When searching for Top EY Alternatives, marketing leaders, UX directors, founders, and digital transformation executives are typically seeking more agile, cost-effective, and specialized partners for their creative agency needs. While EY Studio+ (Ernst & Young’s creative services division) offers enterprise-scale design, UX, branding, web development, and digital transformation services backed by a global consulting powerhouse, many organizations find that the Big Four consulting model doesn’t align with their need for rapid execution, transparent pricing, or dedicated creative resources.
This comprehensive guide explores the leading alternatives to EY Studio+ specifically for creative agency services—including branding, graphic design, UI/UX design, motion graphics and video production, conversion optimization and UX research, website development, and AI implementation. While EY Studio+ provides a broad range of consulting services beyond creative work, this article focuses exclusively on comparing providers in the creative agency space where businesses need design, development, and optimization expertise.
EY Studio+ brings together approximately 7,000 design, marketing, sales, service and technology professionals across 50 countries, offering services that combine design, technology and commercial insight, augmented by EY.ai. However, their enterprise consulting approach, custom project-based pricing structure, and traditional agency engagement model create friction points for organizations seeking predictable costs, faster turnaround times, and more direct access to senior creative talent.
Understanding the EY Studio+ Creative Services Model
Before exploring alternatives, it’s important to understand what organizations are moving away from. EY Studio+ operates within the broader EY consulting framework, which means engagements typically follow traditional consulting structures with project-based pricing, multi-tiered team compositions, and enterprise-focused processes.
Consulting firms like EY do not have price lists, with engagements individually priced depending on team size, team composition, target margin and client relationship status. This creates unpredictability for organizations that need to budget creative resources quarterly or annually. Additionally, the Big Four—Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG—compete in the mid-market fee range, with strategy and management consulting practices sitting at the top-end of their fee model.
For creative services specifically, EY’s Business Transformation Consulting – Design Studio roles show hourly rates ranging from $32.70-42.93 for entry-level positions, though client-facing rates are typically significantly higher. Project durations vary widely based on scope, and teams are assembled on a project-by-project basis rather than providing dedicated resources.
Why Organizations Search for Top EY Alternatives
Marketing leaders at mid-sized tech companies often struggle with the lack of cohesion between marketing and design efforts when working with large consulting firms. The challenge isn’t just about cost—it’s about finding a partner who can truly understand complex product offerings without the disruption to existing marketing processes that comes with traditional agency onboarding.
UX directors at rapidly growing e-commerce companies face a different challenge: they need agencies that can keep pace with agile development cycles and deliver measurable conversion improvements, not just strategic recommendations. Skepticism about agencies’ claims of dramatic conversion improvements is well-founded when projects take months to complete and results are difficult to attribute.
Startup founders face perhaps the steepest challenge—they need to make a big impact with their brand to compete with established players, but comprehensive rebranding efforts from enterprise agencies can consume significant capital that early-stage companies need for growth. The learning curve for teams to adapt to new brand guidelines adds another layer of complexity.
Digital transformation directors at established companies are under pressure to demonstrate ROI from digital initiatives. They’re frustrated by competitors deploying AI solutions more effectively, and they need partners who can translate AI potential into practical, measurable results—not consultants who speak in buzzwords without understanding their specific domain.
E-commerce managers struggling with low conversion rates and high cart abandonment need partners who understand both the technical and experiential sides of e-commerce. Integration challenges with existing platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, combined with concerns about disrupting current sales during implementation, make the choice of partner critical.
Product managers at Series B SaaS companies need to validate feature concepts before development and optimize existing product interfaces for better adoption. They’re looking for partners who can help prioritize features based on real user data within fast-paced agile product development cycles, not lengthy research timelines that conflict with release schedules.
Growth marketing directors face perhaps the most acute timing pressure—running 20+ experiments monthly across channels means they can’t afford to wait weeks for creative assets. They need partners who understand that a 2% lift in conversion rate is worth more than the prettiest design that doesn’t convert, and who can maintain brand consistency across rapid experimentation.
