# How do you choose a Sanity development agency, and which questions expose real experience?

Reviewed by Martin Dejnicki · facts verified 25 October 2026 · canonical: https://deploi.ca/sanity/agency/how-to-choose

## Short answer

A Sanity development agency earns the job when it shows you a Sanity Studio it built and still runs, writes an hours estimate before work starts, and builds in your own Sanity organization. Sanity's agency guide says to "create client-specific organizations from the start" ([Sanity Docs](https://www.sanity.io/docs/developer-guides/agencies-navigating-the-spring-2025-organization-changes), October 2026), so the project stays yours. Test migration and exit answers next.

- **Who should own the Sanity organization:** You, from the start. Sanity's agency guide: "Always create client-specific organizations from the start for new projects" ([Sanity Docs, Agencies: Navigating the Spring 2025 organization changes](https://www.sanity.io/docs/developer-guides/agencies-navigating-the-spring-2025-organization-changes))
- **Migration test:** Dry run first, on a non-production dataset. sanity migrations run dry-runs unless passed --no-dry-run, and Sanity says to back up the dataset before a migration ([Sanity Docs, Migrating your schema and content](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/schema-and-content-migrations); [Sanity Docs, Development, staging, and production environments](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/environments))
- **Features to flag as Enterprise:** Content Releases and custom roles. Content Releases is an Enterprise add-on and custom roles are Enterprise, as of October 2026 ([Sanity, Plans that scale with you](https://www.sanity.io/pricing); [Sanity Docs, Content Releases user guide](https://www.sanity.io/docs/user-guides/content-releases); [Sanity Docs, Roles and permissions](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/roles-concepts))
- **Sanity's agency partner directory:** 219 agencies, counted 25 October 2026. Filters by services, budget and region; 15 listings carry an unexplained star and come first, and the page shows no certification or tier label ([Sanity, Find an Agency Partner](https://www.sanity.io/agency-partners))

## Deploi's call

Choose a Sanity agency by what it can show you and put in writing, not by a listing or a front-end portfolio. Insist on a client-owned organization, a written hours estimate and a Studio walkthrough, and walk away from anyone who can't give you all three, because those are the things that cost you money after launch.

**YES: Hire a Sanity agency when it**

- Shows you a Sanity Studio it built and still maintains, so you can judge the editing screens your team will work in.
- Puts the project in your Sanity organization from day one, because Sanity's agency guide says to create client-specific organizations from the start.
- Gives you a written hours estimate, part by part, before work starts, so scope sets the price, not the calendar.
- Names which proposed features need Enterprise, such as Content Releases and custom roles as of October 2026.

**NO: Walk away from a Sanity agency when it**

- Wants to build in its own Sanity organization and hand over at launch, because moving a Sanity project later takes a transfer between organizations, and the receiving organization becomes responsible for any overage charges accrued on the project.
- Presents a directory listing as a certification, because Sanity's directory page shows no certification or tier label as of October 2026.
- Has no dry-run, backup and rollback plan for your content, so the first test of its scripts would be your live data.

## What should you look for in a Sanity development agency?

Look for a Sanity development agency that can open shipped Sanity work for you, prices from a content model, and builds in your own Sanity organization. Deploi is a web development agency that sells Sanity development, so read this guide knowing who wrote it: it ranks nobody, and [Deploi's Sanity development service](https://deploi.ca/sanity/agency) is described on its own. The criteria, in Deploi's judgment:

- **Sanity work you can open.** A live site and a walkthrough of its Sanity Studio, because the Studio is where your editors work every day.
- **A content model before a price**, so the estimate prices your content, not a template.
- **Migration practice.** Dry runs, expected counts and a backup, because a migration script rewrites live data.
- **Your organization from day one**, because Sanity's agency guide tells agencies to "create client-specific organizations from the start" ([Sanity Docs](https://www.sanity.io/docs/developer-guides/agencies-navigating-the-spring-2025-organization-changes), October 2026).
- **Estimates written by the people who build**, so the hours match the work.
- **Plan fluency**, so no Growth or Enterprise upgrade surprises you after launch.
- **Support terms in writing**, so you know what a fix costs before you need one.

