11 Things to Check Before You Hire a Web Developer in Pakistan (2026)

Before you hire a web developer in Pakistan, see a real portfolio with live links and case studies, confirm you own the domain, ask what you will still pay next year, and do not default to WordPress or Shopify. The cheapest quote is usually the one you pay twice.

I am Muhammad, a fullstack web & applied AI developer in Karachi. A lot of the jobs I get are rebuilds. The client had a WordPress theme, or a Shopify trial, or a developer who took the advance and vanished, and now they need the whole thing done again. They are not angry at websites. They are tired of paying for the same website two times.

When I sit with these clients, I hear the same story again and again. They were in a hurry, the price looked good, and nobody told them what to ask. So I wrote this post. Read it before you talk to any developer, and keep it open when you get a quote. It will save you money, and it will save you a lot of stress.

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1. Ask for a portfolio with live links and case studies

Screenshots are not a portfolio. Anyone can copy those from another website in a few minutes, and you will never know the difference. What you want is live websites that you can open on your own phone or laptop and click through yourself. Check if they load fast, check if the buttons work, and check if the site looks the same on mobile as it does on a laptop. If the developer really built it, they will be happy to show it to you.

You also want case studies. A case study tells you what the business needed, what was built for them, and what changed after launch. This matters because a nice-looking site is not the goal. The goal is that the business gets more customers, more orders, or more calls. A case study does not need to be long. This is the kind of write-up I mean.

If a developer has no live links and no case studies, do not pay an advance. It does not matter how good the talk is or how low the price is. No proof of work means you are taking all the risk, and you are the one who will lose.

2. Do not default to WordPress or Shopify

This is the part most cheap packages in Pakistan will not tell you. Many developers offer WordPress or Shopify because it is fast and easy for them, not because it is best for your business. So before you say yes, understand what you are really buying.

WordPress uses a pre-made theme that looks cheap, generic, and completely outdated for 2026. The moment you need real customization to match your business, you start paying extra for everything, paid themes, Elementor, security, backups, and WooCommerce add-ons. Every time an update rolls out, plugins conflict and introduce bugs, and you have to pay a developer each time just to fix what broke. Over time the site gets slow and vulnerable to hacks. Two years later you are still paying for fixes, and you still do not have a site that works the way you want.

Shopify bills you in dollars every month, and then there are apps and extra fees on top of that. JazzCash, Easypaisa and COD are not built in, so you have to bolt them on. Every bolt-on is one more thing to pay for and one more thing that can break. And if Shopify freezes your store, you do not own a store. You own a login.

Custom costs more up front, but you own the code. Payments, WhatsApp and the admin panel can match how you actually sell, so you are not forcing your business to fit a template. That is the work I take.

If a developer pushes WordPress or Shopify without asking how you sell, they are selling you what is easy for them. A good developer will first ask how your customers pay, how they contact you, and how you take orders. Only after that will they tell you what to build.

3. Make sure you own the domain, hosting, and logins

The domain should be on your email, in your name. The admin, Analytics and Search Console should all be yours too. This sounds like a small thing, but it is the biggest thing. Whoever holds the logins holds your website, and if the relationship goes bad, that person can hurt your business.

Ask this one question: If we stop tomorrow, can I take the site somewhere else without starting from zero? Listen to how they answer. A good developer will say yes right away and tell you how. If the developer hesitates, changes the topic, or says “we will see later”, they are keeping the keys.

On most sites I build, hosting is included for life. WordPress hosts bill you every year, and Shopify bills you every month. That is a big difference over three or four years. So if a quote hides hosting, the cheap number is fake. You will get the bill later, and it will come when you are already stuck.

4. Unpack the quote this year and next year

A PKR 15,000 WordPress site is not really PKR 15,000. For WordPress, hosting alone can cost PKR 16,000–35,000 per year, plus paid plugins and all the “thora change kar do” visits. Shopify looks clean until you convert $19 per month to PKR, which goes to PKR 65,000 per year. Meanwhile, with custom websites, you even get free lifetime hosting most of the time.

Look at it like this:

If hosting is lifetime, it should be written in the quote. Do not trust a promise on WhatsApp. If it is not lifetime, write the yearly number next to the build price. That is the only honest way to compare two quotes. The one that looks cheaper today is often the one that costs more in year two. This is why a simple website quote checklist matters before you say yes.

If you are building a store, also ask about JazzCash, Easypaisa, bank transfer and COD. These are how your customers really pay. When the answer is “we’ll add a plugin”, you already know what stack they are using, and you know you will be paying for that plugin too.

5. Ask what “SEO-friendly” actually includes

Everyone says the website is SEO-friendly. Most of the time it only means they installed Yoast, and that is where the work stopped. A plugin alone does not make a site easy to find on Google.

What you actually want is real page titles, meta descriptions, proper headings and a sitemap. You also want Search Console on your account, so you can see how your site is doing without asking anyone. And you want pages that Google can read without a maze of plugins. When the basics are done right, the site has a fair chance to show up when people search for what you sell.

Ranking in your city is extra work on top of that. It takes time, and it takes content. So if someone promises page one in a week with the website package, that is a lie. Ask them to write down exactly what they will do for SEO, and what they will not.