Top EY Alternatives for Creative Agency Services
1. Passionate Agency – Passionates (Subscription-Based Model)
Passionate Agency represents a fundamentally different approach to creative services compared to traditional consulting firms. Founded in 2019 and operating from London and New York, Passionates offers unlimited design, development, video, conversion optimization, and AI services through a subscription model that eliminates the unpredictability of project-based pricing.
Service Coverage: Passionate Agency provides comprehensive creative agency services including graphic design, branding, website design, UI/UX design, motion graphics, video production, 3D/AR/WebXR, WordPress/Webflow/Shopify development, UX research, CRO, A/B testing, analytics, AI engineering, and automation—all accessible through progressive subscription tiers.
Pricing Structure: Unlike EY’s custom project pricing, Passionates offers transparent subscription tiers. The Grow tier ($8,000/month full-time, $5,000/month part-time) provides access to senior designers, motion graphics artists, and web developers. The Optimize tier ($10,000/month full-time, $6,000/month part-time) adds UX researchers and CRO analysts. The Innovate tier ($12,500/month full-time, $7,250/month part-time) includes AI engineers and automation analysts. Hourly packages are also available at $199/hour for maintenance and ad-hoc tasks.
Team Composition: All team members are senior professionals with at least five years of experience, representing the top 0.5% of talent. Clients receive a dedicated project manager who coordinates requests across specialists. Unlike traditional agencies where junior staff handle much of the work, Passionates guarantees senior-level execution on every request.
Project Execution: Passionates delivers requests within 1-3 working days, a stark contrast to the weeks or months typical of traditional consulting engagements. The subscription model allows for unlimited requests (processed one at a time per resource), enabling iterative refinement without scope creep concerns. Clients can stack multiple subscriptions to increase capacity for higher-volume needs or tighter deadlines.
Quality Assurance: Enterprise-grade quality control, ISO 27001 ready security standards, and Master Service Agreements provide the compliance and reliability that mid-market and enterprise clients require, while maintaining the agility of a specialized agency.
Best For: Organizations seeking predictable costs, rapid delivery, and 360° skill coverage across design, development, CRO, and AI. Particularly well-suited for iterative, fast-paced creative and marketing teams, growth-stage companies running continuous experimentation, and enterprises needing to scale creative resources without hiring overhead.
2. Accenture Song
Accenture Song represents another major alternative in the enterprise creative services space. Accenture’s Song unifies all of the consultant’s creative, design, AI and marketing practices under one roof, claiming $19 billion in revenues and calling itself the “world’s largest tech-powered creative company”.
Service Coverage: Accenture Song offers comprehensive creative services including brand strategy, experience design, marketing transformation, commerce, and content production, integrated with technology consulting and AI capabilities.
Pricing Structure: Similar to EY, Accenture operates on custom project-based pricing with engagements individually scoped. Pricing information is not publicly disclosed, with costs varying significantly based on project scope, team composition, and client relationship.
Team Composition: Large multi-disciplinary teams combining creatives, strategists, technologists, and consultants. Team structures typically follow consulting models with a mix of senior partners, managers, and junior consultants.
Project Execution: Enterprise-focused delivery timelines, typically measured in months for significant engagements. Follows structured consulting methodologies with defined phases and milestone deliverables.
Best For: Large enterprises seeking integrated creative and technology transformation at massive scale, with budgets to match the world’s largest creative consultancy.
3. Deloitte Digital
Deloitte Digital has seen rapid expansion, purchasing Swedish creative consultancy Acne and UK-based Market Gravity, spending a total of $144 million on acquisitions in recent years. This aggressive acquisition strategy has built a significant creative capability within the Big Four consulting framework.
Service Coverage: Deloitte Digital provides digital strategy, creative and brand, experience design, technology implementation, and analytics—integrated with Deloitte’s broader consulting services.
Pricing Structure: Custom project-based pricing following Big Four consulting models. The Big Four compete in the mid-market fee range, with strategy and management consulting practices at the top-end of their fee model. Specific pricing not publicly disclosed.
Team Composition: Blended teams of creative professionals from acquired agencies combined with Deloitte consultants. Team structures vary by engagement but typically include multiple layers from partners to analysts.