## Which questions show whether an agency has really built on Sanity?

Three questions expose real Sanity experience, because Sanity's documentation lets you check the answers: whose organization the project lives in, how the migration runs, and which features need Enterprise. Sanity tells agencies to create client-specific organizations from the start ([Sanity Docs](https://www.sanity.io/docs/developer-guides/agencies-navigating-the-spring-2025-organization-changes), October 2026). The `sanity migrations run` command "will always run in dry-run mode unless you add the `--no-dry-run` flag" ([Sanity Docs, migrations](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/schema-and-content-migrations), October 2026), and Sanity says to run migrations against a non-production dataset first ([Sanity Docs, environments](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/environments), October 2026). As of October 2026, [Content Releases](https://deploi.ca/sanity/features/content-releases) is an Enterprise add-on and custom roles are Enterprise only ([Sanity pricing](https://www.sanity.io/pricing); [Sanity Docs, roles](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/roles-concepts), October 2026). [A safe import into Sanity](https://deploi.ca/sanity/migration/cms-to-sanity/safe-import) shows what a full migration answer contains.

**Three questions whose answers you can check against Sanity's documentation**

| Question | A good answer | A weak answer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Whose Sanity organization will the project live in? | Yours, from day one, with the agency invited in | Ours, transferred at launch |
| How will you migrate our content? | Scripts on a staging dataset first, dry runs, expected counts, an export as backup | One import on launch day |
| Which proposed features need Enterprise? | Content Releases and custom roles, named unprompted | Everything runs on Growth |

The good and weak answers are Deploi's judgment, built on the Sanity pages cited. Sources: [Sanity Docs, Agencies: Navigating the Spring 2025 organization changes](https://www.sanity.io/docs/developer-guides/agencies-navigating-the-spring-2025-organization-changes); [Sanity Docs, Migrating your schema and content](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/schema-and-content-migrations); [Sanity Docs, Development, staging, and production environments](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/environments); [Sanity, Plans that scale with you](https://www.sanity.io/pricing); [Sanity Docs, Content Releases user guide](https://www.sanity.io/docs/user-guides/content-releases); [Sanity Docs, Roles and permissions](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/roles-concepts). As of 25 October 2026.

## Which follow-up questions test a Sanity agency on quotas, upkeep and your exit?

Three follow-up questions test a Sanity agency on quotas, upkeep and your exit: how your project stays inside the Growth plan's document quota, which Sanity Studio the agency still maintains, and what happens to your content if you leave. Sanity's Growth plan includes 25,000 documents per project with no document overage, and the Increased quota add-on raises the total to 50,000 ([Sanity pricing](https://www.sanity.io/pricing); [Sanity Docs, plans and payments](https://www.sanity.io/docs/platform-management/plans-and-payments), October 2026). Drafts with unpublished changes count as separate documents, so what counts as a Sanity document matters. Your exit is a dataset export: every document in `data.ndjson`, plus the image and file binaries ([Sanity Docs, export](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/exporting-data), October 2026).

**Three more questions, on quotas, Studio work and your exit**

| Question | A good answer | A weak answer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| How will we stay inside Growth's document quota? | 25,000 documents, drafts count, no overage; an add-on reaches 50,000 | Documents are unlimited |
| Can you show us a Studio you built and still maintain? | A live walkthrough of editing, roles and preview | Front-end screenshots only |
| What happens to our content if we leave you? | Every document and asset exported, from an organization you own | We send you a copy |

The good and weak answers are Deploi's judgment; the Studio walkthrough is a test Deploi recommends, not a Sanity rule. Sources: [Sanity Docs, Export a dataset](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/exporting-data); [Sanity, Plans that scale with you](https://www.sanity.io/pricing); [Sanity Docs, Plans and payments](https://www.sanity.io/docs/platform-management/plans-and-payments); [Sanity Docs, Technical limits](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/technical-limits). As of 25 October 2026.

