Artone Studio vs HEX Studio: Pricing, Services and Fit for Startups

For early-stage founders who need product, web, and brand design from one senior partner at a flat monthly price, Artone Studio is the stronger choice; HEX Studio fits best when you want a large, fixed-scope brand overhaul with heavy motion and illustration work.

TL;DR

Artone Studio is a design partner for pre-seed to Series B startups, offering product design, web design in Framer, and brand identity through a $5,000/month retainer or custom-scoped projects from $2,000. HEX Studio is an experimental creative studio led by Ayush Soni, focused mainly on brand identity and Webflow websites for technology companies, with a monthly option listed at $8k/month and larger fixed-bid projects. HEX is known for distinctive, research-driven brand systems. Artone is built around product thinking: we work with founders on what to build and why, then design it. For most early-stage founders who need their product, site, and brand to move together, Artone is the better fit.

What each studio is

Artone Studio

Artone Studio is a design partner for early-stage startups. We work across product design, web design, and brand identity, and we operate as a product partner, not a design vendor. Razvan Badea, founder and lead designer, leads every engagement personally: strategy, briefs, quality review, and all client communication. He joins product calls, helps founders decide what to build next and how features should work, and reviews every deliverable before it ships. Founders get a Head of Product and a design team in one.

Razvan has designed professionally for 9+ years and was previously Head of Product at a stealth startup backed by prominent Silicon Valley investors. The studio has delivered 80+ projects across AI, B2B SaaS, fintech, and more, for companies with a combined valuation of $1B+.

HEX Studio

HEX describes itself as an experimental creative studio working on identities, websites, and products, led by Ayush Soni. It mainly works with technology companies and treats projects like research, exploring niche tools and unconventional approaches to find a distinct visual direction. The core team stays small and pulls in a wider cohort of animators, illustrators, copywriters, and developers as each project needs them. HEX says 42 creative specialists have worked at the studio across projects.

Pricing and value

Artone Studio runs on a $5,000/month retainer. You get design updates every other business day, optional weekly strategy calls, and you can cancel anytime. You can pause once per 30-day cycle, and if the partnership is not a fit within the first week, you get a 75% refund. For defined work, we also take custom-scoped projects from a $2,000 minimum, quoted as one package price and paid 50/25/25 (50% upfront, 25% at midpoint, 25% before final file delivery).

HEX Studio publishes several figures across its site. Its homepage FAQ describes full-cycle brand projects (new identity, Webflow website, visual system, and marketing material) running 6 to 12 weeks at around $15K to $30K, plus a monthly option at $8k/month for open-ended work with the full squad. Its info page states that projects start at $50K and range up to $150K. Because the published ranges differ, it is worth confirming current pricing with HEX directly.

The models serve different needs. HEX's pricing reflects brand-heavy projects that draw on multiple specialists. Artone's retainer is built for ongoing work where product, web, and brand priorities shift from month to month, at a fixed cost you can plan around.

If you want to see how a retainer would map to your roadmap, book a call.

Delivery and speed

Artone Studio ships updates every other business day. Small tasks land within 48 hours, and larger work gets an upfront timeline with clear milestones. We adapt to how each team works: some founders hand us tasks one at a time, others want us to set priorities, build the task structure in their tools, and lead design direction with weekly standups. When priorities move from product to web to brand mid-engagement, the retainer moves with them.

HEX Studio sets timelines per engagement. Its full-cycle brand projects run roughly 6 to 12 weeks, and on the monthly option, timelines are agreed together. The studio emphasizes velocity and keeps teams lean, with "no PMs unless absolutely needed" listed among its studio rules.

Services and capabilities

Artone Studio covers three areas, in this order of focus:

• Product design: web and mobile apps, design systems, prototyping, and UI/UX audits. See our product work.
• Web design: landing pages, multi-page sites, and Framer development.
• Brand identity: guidelines, logos, pitch decks, brand assets, and social graphics.

We build websites in Framer only, not Webflow. We are a design partner, not a dev shop, so we hand off developer-friendly files rather than writing product code. Motion beyond Framer site interactions is available through our network as a separately quoted engagement.