Project Execution: Traditional consulting engagement model with defined project phases, milestone reviews, and structured delivery timelines typically spanning months.
Best For: Enterprises already working with Deloitte for other consulting services and seeking integrated digital transformation alongside advisory, tax, and audit capabilities.
4. PwC Digital Services
PwC has also built creative capabilities through acquisition and organic growth, competing directly with EY Studio+ in the enterprise creative services market.
Service Coverage: Digital strategy, experience design, customer engagement, marketing transformation, and technology implementation services integrated with PwC’s consulting practice.
Pricing Structure: Custom engagement pricing typical of Big Four firms. Project costs vary based on scope, team composition, and client relationship, with pricing not publicly disclosed.
Team Composition: Multi-disciplinary consulting teams combining creative, strategy, and technology professionals in traditional consulting hierarchies.
Project Execution: Structured consulting methodology with phased delivery, milestone reviews, and timelines typically measured in months for significant creative engagements.
Best For: Large organizations with existing PwC relationships seeking integrated creative services alongside broader consulting engagements.
5. KPMG Customer Advisory
KPMG rounds out the Big Four presence in creative services, offering customer experience and digital transformation capabilities.
Service Coverage: Customer experience strategy, digital transformation, marketing effectiveness, and experience design integrated with KPMG’s advisory services.
Pricing Structure: Custom project-based pricing following Big Four consulting models, with costs varying significantly by engagement scope and not publicly disclosed.
Team Composition: Consulting teams combining customer experience professionals with broader KPMG advisory capabilities, structured in traditional consulting hierarchies.
Project Execution: Enterprise consulting engagement model with structured phases, governance frameworks, and delivery timelines typically spanning months.
Best For: Enterprises seeking customer experience transformation integrated with risk, compliance, and broader advisory services.
6. Design Subscription Agencies (Alternative Model)
Beyond the Big Four alternatives, a category of design subscription agencies has emerged offering unlimited services for fixed monthly fees—a model that addresses many of the pain points organizations experience with traditional consulting engagements.
Service Coverage: Varies by provider, but typically includes graphic design, branding, web design, and sometimes motion graphics. More comprehensive providers like Passionate Agency extend to development, CRO, and AI services.
Pricing Structure: Fixed monthly subscriptions ranging from $3,000-$15,000 depending on service tier and provider. Transparent pricing with no hidden fees or scope creep concerns.
Team Composition: Typically senior designers and specialists assigned to client accounts. Quality varies significantly by provider—some use offshore teams while others like Passionates guarantee top 0.5% senior talent with 5+ years experience.
Project Execution: Rapid turnaround times, typically 1-5 days per request depending on complexity. Unlimited revisions and iterative refinement included in subscription.
Best For: Organizations with ongoing creative needs seeking predictable costs and rapid execution without the overhead of hiring or traditional agency markups.
7. Specialized Boutique Agencies
Specialized boutique agencies focusing on specific verticals or service areas represent another alternative to EY Studio+.
Service Coverage: Typically specialized in one or two areas such as branding, web development, or video production rather than full-service offerings.
Pricing Structure: Project-based pricing or retainer models. Costs vary widely from $10,000-$500,000+ depending on agency reputation, location, and project scope.
Team Composition: Small teams of specialists, often 5-50 people. Direct access to senior talent but limited breadth of capabilities.
Project Execution: Varies significantly by agency size and project scope. Timelines range from weeks to months depending on complexity.
Best For: Organizations with specific, well-defined creative needs in a single discipline and budget flexibility for project-based pricing.
Key Differentiators When Evaluating Top EY Alternatives
Pricing Transparency and Predictability
One of the most significant pain points with EY Studio+ and other Big Four creative services is pricing unpredictability. When evaluating alternatives, consider whether the provider offers transparent pricing or requires custom quotes for every engagement. Subscription models eliminate budget surprises, while project-based pricing requires careful scope management to avoid overruns.
For organizations running continuous experimentation or requiring ongoing creative support, the ability to budget accurately is crucial. A growth marketing director running 20+ experiments monthly needs to know exactly what creative resources will cost each month, not negotiate pricing for each landing page variation.