## What are the red flags when you hire a Sanity agency?

The red flags when you hire a Sanity agency are patterns in ownership, pricing, plans, migrations and claims that you can spot before you sign. Walk away, or ask harder questions, when you see:

- The project built in the agency's own Sanity organization, to be handed over later.
- No written estimate, or an open-ended hourly quote with no cap on billed hours.
- "Sanity partner" sold as a certification: Sanity's directory page shows no certification or tier label ([Sanity, Find an Agency Partner](https://www.sanity.io/agency-partners), October 2026).
- Enterprise-only features, such as Content Releases or custom roles, proposed without saying so.
- A migration plan with no dry run, no backup and no rollback.
- Guarantees of search rankings, AI citations or a return on investment.
- Nobody who will show you a Sanity Studio they built.

Each pattern moves risk from the agency to you, so you inherit a transfer to chase, an invoice you can't predict or a plan upgrade nobody priced.

> **When you may not need an agency at all**
>
> A single small fix, or a team with a Sanity developer on staff, may not need an agency engagement. [Agency, freelancer or in-house](https://deploi.ca/sanity/faq/agency-freelancer-or-in-house-for-sanity) weighs the three.

## How do Sanity agencies charge: hourly estimates, fixed bids, retainers or banks of hours?

Sanity agencies charge in four common ways: hourly against a written estimate, a fixed bid, a monthly retainer, or a prepaid bank of hours drawn down by approved work. The model matters because it decides who carries an overrun and what a quiet month costs. A monthly retainer "bills a fixed fee every month, busy or quiet" ([Deploi's pricing page](https://deploi.ca/pricing), October 2026). Deploi's bias, stated plainly: Deploi sells hours against written estimates, drawn from a prepaid bank.

**Four ways Sanity agencies charge, and who carries the overrun**

| Term | Hourly with estimate | Fixed bid | Monthly retainer | Bank of hours |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| How you pay | Hours logged | Agreed price, by milestone | A fixed fee every month | Upfront, for hours you choose |
| Overrun risk | You, unless hours are capped | The agency, until scope changes | Extra work waits or costs more | You, unless hours are capped |
| A quiet month | Nothing billed | No change | Billed in full | Uses no hours |
| Unused time | None bought | None | Lost each month | Kept, if hours don't expire |
| Commitment | Each estimate | The whole scope | Set by the contract | The block you buy |

Common terms in Deploi's judgment; they vary by agency. Retainer wording: [Deploi's pricing page](https://deploi.ca/pricing), October 2026. Sources: [Deploi, Pricing](https://deploi.ca/pricing). As of 25 October 2026.

## What should a Sanity agency's written estimate show?

A Sanity agency's written estimate should show the work it covers, the hours for each part, the rate and what the total leaves out, so you can compare agencies line by line. Deploi charges $100 an hour in Canadian dollars (CAD), prepaid, before applicable taxes ([Deploi's pricing page](https://deploi.ca/pricing), October 2026).

Deploi's estimate for a marketing site on Sanity and Next.js, with 6 to 8 page templates in one language, is 350 to 600 hours, or $35,000 to $60,000 CAD, about 7 to 12 weeks from kickoff to launch. These are Deploi's estimates as of 25 October 2026: the hours each part of the work takes (the content model, templates and components, integrations, content migration, testing and launch), priced at the published $100 CAD rate. Your project gets its own written estimate, and you agree the total before work begins; it changes only if the scope changes or a cause outside Deploi's control arises. The marketing site estimate includes:

- Content model, schema design, Sanity Studio with editor roles and the Next.js frontend.
- Environments, deployment, analytics and search engine optimization (SEO) setup.
- Accessibility to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA (double-A).
- A scripted import of up to about 500 entries, testing, launch, training and post-launch support.

Sanity bills its plan in US dollars; [Deploi's full estimate tables](https://deploi.ca/sanity/cost) cover the other sizes.

## What should a Sanity agency contract include?

A Sanity agency contract should put the price, the ownership and your exit in writing before work starts. Insist on:

- A written estimate you approve before work starts, and written approval for any extra work.
- Your organization owning the Sanity organization and project, and paying Sanity directly, so handover needs no transfer; [who should own the Sanity project](https://deploi.ca/sanity/faq/should-clients-own-their-sanity-project) covers setup and transfers.
- The code repository, hosting, domain and third-party keys in your accounts, with the agency invited in.
- A handover list and an exit path: a dataset export and administrator access that stays with you.
- What support after launch covers, and how it's billed.
- How either side ends the engagement, and the notice it needs.

