Questions clients actually ask
FAQ
Most people asking these have been burned before — by a developer who disappeared, or one who held a domain hostage. Fair questions. Here are the answers in writing, before you commit to anything.
Plans at a glance
Standard
$25/mo
The all-inclusive monthly: hosting, security, updates, email, monitoring, and small content edits. Where most rebuilds land.
Premium
$45/mo
Everything in Standard, plus one hour of change-work included every month — new sections, seasonal updates, photo swaps, done for you.
Own it outright
$300 once
The codebase buyout — minus every month you've already paid. After 12 months as a client it costs nothing.
No hidden fees · unlimited revisions before launch · switch plans anytime · cancel anytime · bigger projects always quoted before work starts
Ownership & access
The three questions every client should ask, and nobody should have to fight for.
Do we own the website and the content?
Yes. The content, images, copy, and brand are yours — they were yours before the build and they stay yours. Your domain stays registered in your own account (GoDaddy, Squarespace, wherever you bought it); zsty never takes ownership of it and never needs to. The code written for your project is yours to keep under the buyout terms below.
Will I be able to edit the site myself?
Yes. Sites ship with a visual drag-and-drop editor. You click a section, change the words or the photo, drag sections to reorder them, and press Publish. There is a guided tutorial built into the editor that walks you through every control the first time you open it — and you can replay it any time.
Everything you do is saved as a private draft until you press Publish, and every publish saves a snapshot of the previous version, so a bad edit is always reversible.
Everything you do is saved as a private draft until you press Publish, and every publish saves a snapshot of the previous version, so a bad edit is always reversible.
What happens if we stop working together — do we keep what we have?
You keep everything, and you get help leaving. Concretely:
- Your domain never left your account, so nothing needs to be released.
- Your content, images, and any data collected through the site are exported to you.
- The codebase is handed over under the buyout terms — emailed to you, pushed to a repository you own, or deployed onto your own servers.
What it costs
What the monthly buys, and what it doesn't.
What does the $25/month include?
Everything that keeps the site running and safe:
- Hosting and the secure certificate (the padlock in the address bar)
- Ongoing security patches and framework updates
- Uptime monitoring
- The automatic email the site sends — sign-in links, confirmations, reminders, form notifications
- Small content edits when you'd rather not do them yourself
What if I want changes made for me every month?
That's the Premium plan — $45/month. Everything in the standard plan, plus one hour of change-work included every month: a new section, a seasonal menu, photo swaps, copy updates — the “can you just…” requests, already paid for. Hours don't bank month to month; anything bigger than the included hour is quoted before work starts, like always. Most clients start at $25 and move up only when they find themselves asking for changes often.
Are there hidden fees?
No. The monthly is the whole bill — hosting, the secure certificate, updates, monitoring, email, and support in one price. No setup fees appearing later, no “plugin renewals,” no surprise invoices. The only outside cost is your domain renewal, paid directly to your own registrar (usually $10–25/year) — and that stays in your name on purpose.
Can we switch plans later?
Yes, either direction, any time. Move up to Premium when you want monthly changes handled for you; move back down when you don't. The switch takes effect on your next monthly cycle — no penalty, no re-signing anything.
How many revisions do we get before launch?
Unlimited. Your first 30 days are a free working preview, and until you approve the site and it goes live on your domain, revisions are simply part of the build. The build isn't done until you like it — that's the point of showing you the rebuild before you pay anything.
Do nonprofits pay the same?
Registered nonprofits get the build fee waived and pay only the monthly. Everything else on this page — ownership, the editor, the exit terms — is identical. Ask for the waived amount in writing if your board wants it recorded as in-kind support.
Is there a long contract?
No. The monthly is month-to-month. Cancel whenever you like — that stops hosting and support going forward. It does not take away your domain or your content, and it does not delete your data before you've had a chance to export it.
Buying out the codebase
The exit clause, stated up front rather than discovered later.
Can we buy the codebase outright?
Yes, at any time. The buyout is a one-time fee equal to 12 months of hosting — $300 — minus every month you have already paid. So the longer you've been a client, the less the buyout costs, and after 12 months of hosting it is $0.
As soon as it's settled the codebase is yours and it can be handed over the same day: emailed to you as an archive, pushed to a GitHub account you own, or deployed onto your own servers with help getting it running.
As soon as it's settled the codebase is yours and it can be handed over the same day: emailed to you as an archive, pushed to a GitHub account you own, or deployed onto your own servers with help getting it running.
Why is there a buyout fee at all?
Because the build is heavily discounted — and for nonprofits, free — on the understanding that there's an ongoing relationship. The buyout stops a full custom build from being taken for one month's payment and then cancelled. It is not a penalty: it is simply the remainder of the first year, and it shrinks every month you stay.
What exactly do we receive in a buyout?
The complete source code for your site, your content and images, and an export of any data the site has collected — all in standard formats another developer can pick up without needing anything from zsty. Help pointing your domain wherever you want it is included.
Client terms — the short version
- Your domain, your content. Registered in your name, never transferred to zsty, never held.
- Hosting starts at $25/month, month-to-month, cancel any time. The price tracks how much hands-on developer time your build needs: simple sites stay at $25; complex builds or ongoing custom work are quoted higher, before work starts. Nonprofits: build fee waived.
- Codebase buyout = a one-time 12 months of hosting ($300), minus months already paid. After 12 months as a client it costs nothing.
- On buyout or exit, the code, content, and data are delivered to you — by email, to your own GitHub, or deployed to your own servers.
- No lock-in mechanics. No proprietary editor you lose access to, no hostage domain, no cancellation penalty beyond the buyout above.
This summary is the commercial intent in plain English. The full Terms of Service and Privacy Policy govern use of this website; a signed engagement letter governs a specific project and controls if the two ever differ.