925Studios vs Clay Agency: Full-Service Agency or Brand Studio?

Choosing between 925Studios vs Clay agency comes down to one question: do you need a startup-speed product design partner, or a full-service brand studio with Fortune 100 credentials? Both agencies produce strong work. But they serve fundamentally different clients, at different price points, with different team structures. If you pick the wrong fit, you will either overpay for capabilities you do not need or undershoot on the scope your project actually requires.

TL;DR:

• Clay is a 78-person, San Francisco-based agency with 529+ projects for brands like Google, Meta, Slack, and Coinbase. Minimum project size starts at $50,000.

• 925Studios is a lean, remote-first UI/UX studio focused on SaaS, fintech, AI, and healthtech startups. Projects typically range from $8,000 to $40,000+.

• Choose Clay if you need end-to-end branding, content production, and development for an enterprise product.

• Choose 925Studios if you need fast, conversion-focused product design for a startup shipping on a tighter budget.

• Clay has 16 years of track record. 925Studios moves at startup pace with founder-led engagement on every project.

Quick Answer: Clay is a full-service brand and product design agency best suited for enterprise companies and funded startups with budgets above $50,000. 925Studios is a focused UI/UX design studio built for SaaS, fintech, and AI startups needing high-quality product design in the $8,000 to $40,000 range. Pick Clay for brand identity and large-scale digital products. Pick 925Studios for fast, conversion-driven UX work.

How do 925Studios and Clay compare at a glance?

Before diving into the details, here is a side-by-side comparison of both agencies across the factors that matter most when choosing a design partner. At 925Studios, we have worked with enough startups to know that the right agency depends less on awards and more on whether the team structure, pricing, and specialization match your current stage.

Need help figuring out which model fits your stage? Book a free 30-minute call with our team.

What does Clay do best?

Clay is one of the most recognized design agencies in the world, and for good reason. Founded roughly 16 years ago in San Francisco, the studio has completed over 529 projects for clients ranging from early-stage startups to Fortune 100 companies. Their client list reads like a tech hall of fame: Meta, Google, Slack, Coinbase, Amazon, Stripe, Coca-Cola, Sony, Uber, Samsung, and T-Mobile, among others. If you need a design partner that can handle a full rebrand, build a marketing website, produce custom 3D content, and develop the frontend, Clay can do all of that under one roof.

Clay operates five distinct service divisions: branding, digital products, websites, content production, and development. Their content studio alone covers art direction, illustration, iconography, 3D design, animation, photo, video, and copywriting. This is not a UI/UX shop. This is a full-service creative agency that happens to be exceptionally good at digital product design. They have earned Webby Award nominations, Apple App Store features, and multiple FWA and Site of the Day awards. Their offices span San Francisco, New York, Austin, Denver, Lisbon, and Belgrade.

The trade-off is cost and scale. Clay's minimum project size is $50,000. Product design engagements run from $25,000 to $150,000, and design system creation ranges from $40,000 to $120,000. Monthly retainers fall between $8,000 and $25,000. For well-funded companies, this makes sense. Companies that invest in UX see an average ROI of 9,900% (Forrester, 2024). But for a seed-stage startup burning through a $500,000 raise, spending $100,000 on design before finding product-market fit is a risky bet.

What does 925Studios do best?

925Studios was built for a different stage of the journey. Founded in 2022, the studio focuses exclusively on UI/UX and product design for startups in SaaS, fintech, AI, web3, and healthtech. The team is small by design. Every project gets founder-led attention, which means faster feedback loops, fewer layers of approval, and direct access to the person making design decisions. There is no account manager relaying your notes to a junior designer two time zones away.

The service offering is intentionally narrow: UI/UX design, product design, design systems, mobile app design, and B2B enterprise design. 925Studios does not do branding, content production, or development. That focus is a feature, not a limitation. Research from McKinsey shows that companies with top-quartile design practices grow revenue 2x faster than industry benchmarks (McKinsey Design Index, 2024). For startups, the fastest path to that growth is concentrated UX investment, not a sprawling brand overhaul.

Pricing reflects the startup reality. Projects typically range from $8,000 to $40,000+, making 925Studios accessible to companies from pre-seed through Series B. The remote-first model means no San Francisco overhead passed along to clients, and the worldwide team structure means work can move fast across time zones. Yusuf breaks down how the studio approaches SaaS product design in detail on the 925Studios YouTube channel.

Wondering if a focused UX partner is the right move for your product? See how we have approached it for other startups.

When should you choose Clay over 925Studios?

Clay is the right choice when your project scope extends well beyond product design. If you are a Series C+ company launching a new brand identity alongside a digital product, Clay can handle both under a single engagement. If you need custom 3D content, motion design, video production, and frontend development delivered by one team, Clay is built for that. Their 78-person team and 16 years of experience mean they have seen nearly every type of project at enterprise scale.

