Short version: Huge Inc. is the right pick for Fortune-1000 brands running brand-and-product engagements at $400K-$8M annual retainers. Makreate is the right pick for US, UK and UAE SaaS, fintech, healthtech and B2B growth-stage teams that need senior UX shipped in weeks, not months, at USD 1,600/month or USD 160/day.
Both deliver real UX work. They're priced for different buyers and structured around different engagement shapes. This guide breaks down the actual differences so you can pick the one that fits.
At-a-glance comparison
| Dimension | Makreate | Huge Inc. |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 | 1999 |
| HQ | Remote-first (US / UK / UAE) | Brooklyn, NY |
| Owner | Independent | Interpublic Group (IPG) |
| Team size | ~20 senior practitioners | ~1,300 globally |
| Engagement floor (USD) | $160/day or $1,600/month | $400,000+ annual |
| Typical engagement (USD) | $20K-$200K project / $1.6K-$10K monthly | $1.5M-$8M annual retainer |
| Time to start | 5-7 working days | 4-8 weeks |
| Best for | Growth-stage SaaS & B2B | Fortune-1000 brand + product |
| Engagement type | Retainer or fixed-price project | Annual retainer relationship |
| Hours coverage | EST/PST/GMT | EST/PST primarily |
| Ships production design | Yes (UI + dev) | Yes (full design + production) |
| Brand-and-product combo | Yes, in-house | Yes, industry-leading |
Pricing comparison
Huge runs primarily as an annual retainer relationship. Most Huge engagements run $1.5M-$8M per year. A "small" Huge engagement is $400K, which is roughly Makreate's medium-sized project tier. A typical large Huge engagement is $3M-$6M annually.
Makreate's UX Design pricing starts at USD 160/day or USD 1,600/month. A typical Makreate project — a SaaS product redesign with research, design system, production UI — runs $20K-$80K. A flagship enterprise engagement might run $150K-$300K over 6 months.
The gap isn't quality — Makreate ships work that compares favorably to Huge's product-design output. The gap is scale: Huge's price reflects multi-disciplinary teams (brand strategist + UX designer + visual designer + researcher + producer + account director + creative director) sustained over a 12-month relationship. Makreate's price reflects 1-2 senior practitioners doing focused work.
Engagement model
Huge engagements are typically:
- 12-month minimum commitment
- Multi-disciplinary team staffed at the start
- Quarterly milestone reviews
- Brand-and-product work combined
- Annual budget commitments from $400K up
Makreate engagements are typically:
- Project-based (4-12 weeks) or month-to-month retainer
- One senior designer leading, with team backup as needed
- Weekly demos and async updates
- UX, branding, web, advertising — pick what you need
- Cancellable monthly with 30-day notice
Who they serve
Huge's client list reads like Fortune-1000: Google, McDonald's, HBO, Mondelēz, American Express, Verizon, JPMorgan Chase, Pepsi. They specialize in clients with established brands undergoing digital-product builds at the brand level.
Makreate's clients are US, UK and UAE growth-stage companies in SaaS, fintech, healthtech, B2B enterprise and ecommerce. Case studies cover BurnCal AI (healthtech), Accuvat (fintech), Glass World (UAE manufacturing), Cleartax (fintech), KAI Tech (edtech), Orbis Cloud (cloud security) and ~60 more.
Scope of work
Huge excels at brand-and-product combination work. If you're a Fortune-1000 company running a brand refresh AND a digital-product rebuild simultaneously, and you want one agency owning both, Huge is one of two or three firms in the world set up for that.
Makreate runs the same services individually:
- Branding — from $1,000 one-time
- UX Design — from $160/day or $1,600/month
- Website Development — from $2,000 fixed
- Advertising — from $1,600/month
- SEO — from $1,600/month
Total — taking all five of those services for a year — comes to roughly $30K/year at Makreate. Huge's equivalent "brand-and-product" engagement is $1M+ over the same period.
When Makreate is the better choice
- You need UX work shipped in 4-12 weeks
- Your budget is under $250K for the engagement
- You're a SaaS, fintech, healthtech or B2B growth-stage company
- You don't have account-manager-and-meeting-tolerance
- You want to mix services à la carte (UX + ads + SEO, but not branding)
- You bill in USD or GBP
Want a senior US/UK UX team at growth-stage prices?
30-minute discovery call. USD-fixed proposal in 48 hours. Kickoff within a week.
When Huge is the better choice
- You're a Fortune-1000 brand running a multi-year brand+product transformation
- Your budget is $400K-$8M annually
- You need brand strategy and product design from a single firm with a unified POV
- You can wait 4-8 weeks for kickoff and need full multi-disciplinary staffing
- Your buying committee includes a CMO or CBO who values agency-of-record brand prestige
For everyone else — most US and UK growth-stage companies — Makreate fits the brief at a 50-100x lower price point. Both firms are good, they're just designed for different buyers.
Frequently asked questions
Is Makreate cheaper than Huge?
Significantly — by 50-100x at the engagement level. Makreate UX Design starts at USD 160/day or USD 1,600/month. Huge engagements start around $400,000/year and most run $1.5M-$8M. The reason isn't a quality gap — both ship senior UX work — it's that Huge staffs multi-disciplinary 8-30 person teams over a 12-month retainer, while Makreate runs focused senior-led engagements over weeks not years.
Does Makreate do brand-and-product work like Huge?
Yes — Makreate offers branding ($1,000 from one-time), UX design ($1,600/mo), website development ($2,000 fixed), and full marketing services in-house. The difference is engagement scale: Huge orchestrates these as a unified 12-month brand+product transformation; Makreate runs them as individual focused engagements you can stack as needed.
Can I work with Huge if I'm not a Fortune-1000 brand?
Sometimes — Huge takes select non-Fortune engagements for projects with strategic interest or strong creative briefs. But the price floor (~$400K/year) means it rarely makes sense for companies under $50M revenue. For most growth-stage companies, Makreate is the closer fit.
Are Huge engagements faster to ship work than Makreate?
No — Huge engagements have longer kickoff cycles (4-8 weeks) and quarterly milestone reviews. Makreate ships first deliverables within 2-4 weeks of kickoff. The trade-off is breadth: Huge's longer timeline buys you a multi-disciplinary team simultaneously, while Makreate's faster timeline focuses on the highest-impact deliverable first.
Which one is better for US clients specifically?
Both are US-native (Huge HQ Brooklyn, Makreate US-presence + EST/PST hours). For Fortune-1000 US brand transformation, Huge. For US growth-stage SaaS/fintech/healthtech, Makreate. The decision hinges on engagement size and scope rather than US-presence.