"Redesign" and "rebuild" get used as if they're the same thing in most conversations, but they're genuinely different projects — and knowing which one you actually need before getting quotes saves both time and money.
What a redesign actually changes
A redesign keeps the underlying platform and content structure, and changes the look, layout, and experience on top of it. If your site runs on WordPress and works reasonably well but just looks and feels dated, a redesign — new theme, new layout, refreshed content — is usually the right, cheaper scope.
What a rebuild actually changes
A rebuild replaces the platform itself — moving from something old and custom to WordPress, or from WordPress to a modern framework, or consolidating a few disconnected tools into one system. It's a bigger, more expensive project, and it's the right call when the platform itself is the real limitation, not just its appearance.
The simplest way to tell which one you need: if your complaint is "it looks old" or "it's confusing to navigate," that's usually a redesign. If your complaint is "I can't do X on this platform," or "changing anything requires a developer every time," that's usually a rebuild.
A middle option worth knowing about
A partial rebuild, where the platform changes but existing content, SEO rankings, and URL structure are deliberately preserved instead of starting from zero. This is genuinely worth asking any studio about explicitly, since it avoids throwing away search rankings that took months or years to earn.
Whichever it turns out to be, the wrong first move is guessing. A short conversation about what's actually frustrating you about the current site — rather than starting from "I want a redesign" — is what actually determines the real scope, and the real price.