HEX Studio lists a broad creative menu: brand strategy, visual identity, web design, creative development and microsites, Webflow development, no-code development, product design, mobile app design, merchandise, motion and animation, 3D, illustration, and collateral. Its published case studies lean heavily toward brand identity and marketing websites.

The key difference is where each studio's center of gravity sits. HEX's is brand. Artone's is product, with web and brand built around it.

Collaboration

Artone Studio works through dedicated Slack Connect channels. Briefs can arrive as docs, Looms, messages, or rough notes, and optional weekly strategy calls keep product decisions moving. You always work directly with Razvan, with no handoff to juniors, project managers, or account managers. Full ownership of all files, assets, and Framer sites transfers to you.

HEX Studio works asynchronously in Slack for the most part, with calls for design reviews, walkthroughs, and check-ins. HEX states that it is positioned as a vendor, giving clients the experience of working with a team. Its client notes consistently mention responsiveness and fast iteration.

Clients, credibility, and recognition

Artone Studio has worked with startups including Open.cx, Sero (YC-backed), Clipido, Methods by instinct, Entangle, and Nexaura, and with enterprise brands including Samsung, Lenovo, and Logitech. Our clients are backed by investors such as Y Combinator, Global Brain, Pioneer Fund, and imec.istart. Open raised $1.52M and onboarded MoneyGram, Mollie, and Viva.com. For Nexaura, we delivered a full brand identity plus an investor-ready pitch deck in under a week. Our work has been recognized by Awwwards and Framer, contributed to a Grand Effie-winning campaign, and we are an Official Framer Expert. Two out of three clients come back.

HEX Studio lists clients including Grafana, Exa, Replit, Framer, Square, Composio, Founders Inc, and Replo. Its brand work has been featured on The Brand Identity and Creative Boom. HEX reports 150+ projects shipped and says its clients have raised $1B+ after their brand work.

Side-by-side comparison

	Artone Studio	HEX Studio
Studio type	Product-led design partner for startups	Experimental brand and web studio
Led by	Razvan Badea	Ayush Soni
Core focus	Product design, then web and brand	Brand identity and websites
Pricing	$5,000/month retainer, or custom projects from $2,000	$8k/month option; fixed projects (published ranges from $15K to $150K)
Website platform	Framer	Webflow
Delivery rhythm	Updates every other business day, small tasks within 48 hours	Timelines agreed per engagement; full-cycle brand around 6 to 12 weeks
Communication	Slack Connect, optional weekly strategy calls	Async Slack, calls for reviews and check-ins
Pause and cancel	Pause once per 30-day cycle, cancel anytime	Pause and cancel available on monthly work
Motion, 3D, illustration	Beyond Framer interactions, quoted separately	Core offering via specialist network
Best for	Pre-seed to Series B founders building product	Tech companies seeking a distinctive brand overhaul

When Artone is the better fit

• Your product needs as much design attention as your marketing. Product design is our first priority, not an add-on to brand work.
• You want a partner who thinks through product decisions with you. Razvan helps prioritize what to build and challenges assumptions before anything gets designed.
• Your priorities shift. One month is product, the next is a launch site, the next is a pitch deck. The retainer bends around that.
• You want a predictable monthly cost. $5,000/month, cancel anytime, with no long commitment.
• You want a Framer site your team can own and edit. Full ownership transfers to you.
• You want to start small. Try a month, or scope a custom project from $2,000. Many clients start with one month and stay because it works.

When HEX Studio is a good fit

• You are planning a full-cycle rebrand with the budget and a 6 to 12 week window to do it properly.
• Motion, 3D, illustration, or merchandise are central deliverables, not nice-to-haves.
• Your team runs on Webflow and wants to stay there.
• A bold, experimental visual identity is the top priority, and you value a research-led creative process.
• You need brand work that extends into physical activations or events.

Final take

HEX Studio does distinctive brand work, and for a large, fixed-scope rebrand with heavy motion and illustration, it is worth a look. For most early-stage founders, though, the harder problem is not the logo. It is shipping a product that works, a site that converts, and a brand that holds together, all while priorities change every few weeks. That is what Artone is built for: a product partner who designs across all three, at a flat monthly price, with the founder-level thinking included.

If you are weighing whether design should be a priority right now, read does design even matter for a startup? When you are ready to talk through your product, book a call.