Freehold

The promise, held in writing

These are the terms we commit to from the first day. They're what make the offer a deed rather than a pitch, and they never move.

Certificate of Title

Held Freehold

The terms of ownership, registered in plain words

Proprietor

This website is held freehold by your organisation

  • You own everything, outright

    The site, the files it is made of, and your web address are all yours. You can keep it, change it, or take it elsewhere any time you like.

  • You can leave any time, free, no notice

    Take the whole site to your own account or hand it to any web person, any day, at no cost. Nothing is ever held back.

  • Your domain stays in your name

    Your web address is always registered to your organisation, at your own registrar. We never hold your domain. That is what makes “we will host it for you” a favour, not a trap.

  • Your email is never touched

    If you run email at your domain, it keeps working exactly as it does now. We check it before and after every change. This is often the real fear, so we say it plainly.

  • Nothing monthly, ever

    A flat $800 to keep it and go live ($400 at our community rate, for when $800 would genuinely be a stretch), then hosting is free. Later changes are small one-off jobs if you want them. There is no subscription and no ongoing tie of any kind.

  • The build window is genuinely free

    We build your site and host it while you shape it, at no charge. If you walk away, you owe nothing and it comes down the same day. You only pay if you decide to keep it.

  • If Freehold ever closes, your site is still yours

    Your domain is in your own name, and you hold your own copy of the site, so your website never depends on us being here. If Freehold ever closed its doors, you would already have everything you need to move it anywhere. We hand you that copy the day you go live.

Registered in your organisation's name by
Freehold · Christchurch
Jamie
Yours to keep, yours to move, yours for good.

· FREEHOLD · IN YOUR NAME

Your organisation's name goes on the deed the day you say yes.

Why it works this way

Ownership proven by the exit, not the paperwork

Plenty of web arrangements say you own your site, then make leaving slow, costly, or confusing. That quiet dependence is exactly what this promise is built to prevent. It's the difference between freehold and leasehold: one is truly yours, the other only feels that way until you try to leave.

The free exit is the proof. Because you can walk away at any moment and take everything with you, choosing to stay is a genuine choice, not a lock-in. If leaving is easy, staying is trust.

The whole approach comes from years of frontline support work, where the goal was always for people to end up less dependent, not more. A website should be no different.

Costs at a glance

No surprises, no fine print

$800flat, to keep it and go live · $400 at the community rate
To keep it and go live One flat price, by one published rule. Free to build and try first; you only pay if you keep it. See it against the market: what a website really costs in New Zealand.
$800
The community rate The same site, at $400, for when $800 would genuinely be a stretch: most often volunteer-run groups and community organisations where nobody is paid. A published rule, not a special deal. How the call gets made.
$400
Hosting Held for you at no cost, with nothing recurring.
$0 / mo
Your web address Which you almost certainly already pay, direct to your own registrar.
~$65 / yr
Get in touch

Questions are always welcome

If anything here is unclear, or you want to talk it through before deciding, just email us. Asking costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Email us any time: studio@freehold.org.nz. Every message comes straight to us, and we reply to all of them.
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