Choose Clay when your budget starts at $50,000 and you need a partner who can own the entire digital experience, from brand strategy through deployed code. Their track record with companies like Google, Slack, and Stripe proves they can operate at that level. The design industry generated over $163 billion in revenue globally in 2024 (IBISWorld, 2024), and agencies like Clay sit at the top of that market serving the largest players.

When should you choose 925Studios over Clay?

Choose 925Studios when you need focused product design, not a full creative agency. If you already have a brand identity and just need your SaaS dashboard redesigned, your fintech onboarding flow fixed, or your AI product interface built from scratch, a full-service agency is overkill. You will pay for capabilities you do not use. At 925Studios, we have found that startups get the highest ROI from design when the engagement is tightly scoped around the product experience itself.

This is especially true for early-stage companies. If your total funding is under $5 million, spending $100,000+ on a single design engagement is hard to justify. A $15,000 to $30,000 engagement with a specialized product design studio can deliver the same UX quality for the screens that matter most, your onboarding, your core workflow, and your conversion touchpoints. Startups with strong UX see 400% higher conversion rates compared to those with poor UX (Forrester, 2024).

925Studios also makes sense when speed matters. Smaller teams make decisions faster. There is no waiting for a project manager to schedule a sync with the creative director who then briefs the designer. You talk directly to the person doing the work, and iterations happen in days, not weeks.

Not sure where your product's UX stands right now? Get a free UX audit from 925Studios.

What is the verdict on 925Studios vs Clay?

This is not a question of which agency is better. It is a question of which agency matches your current stage, budget, and scope. Clay is a world-class creative agency for companies that need branding, product design, content, and development delivered together at scale. Their Fortune 100 client list and 529+ project portfolio speak for themselves. If you have the budget and the scope, Clay delivers.

925Studios is for startups that need focused, high-quality product design without the overhead of a full-service agency. The pricing is built for venture-backed companies that need to ship fast and iterate faster. The founder-led model means your project gets senior attention from day one. If your priority is converting users, reducing churn, and building a product that feels right, a specialized UI/UX partner will serve you better than a generalist studio, no matter how impressive its client list.

The best design partner is the one whose strengths align with what you actually need right now. Not next year. Right now.

If you are building a SaaS, fintech, AI, or healthtech product and want a design partner who specializes in exactly that, 925Studios is worth a conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Clay agency charge for a project?

Clay's minimum project size is $50,000. Product design engagements typically cost between $25,000 and $150,000. Design system creation ranges from $40,000 to $120,000. Monthly retainers run $8,000 to $25,000. The exact cost depends on project scope, timeline, and the number of service divisions involved.

How much does 925Studios charge for a project?

925Studios projects typically range from $8,000 to $40,000+. The exact price depends on the scope of work, number of screens, and whether the engagement is project-based or a monthly retainer. This pricing is designed for startups from pre-seed through Series B stages.

Is Clay a good agency for startups?

Clay works with startups, but their pricing and team structure are optimized for well-funded companies and enterprises. If your startup has raised a Series B or later and needs full-service branding plus product design, Clay is a strong option. For earlier-stage startups with tighter budgets, a focused UI/UX studio will deliver better value per dollar spent.

What industries does 925Studios specialize in?

925Studios focuses on SaaS, fintech, AI, web3, and healthtech. The studio also works with B2B enterprise products and mobile apps. This specialization means the team understands industry-specific UX challenges like compliance flows in fintech, trust signals in healthtech, and onboarding complexity in AI products.

Can Clay handle both branding and product design?

Yes. Clay is one of the few agencies that operates full-service branding, digital product design, content production, and development under one roof. Their five service divisions cover everything from brand strategy and visual identity through to 3D content, motion design, and frontend development. This makes them a strong fit for companies that need cohesive brand and product work delivered together.

Should I hire a full-service agency or a specialized UX studio?

It depends on your scope. If you need branding, marketing websites, content production, and product design in a single engagement, a full-service agency like Clay is efficient. If your brand is already established and you need focused product design work, a specialized studio like 925Studios will deliver faster turnaround, more senior attention, and lower cost for the same quality of UX output.

What is Clay's team size compared to 925Studios?

Clay has 78 global team members across offices in San Francisco, New York, Austin, Denver, Lisbon, and Belgrade. 925Studios operates as a small, founder-led remote team. The difference matters for project dynamics: larger teams handle complex multi-workstream projects well, while smaller teams provide more direct communication and faster iteration cycles.

Do I need a design agency if I am pre-seed?

You do not need a large agency at pre-seed, but you do need good design. Poor UX is one of the top reasons users abandon products. A focused engagement with a specialized studio can help you validate your product concept, build a prototype investors respond to, and ship a first version that does not repel early adopters. Budget $8,000 to $20,000 for an initial engagement and focus on your core user flow.

If you're building a product and want a second opinion on your UX, talk to 925Studios. We work with SaaS, fintech, healthtech, web3, and AI startups.

See our work or book a free 30-minute call.

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube for design breakdowns and case studies.