Speed of Execution
Traditional consulting engagements measure timelines in months, but modern marketing moves in days or weeks. The difference between 1-3 day turnaround and 4-12 week project timelines can determine whether you capture market opportunities or watch competitors move first.
UX directors at e-commerce companies can’t wait months for A/B test designs when cart abandonment is costing revenue daily. Product managers can’t align lengthy research timelines with sprint-based development cycles. The speed at which your creative partner can execute directly impacts your ability to iterate and improve.
Breadth of Capabilities
EY Studio+ offers comprehensive capabilities across design, technology, and strategy—but at enterprise complexity and cost. When evaluating alternatives, consider whether you need a single partner for all creative services or whether specialized providers make more sense.
Managing multiple specialized agencies creates coordination overhead and potential inconsistencies. A CMO seeking cohesion between marketing and design efforts may find that working with separate branding, web development, and video agencies actually increases fragmentation rather than solving it.
Conversely, paying for comprehensive capabilities you don’t need inflates costs unnecessarily. A startup founder focused purely on brand identity doesn’t benefit from paying for enterprise-scale technology consulting capabilities.
Team Seniority and Consistency
Traditional consulting firms staff projects with pyramidal team structures—a few senior people supported by many junior consultants. This model works for certain types of consulting but can be problematic for creative work where quality and strategic thinking matter at every level.
When evaluating alternatives, understand who will actually do the work. Will you get senior creative directors on every project, or will execution be delegated to junior designers? Will you work with the same team members consistently, or will faces change project to project?
Agencies guaranteeing senior talent (5+ years experience, top 0.5% of professionals) on every request provide consistency and quality that junior-heavy teams cannot match. A dedicated project manager who understands your brand and business becomes increasingly valuable over time as they accumulate context.
Scalability and Flexibility
Business needs fluctuate—launch periods require more creative resources than steady-state operations. Traditional agency models handle this poorly, requiring renegotiation of contracts or SOWs to scale up or down.
Subscription models with the ability to stack multiple resources or adjust tiers monthly provide flexibility that matches business reality. A growth marketing director preparing for a product launch can add resources for three months, then scale back without contract renegotiation or relationship friction.
Similarly, the ability to shift between service types within a subscription provides agility. A single resource that can deliver branding one week, web development the next, and motion graphics the following week eliminates the need to coordinate multiple specialists.
Integration and Onboarding Friction
Every new agency relationship requires onboarding—sharing brand guidelines, explaining product complexity, aligning on processes. Traditional agencies treat each project as a new engagement, requiring repeated onboarding.
Ongoing relationships with dedicated teams eliminate this friction. After the initial onboarding, your creative partner accumulates context about your brand, audience, and business that makes subsequent work more strategic and efficient.
Integration with existing tools and workflows also matters. Agencies that work within your existing project management systems, communication tools, and martech stack reduce friction. Those requiring you to adapt to their processes add overhead.
Comparison: Top EY Alternatives for Creative Services
| Provider | Pricing Model | Typical Monthly Investment | Turnaround Time | Team Seniority | Service Breadth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EY Studio+ | Custom project-based | Not disclosed (enterprise-scale) | Months per engagement | Mixed (partners to analysts) | Comprehensive (design, tech, strategy) |
| Passionate Agency | Fixed subscription | $5,000-$12,500 per resource | 1-3 days per request | Senior only (5+ years, top 0.5%) | Comprehensive (design, dev, CRO, AI) |
| Accenture Song | Custom project-based | Not disclosed (enterprise-scale) | Months per engagement | Mixed (partners to analysts) | Comprehensive (creative, tech, marketing) |
| Deloitte Digital | Custom project-based | Not disclosed (Big Four rates) | Months per engagement | Mixed (partners to analysts) | Comprehensive (digital, creative, tech) |
| PwC Digital | Custom project-based | Not disclosed (Big Four rates) | Months per engagement | Mixed (partners to analysts) | Comprehensive (CX, digital, marketing) |
| KPMG Customer Advisory | Custom project-based | Not disclosed (Big Four rates) | Months per engagement | Mixed (partners to analysts) | Comprehensive (CX, digital, advisory) |
| Boutique Agencies | Project or retainer | $10,000-$100,000+ per project | Weeks to months | Varies (often senior-focused) | Specialized (1-2 service areas) |
Making the Right Choice: Selecting Among Top EY Alternatives
For Mid-Market Companies (50-1,000 Employees)
Mid-market companies face a unique challenge—they’ve outgrown freelancers and small agencies but don’t have enterprise budgets for Big Four consulting fees. They need professional, scalable creative services without enterprise complexity.