6. Check how customers will actually reach you

People here do not fill long forms. They WhatsApp. A customer who wants to know your price or your address will not sit and type name, email, phone and a message. They will tap one button and send you a message, or they will leave.

So the site should make it easy to chat, call, or send a short form. Put the button where the customer can see it without scrolling. If you sell things, the shop needs COD, JazzCash, Easypaisa and bank transfer, because that is what your customers already trust and use.

Most Shopify and WordPress themes are built for card checkout. That works in other countries, but many buyers here do not pay that way. You can force local payments in later, but you will pay for that later too. It is much better to plan it from the start.

7. “Ready in two days” means a copied theme

A real site takes time because your pages and your admin are not a template. Someone has to think about your business, write the pages, build the parts, and test them. That work cannot be done in two days.

Two days is almost always WordPress with a paid theme and your colours on top. It may look fine on launch day. But those sites go bad over time. Themes need updates, plugins fight each other, and the developer is gone when something breaks. Then you are left with a site that nobody understands.

Custom is slower to launch, but it is still yours in year three. If a developer says two days, ask them what exactly you will get. Most of the time, the honest answer is a theme with your logo.

8. Get 3–4 weeks of support in writing

Launch week is when the form does not send or the WhatsApp link turns out to be wrong. It happens on almost every project, even good ones. This is normal, and it is not a sign of a bad developer. The sign of a bad developer is when they do not fix it.

That is why 3–4 weeks of fixes after go-live should be in the quote. It should not be a favour that you have to beg for. Ask for it before you pay, and make sure it is written down.

Also write down what counts as a bug, which they fix, and what counts as a new page, which you pay for. This stops many fights before they start. A line like “message me if anything” disappears the week they get a new client. Words on WhatsApp are easy to forget. Words in the quote are not.

9. For big projects, pay in milestones

A five-page company site can be simple. It is small, and the risk is small. But for a store, a POS or a custom admin, do not pay 100% up front. These projects take weeks, and a lot can change in that time.

On bigger work, pay some money to start. Pay some more when you can click through a staging site and see that the work is real. Pay the rest when it is live on your domain with the logins on your email. This way, the developer stays serious until the end, and you never pay for something you have not seen.

If they need the full amount “to buy hosting”, that is a bad sign. Hosting does not cost that much at the start. A developer who is honest will not need all your money before you see any work.

10. Ask what happens when you want to leave

Nobody likes to think about this before starting. But the time to ask is now, before you pay, and not after a fight. A good developer will not be upset by this question.

With WordPress, you can move, but the page builder and the paid plugins make it ugly. Many things break when you try to take the site to a new place.

With Shopify, you are leaving their platform, and the store does not come with you cleanly. You will most likely have to build again.

With custom, you should get the code. Even if hosting was included, you still need a copy of it and a way to point the domain somewhere else. That is what real ownership looks like.

If the developer cannot explain how you can leave, you are renting. And a renter can be asked to leave at any time.

11. Put the scope in writing

This does not need to be a 12-page contract. Most small businesses do not need something that heavy. It needs a list of pages, what is included, what is not (logo, ads, monthly SEO), and a timeline. One clear page is enough.

A WhatsApp voice note is how fights start. One person remembers it one way, and the other person remembers it another way. When the words are written down, both sides are looking at the same thing.

Write it down after you have seen the portfolio, understood custom vs WordPress, and agreed who owns the hosting. If you do that, you will already be ahead of most people who hire a developer in Pakistan.

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Walk away if they only send screenshots, push WordPress or Shopify for no reason, keep the domain on their email, or want full payment before you have seen live work. Any one of these is enough. You do not need to give a second chance to someone who is already showing you the problem.

If you already have a quote, especially for WordPress or Shopify, send it to me. I will review it and guide you for free, and tell you what you will actually be paying in 12 months. Web development · Contact

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FAQ

What should I check before hiring a web developer in Pakistan?
Check for live links and case studies, who owns the domain and hosting, what you will pay each year after launch, and whether they are selling WordPress, Shopify, or custom. Look at the price last. The price only makes sense after you know what is inside it.

Is WordPress or Shopify a bad idea in Pakistan?
Not always, but they are a bad default. WordPress gets expensive through plugins and repairs. Shopify bills in USD and is weak on local payments. For most businesses here, custom costs more once and less later.

Do I have to pay for hosting every year?
On WordPress, yes. On Shopify, you pay every month. On most custom sites I ship, hosting is included for life. Ask about it, and do not assume. Get the answer written in the quote.

How much should a business website cost in 2026?
Ignore the PKR 15,000–25,000 theme packages. Compare what you will pay over two years, not what you pay on day one. That is the number that shows the real cost.

How much advance should I pay?
On small sites, pay a start amount after you have seen live work. On big projects, pay in milestones. Never pay 100% before the site is live on your domain.

How long should support last after launch?
It should be 3–4 weeks of bug fixes, in writing. Also write down what is a bug and what is a new page, so both sides know.

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Muhammad, fullstack web & applied AI developer, Karachi. September 2026. Work.