Hours saved with AI-assisted
image generation
50+
  • Logo & Branding
  • Slide Decks
  • Ebooks
  • Brand Guides
  • Website Design
Series A funding raise
post brand design
$25M
  • Logo & Branding
  • Slide Decks
  • Social Media
  • Brand Guides
  • Ebooks
Average yearly savings vs. a comparable in-house creative team
$291K
View Work & Case Studies
how it works

Full-service creative
adjustable month-to-month

STEP 1

Choose how many hours you need

Plans of all sizes: part-time, full-time, startup, enterprise and in between.
Not sure? Happy to help.
STEP 2

Use those hours for any of our services

Branding, design, development, video or  copywriting.
Big projects, quick fixes, team meetings
— we’re onboard and ready.
STEP 3

Get brilliant work, quickly and easily

Work directly with senior talent, in real time,
 wherever you like to work — Slack, Asana, etc.
STEP 4

Easily adjust as your needs change

Adjust your hours month-to-month, and roll over  unused hours, so no hour is wasted.
No long-term commitments or gotcha fees.
Just honest hourly retainers.

Incredible quality in record time with minimal direction.
They just get it.

Wade Tibke
SVP Marketing
Coalesce

Record-breaking
results
in qualified
meetings and
influenced revenue.

Madison Perry
Vice President, Marketing
Sourcewhale

A reliable and
essential extension of our team.

Yash Prakash
Chief Marketing Officer
Saviynt

They are a partner
you can trust

with your brand.

Casey Munck
Senior Director, Marketing
NAVIS

They consistently
deliver
inventive and high-quality work.

Lani Beadle Marketing
Launch Darkly

Organized,
responsive,
and a pleasure
to work with.

Kelsie Skinner
Vice President, Marketing
Afresh

They go over and
above
, time after time, with projects large and small.”

Erin Duncan
Director, Product Marketing
Saviynt

Nothing but
phenomenal.

Highly recommend
for creative projects.

Devon Tackels
Director, Marketing Programs
Coalesce
flexible subscription plans

A subscription built  to scale with you

Monthly retainer

Flexible plans
for every business

From quick design and development tasks, to brand, strategy, and motion, a Brightbase subscription lets you allocate your monthly budget based on what your team needs right now.
$7,500/mo
Includes
  • 50 hrs / month. Billed monthly.
  • All design, development, video, copywriting services
  • All hours are fast turnaround
  • Unused hours rollover month-to-month
  • Work directly with your talent (no async ticketing)
  • Intergrated into your systems (Slack, Asana, Trello, etc.)
  • Unlimited meetings
  • No long-term commitments or hidden fees
  • Social Media
  • Slide Decks
  • Event Collateral
  • Website Design
  • Wordpress development
  • Logo & Branding
  • Brand Guide
Average yearly savings vs. a
comparable in-house creative team
$394K

Incredible quality in record time with minimal direction. They just get it.

Wade Tibke
SVP Marketing
Coalesce
Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

How are you different from other subscription services?

So glad you asked. In general we offer more flexibility, more skills, and IMHO, better quality work.

  • More flexibility with low minimum commitments and ability to adjust month-to-month.
  • More utilization with the ability to rollover unused hours to the following month.
  • More skills since we offer website development as well as creative, video and content.
  • Better quality with higher paid senior talent.

More on the limits of unlimited design & subscription models?

Unlimited design, subscription-based, creative-as-a-service options are very hot right now — and for good reason. They promise a better way to get design done — compared to traditional agencies, or hiring in-house. The revolution to rethink these models is full of promise, but is often over-promised by today’s options.

  • “Unlimited design” is really 10-20 requests / month depending on average turnaround. Sometimes this works out, but sometimes you’re paying $500 for a small adjustment, or paying for days you’re not using.
  • Design-only subscriptions leave your website development needs unmet. A resource that only creates half of what you need, is only half a solution.
  • “Flexible” often still comes with year long commitments, strict tiers and easily triggered hidden fees. We have one rate and no hidden fees.

How do I know which plan is right for me?

We can help! Just book a call with us and we'll recommend a level for you based on your team's needs as well as the expected volume and velocity. The best part is you can always adjust your hours so you’re never locked in long term.

What is the minimum commitment for a retainer?

Our retainers are month-to-month with a 30 day cancellation — unlike similar services that lock you into a year-long contract.

What happens if I don't use all my hours in a month?

They rollover to the next month! This rollover is limited to 100% of the month’s retained hours. With the ability to adjust your hours month-to-month you should never lose time you’ve paid for.

How much does a typical design project cost?

Since we offer such a wide range of services — full-scale rebranding and website development, to quick file changes and web updates — the cost varies considerably. However, we can always provide an estimate for each project. If you have a particular project in mind, let us know and we’ll be happy to quote it.

In general, we're less expensive than agencies and a little more expensive than individual freelancers since we offer high-quality work, project management, creative direction and a wider range of skills. And of course, the more we’ve worked together the more efficient we get.

Do you do custom plans?

100%. We’re built around you. Our base retainers are just starting points to build a relationship that caters to your specific needs. Let’s hop on a call and hear what you have in mind.

How do I make requests?

We embed our team into whatever messaging or PM system you use. If you don't have one, we can add you to ours.

Most of our clients use Slack for quick communication, and Asana, Trello or Notion for project management.

We can provide more direction on how best to request certain tasks, provide web content, feedback etc. — but in general, we meet you where you are.

What if I only have a single request or project?

No problem! We offer project-based services as well — though it typically means a higher hourly rate.