Subscription-based models like Passionate Agency provide enterprise-quality work at predictable mid-market pricing. The ability to access senior designers, developers, UX researchers, CRO specialists, and AI engineers through progressive tiers means you only pay for capabilities you actually use, scaling up or down as needs change.
Traditional project-based agencies in this market segment often deliver inconsistent quality, with senior talent pitching but junior staff executing. Subscription models guaranteeing senior execution eliminate this bait-and-switch.
For High-Growth Startups (2-100 Employees)
Startups need to make big impacts with limited budgets. They can’t afford six-figure branding projects or months-long website development cycles. They need partners who move at startup speed without startup quality compromises.
Fixed-price subscriptions provide budget predictability crucial for fundraising and cash flow management. The ability to use a subscription for a focused 2-3 month engagement—completing a rebrand or website launch—then canceling without penalties provides flexibility that project-based pricing cannot match.
Startups also benefit from breadth of capabilities in a single partner. Rather than coordinating separate agencies for branding, web development, and video production, a comprehensive subscription provides all three with built-in consistency.
For Enterprise Organizations (1,000+ Employees)
Enterprises have different needs—compliance requirements, security standards, integration with complex systems, and coordination with multiple stakeholders. They can afford Big Four pricing but often find the bureaucracy and slow execution frustrating.
When evaluating Top EY Alternatives, enterprises should prioritize providers offering enterprise-grade security (ISO 27001 ready), Master Service Agreements, and proven experience with complex organizations—while still delivering the speed and flexibility that internal teams need.
The ability to stack multiple subscription resources provides enterprise-scale capacity without enterprise-scale procurement processes. Rather than negotiating SOWs for each project, enterprises can provision creative resources as needed, scaling from one to ten or more resources based on demand.
For Specific Use Cases
Continuous Experimentation and Growth Marketing: Organizations running 20+ experiments monthly need partners who can deliver landing page variations, ad creatives, and email designs in days, not weeks. Subscription models with 1-3 day turnaround and unlimited requests enable the experimentation velocity that drives growth.
Product Development and Iteration: Product teams working in agile sprints need creative partners who align with sprint cadences. Two-week sprints don’t accommodate four-week design cycles. Partners delivering within days enable true agile product development.
E-commerce Optimization: E-commerce managers need partners who understand platform-specific constraints (Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce) and can implement optimizations without disrupting live sales. Combined design, development, and CRO capabilities in a single partner eliminate coordination friction.
Digital Transformation: Digital transformation directors need partners who can translate AI and automation potential into practical implementations. Theoretical strategy documents don’t deliver ROI—working implementations do. Partners offering AI engineering and automation capabilities alongside design and development can deliver complete solutions.
Common Pitfalls When Switching from EY Studio+
Organizations moving away from EY Studio+ or other Big Four creative services often make predictable mistakes:
Underestimating the Value of Integration: EY Studio+ provides comprehensive capabilities under one roof. Replacing them with multiple specialized agencies creates coordination overhead that consumes the cost savings. Seek alternatives offering similar breadth to maintain integration benefits.
Prioritizing Cost Over Quality: The cheapest alternative is rarely the best value. Offshore agencies or junior-heavy teams may offer attractive pricing but deliver work requiring extensive revisions, ultimately costing more in time and opportunity cost than higher-quality providers.
Ignoring Cultural Fit: Agency relationships work best when working styles align. Organizations with fast-paced, iterative cultures struggle with agencies requiring extensive documentation and formal processes. Conversely, enterprises with compliance requirements need partners who understand governance frameworks.
Failing to Plan for Transition: Switching creative partners mid-project creates risks. Plan transitions at natural breakpoints—after completing major initiatives, at fiscal year boundaries, or when starting new strategic initiatives.
