Guide
Who owns the code when you hire someone to build software?
The short answer
You should, and with us you do. The code is yours, the hosting runs in your own account, and any developer you choose can work on it. Before you hire anyone, check that the contract says the code is yours, and that the hosting and accounts are in your name.
Why it matters
If the developer owns the code, or it lives only on their servers, you can’t change it without them, move it, or hand it to someone else. If they raise their prices, slow down or close, your business is stuck with whatever they decide.
Owning it means you’re never stuck. If we’re unavailable, any developer can pick it up where we left off.
What “owning it” should include
- The code itself, all of it, handed over, not just the right to use it.
- The hosting, in an account in your name that you pay directly.
- The domain name, registered to you.
- The data. It’s your business’s information, and you can take a full copy of it whenever you like.
- The passwords to all of it, kept by you, not only by the developer.
What to check before you sign
Don’t assume. Ask for it in writing: the contract should say the code you’re paying for belongs to you once it’s paid for. Ask where it will be hosted and whose name the account is in. Ask what happens if you stop working together.
Be careful with a monthly fee that covers “the software”. That often means you’re renting it, and it goes away when you stop paying.
If someone else changes it
Nothing stops you having another developer work on it. That’s the point of owning it. We can’t be responsible for changes someone else makes, but we’re happy to work alongside them, or to pick it back up later.