Navigating the Challenges of Freelance Web Development: A Personal Reflection

As a seasoned freelance web developer with over five years of experience, I often find myself contemplating the journey and the evolving landscape of website creation. Despite having crafted numerous client-facing sites—primarily marketing and informational platforms—I still grapple with a sense of dissatisfaction in my development process. Occasionally, the frustration mounts to the point where I wonder whether it’s worth continuing.

The Modern Web Development Conundrum

The current ecosystem of web development is a complex and sometimes daunting maze. As a freelancer managing multiple projects, I face a host of challenges that can hinder productivity and satisfaction. Rising hosting expenses, unexpected tier-based charges, overage fees, and the intricacies of DevOps are just a few hurdles. Keeping up with rapidly changing tooling standards and best practices adds layers of complexity that can be overwhelming.

Experiences and Lessons Learned

Over the years, I’ve experimented with various Content Management Systems (CMS) and hosting solutions, each presenting its own set of pros and cons:

• Sanity.io: Initially impressive, Sanity offered a streamlined CMS experience. However, as client needs grew—particularly regarding user counts—the costs escalated unexpectedly. I started with a straightforward, flat annual fee model, but sudden bandwidth spikes and tier upgrades forced me to explain additional charges to clients, affecting transparency.

• Payload CMS with Astro: I explored self-hosting Payload alongside Astro, aiming to bypass the SaaS subscription model. After weeks of troubleshooting and refining deployment pipelines—especially to platforms like Digital Ocean—I managed to achieve a functional setup. Hosting two domains (example.com and admin.example.com) seemed promising. Yet, issues arose regarding image delivery without a robust CDN, rendering content types securely, and data fetching complexities—especially when not accessing Payload’s TypeScript definitions—made development more difficult than anticipated.

The Ever-Evolving Toolset

Web development tools are in constant flux. My journey has seen the rise and fall of frameworks like Gatsby, the adoption and subsequent saturation of Next.js, and now, experimentation with Astro. While I find Astro promising, I’m wary of constantly shifting between stacks—each transition demanding a steep learning curve and adjustments that can disrupt workflow.

Hosting Woes

Hosting remains an ongoing challenge. Platforms like Vercel and Netlify offer simplicity but become complicated when explaining multiple services (such as Sanity and hosting providers) to clients. Attempting