ForgeLab is a small Johannesburg studio that builds websites for trades and small businesses. We build the site first and send you a live link. If you like it, it's yours from R3 000. If you don't, you owe us nothing.
Monday
Howzit, do you build websites for plumbers?
We do. What's the business called?
Mari's Plumbing, Roodepoort
Give us 3 days. We'll send you a live link. Costs nothing to look.
Thursday
Ag this looks lekker. How do I pay?
Six recent builds out of 200 and counting. Every link is a live site. Open them on your phone and time the load on your own data.
Five steps, and the first two cost you nothing.
WhatsApp or a call. You tell us what you do, who your customers are, and what's annoying you about being hard to find online.
Within 3 days you get a live link. A real site with your name on it, on a temporary address. You see it before you spend a cent.
Happy with it? Pay the invoice by EFT, card or Yoco. One round of changes is included.
We register your .co.za, set up the hosting and point everything at your new site. You get the login details. You own all of it.
New number, new photos, new service? WhatsApp us. On Pro it's included. On Starter it's R200 a change.
Written down, up front. If you need something these don't cover, we quote within 24 hours.
R3 000 once-off
Most chosen
R4 500 + R300/month
From R8 000 quoted
The things people actually ask on WhatsApp before they say yes. If yours isn't here, ask us and we'll add it.
Yes. The domain is registered in your name and the site is yours. If you ever want to move it somewhere else, we hand over the files and the logins. There's nothing in here to lock you in.
You walk away and you pay nothing. We don't invoice for previews and we don't chase you. The link just goes away.
Three days from the first chat to a live preview link, most weeks. If we're backed up we tell you that upfront instead of letting you wait and wonder.
On Starter, R600 a year covers the domain renewal and the hosting. That's the only recurring cost, and changes after the included round are R200 each. On Pro it's R300 a month with the updates included.
Sometimes. Send us the link on WhatsApp and we'll tell you honestly whether it's worth fixing or faster to rebuild. We'd rather say rebuild than take your money for patching something broken.
We're in Johannesburg and we work with businesses anywhere in South Africa. Everything runs on WhatsApp and email, so where you are doesn't change the price.
EFT, card or a Yoco link, once you've approved the preview. You get a proper invoice with your business details on it.
ForgeLab is three people in Johannesburg. Jade builds the sites. Garry and Charl handle the calls and look after clients. When you message us, the person who answers is the person doing the work.
The studio exists because good tradespeople keep losing jobs to whoever happens to have a website, and the usual options for getting one are bad: freelancers who vanish after the invoice, or agencies quoting R40 000 for a brochure page. We're the middle option. Our prices are in writing and we answer the phone next year too.
That's also why the preview comes before the invoice. We'd rather show you the finished thing than pitch you a proposal.
Tell us about your business. The more specific, the better the preview.