Not Testing Before Committing: Many alternatives offer trial periods or pilot projects. Use these to validate quality, speed, and fit before committing to long-term relationships. One month with a subscription agency reveals more than any pitch presentation.
The Future of Creative Agency Services
The market for creative agency services is evolving rapidly, driven by several trends that make traditional consulting models increasingly obsolete:
Speed as Competitive Advantage: Markets move faster than ever. The ability to test, learn, and iterate in days rather than months increasingly determines competitive outcomes. Agencies offering rapid execution gain market share from slower traditional firms.
AI-Augmented Creative Work: AI tools are transforming creative workflows, enabling senior professionals to produce more work at higher quality. Agencies leveraging AI effectively can deliver better results faster—but only if they’re structured to capitalize on these tools rather than constrained by traditional consulting billing models.
Subscription Economics: Software taught businesses to prefer subscription pricing for predictability and flexibility. Creative services are following the same path, with subscription models gaining adoption among organizations tired of unpredictable project costs and scope creep.
Integrated Capabilities: The boundaries between design, development, marketing, and technology continue blurring. Organizations increasingly prefer partners offering integrated capabilities rather than coordinating multiple specialists.
Senior Talent Accessibility: Remote work democratized access to senior talent globally. Agencies no longer need massive overhead to access top professionals, enabling new models that deliver senior-quality work at mid-market pricing.
Conclusion: Choosing the Right Alternative to EY Studio+
When searching for Top EY Alternatives for creative agency services, the right choice depends on your specific needs, constraints, and priorities. Enterprise organizations with massive budgets and complex requirements may find Accenture Song or other Big Four alternatives provide similar capabilities to EY Studio+ with different cultural fits or relationship dynamics.
However, most organizations searching for alternatives are seeking something fundamentally different—more speed, more predictability, more direct access to senior talent, and more flexibility than traditional consulting models provide.
For these organizations, subscription-based models like Passionate Agency represent a paradigm shift. Fixed monthly pricing eliminates budget unpredictability. Rapid 1-3 day delivery enables agile iteration. Guaranteed senior talent (5+ years experience, top 0.5% of professionals) ensures quality. Progressive tiers from design and development (Grow) to conversion optimization (Optimize) to AI implementation (Innovate) provide comprehensive capabilities without paying for unused services.
The ability to scale instantly—stacking multiple resources for high-volume periods, then scaling back without contract renegotiation—provides flexibility that matches business reality. No hidden fees, no scope creep, no junior staff doing senior work.
Whether you’re a CMO seeking cohesion between marketing and design, a UX director needing conversion breakthroughs, a founder building brand identity, a digital transformation director implementing AI solutions, an e-commerce manager optimizing revenue, a product manager validating features, or a growth marketer running continuous experiments—the creative partner you choose fundamentally impacts your ability to execute strategy.
The Top EY Alternatives share common characteristics: they prioritize speed over process, transparency over custom pricing, senior execution over pyramidal staffing, and flexibility over rigid contracts. They understand that in 2024, creative services need to move at the speed of business, not the speed of traditional consulting.
As you evaluate alternatives, consider not just capabilities and pricing, but how the partnership model aligns with your working style, organizational culture, and strategic priorities. The best alternative to EY Studio+ isn’t necessarily the largest or most established—it’s the one that eliminates the friction points that drove you to search for Top EY Alternatives in the first place.
For organizations ready to experience a different approach to creative services—one built for speed, transparency, and results—exploring subscription-based alternatives like Passionate Agency offers a glimpse into the future of creative partnerships. With transparent pricing, rapid delivery, senior-only talent, and comprehensive capabilities from design to AI, these modern alternatives address the core frustrations that make organizations seek alternatives to traditional consulting models.
The creative agency landscape has evolved beyond the Big Four consulting model. The question isn’t whether to explore Top EY Alternatives—it’s which alternative best aligns with your specific needs, budget, and timeline. In an era where speed, flexibility, and predictability determine competitive outcomes, the right creative partner becomes a strategic advantage rather than just a service provider.
