Before you hire a web developer
Most people searching for a developer want a website, not a developer. Those are different problems, and only one of them needs a person. Here is where the line actually falls.
What a developer costs, and what you get
A designed small-business site in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam or Kampala typically runs KSh 15,000 to KSh 40,000 and takes two to six weeks. For that you get something made for you, by someone you can talk to.
The recurring cost is the part people underestimate. Changing a price, adding a service or updating opening hours means contacting whoever built it, waiting for a gap in their week, and paying for the visit. Plenty of small-business sites in the region are years out of date for exactly this reason — not because the build was bad, but because the maintenance never had a budget.
When you genuinely need a developer
Hire one if you need a booking system tied to your calendar, a real shop with stock and checkout, a customer login, an integration with your accounting or POS, or anything custom-built to how you work.
Hire one if your website is the product rather than a description of it. No generator can do that, and anything claiming otherwise is selling you a disappointment.
When you don't
If what you need is a site that says who you are, what you offer, what it costs, and how to reach you — that is a solved problem and it should not cost a month's rent.
Ivy writes that site from one sentence, hosts it, and lets you change it yourself for as long as you keep it. Free to build, so you can compare it against a real quote before spending anything. If you outgrow it, you can download the whole thing as plain HTML and CSS and hand it to a developer — no lock-in, no proprietary format.
Questions
Is this as good as a developer?
For a brochure site — who you are, what you sell, how to reach you — the result is comparable and it arrives in a minute. For anything custom, a developer is the right answer and we will say so.
Can I take the code to a developer later?
Yes. Paid plans can download the whole site as plain HTML and CSS with no framework and no build step. It is a folder any developer can open and continue.
Do you build custom features?
No. Ivy builds informational sites — pages, services, galleries, FAQs and a contact form. Anything beyond that needs a developer.
Try it before you decide anything.
Building and previewing a whole site is free, with no account and no card until you publish.
Draft my site — free