How to Choose a Web Developer in Kenya (Red Flags & the Right Questions)

The web design market in Kenya has brilliant professionals and absolute cowboys, often charging similar prices. The difference only becomes visible three months after you've paid — unless you know what to check before. These are the questions we'd ask if we were hiring on your behalf.

The five questions that expose everything

• "Whose name will the domain be registered in?" — The only right answer is YOURS. A domain in the developer's name is your business held hostage.
• "Can I see three live sites you built, and can I call one of those clients?" — Screenshots prove nothing; a phone call to a past client proves everything.
• "What exactly do I pay next year?" — Get renewal, hosting and maintenance in writing before paying a deposit.
• "Who can update the site after handover?" — You should be able to change prices and photos without paying per edit.
• "What happens if you're unavailable?" — Ask where the code and logins live. If everything exists only on one person's laptop, so does your website.

Red flags that should end the conversation

Full payment demanded upfront (a 50% deposit is normal; 100% is not). No written agreement of any kind. "Trust me" instead of a portfolio. A quote wildly below everyone else's — that gap is recovered later through hostage fees or a site that quietly never gets finished. And vagueness about who owns what: domain, hosting account, source files.

What a professional handover looks like

You receive the domain registrar login, hosting login, admin access to the site, and a short document listing every account in your name. The developer keeps a copy to support you — but you hold the keys. Any builder who resists this arrangement is telling you their business model depends on you being locked in.

Cheap, fast, good — the honest triangle

You can have any two. A good site fast won't be cheap; a cheap site fast won't be good. The most expensive website is the one you pay for twice — once to the cowboy, and again to whoever rebuilds it properly. Vet hard, pay fairly, own everything.

A good developer builds you an asset. A bad one builds themselves a monthly income stream — with your business as the hostage.