Intellectual property, liability, warranties and data protection are items for your counsel; this guide gives no legal advice. Deploi's own terms put the first item in writing: "Any extra work needs your written approval first" ([Deploi's pricing page](https://deploi.ca/pricing), October 2026).

## What does Sanity's agency partner directory tell you?

Sanity's agency partner directory tells you which agencies Sanity lists as partners, and little about how well they build. Sanity's "Find an Agency Partner" page lists 219 agencies (counted 25 October 2026), filters them by services, budget and region, and puts 15 starred listings first without explaining the star ([Sanity, Find an Agency Partner](https://www.sanity.io/agency-partners), October 2026). The page shows no certification or tier label and doesn't say how listings are reviewed. So treat a listing as one signal among several, then vet each agency on ownership, migrations, plans and contract terms. What Sanity partner status means is a separate question from whether an agency fits your project.

## Deploi's point of view

**Where we disagree.** Agency roundups rank agencies by reputation, Deploi's own 2024 list among them, and some treat a partner listing as a seal of quality. A ranking can't tell you whether an agency builds in your organization, dry-runs its migrations or knows which features need Enterprise, and Sanity's directory page shows no certification or tier label, only an unexplained star beside 15 listings. Those tests matter more than any ranking, so this guide replaces the list with them.

**What we've seen.** Deploi holds its own Sanity work to the same tests. The release runbook for deploi.ca's Shopify FAQ hub makes every Sanity script a dry run unless it is passed --apply, lists the counts each step should change, exports the dataset before migrating and gives a rollback for each step. deploi.ca runs one Sanity Studio with three workspaces on two datasets in one project, and its Build vs. Buy hub holds 701 decision pages as structured Sanity documents, counted 24 October 2026.

**What we'd tell you to do first.** Send every agency on your shortlist the same three questions in writing before any call: whose organization the project lives in, how the migration runs, and which proposed features need Enterprise. Written answers compare side by side; sales calls don't.

## When this answer changes

- Sanity adds tiers, certification labels or an explanation of the star to its agency partner directory
- Sanity changes its advice that agencies create client-specific organizations
- Content Releases or custom roles move to a different Sanity plan
- Sanity changes the Growth plan's document quota or its no-overage rule
- sanity migrations run stops dry-running by default
- Deploi changes its published rate or its estimate terms

## Want to see how Deploi answers these questions?

See what Deploi builds on Sanity, how it estimates the work and which terms it puts in writing. [See Deploi's Sanity service](https://deploi.ca/sanity/agency)

## Sources

1. [Sanity Docs, Agencies: Navigating the Spring 2025 organization changes](https://www.sanity.io/docs/developer-guides/agencies-navigating-the-spring-2025-organization-changes), checked 24 October 2026
2. [Sanity, Find an Agency Partner](https://www.sanity.io/agency-partners), checked 25 October 2026
3. [Sanity Docs, Migrating your schema and content](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/schema-and-content-migrations), checked 24 October 2026
4. [Sanity Docs, Development, staging, and production environments](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/environments), checked 24 October 2026
5. [Sanity Docs, Export a dataset](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/exporting-data), checked 24 October 2026
6. [Sanity, Plans that scale with you](https://www.sanity.io/pricing), checked 24 October 2026
7. [Sanity Docs, Content Releases user guide](https://www.sanity.io/docs/user-guides/content-releases), checked 24 October 2026
8. [Sanity Docs, Roles and permissions](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/roles-concepts), checked 24 October 2026
9. [Sanity Docs, Plans and payments](https://www.sanity.io/docs/platform-management/plans-and-payments), checked 24 October 2026
10. [Deploi, Pricing](https://deploi.ca/pricing), checked 25 October 2026
11. [Sanity Docs, Technical limits](https://www.sanity.io/docs/content-lake/technical-limits), checked 24 October 2026