The hidden risks of vendor lock-in (how to avoid it from day one)

When clients move over to rtCamp from their existing agency partners, one of the first things we often need to do is help them regain control of their WordPress setup.

Too often, we find they don’t own their hosting account, have no access to their codebase, and rely entirely on a vendor just to make small changes. What began as a partnership quietly turns into complete dependency. 

Vendor lock-in, as we call it, is more common than most enterprises realize.

What is vendor lock-in?

Vendor lock-in happens when your business becomes dependent on a particular vendor to maintain and operate your website to the point where switching away becomes costly, complicated, or even impossible. This usually occurs when the vendor controls key parts of your website’s infrastructure or codebase and does not transfer full ownership or access to you.

And it doesn’t start with lock-in right away. In most cases, things work smoothly at first but small decisions made early on can quietly build into bigger dependencies over time.

Vendor lock-in: How it begins

Many organizations start off with a well-intentioned vendor partnership that slowly turns complicated. Over time, the agency may apply undocumented quick fixes or patch the codebase with one-off solutions that are never documented or standardized. These “band-aid fixes” might solve problems temporarily, but eventually create a fragile structure where only the original agency knows what’s connected to what. What begins as convenient support turns into a black box where even small updates or changes feel risky because no one else truly understands the system.

This kind of setup doesn’t just slow down development; it actively holds your organization back. When every change needs to go through the same vendor, and even minor updates become time-consuming or expensive, your marketing and product teams lose agility. Campaigns are delayed, innovations stay on the whiteboard, and your website becomes a blocker instead of a platform for growth. Over time, you’re forced to make compromises not because of strategic reasons, but because of technical debt created by the system that was built and maintained.

Some agencies may even blame the platform itself for issues, saying, for example, that certain bugs are “just how WordPress or a particular CMS works” and cannot be fixed. This not only undermines trust in your platform choice but also keeps you stuck.

The hidden costs

In many such cases, businesses spend a significant amount annually on maintenance, licensing, and hosting, sometimes running into six figures, yet receive unpredictable invoices. Costs spike without clear explanations. You’re locked in financially, technically, and operationally.

And the irony? It’s rarely the platform’s fault. Most performance or maintenance headaches aren’t because of WordPress or any other CMS; they come from poor implementation, over-customization, or shortcuts taken to meet short-term needs. That’s not a platform issue; it’s a people/process problem.

How to stay in control from day one

Taking a few proactive steps early in the engagement can go a long way in preventing lock in and building a more balanced relationship with your vendor.

Full ownership of access

You should always have full admin access to your CMS: no shared logins and no vendor-only accounts. The hosting dashboard, DNS settings, and server access should all be in your organization’s control. This is non-negotiable. If these are under someone else’s name, you’re already locked in.

Clear ownership of the codebase

Your site’s codebase should live in a version-controlled repository that your team owns. Avoid scenarios where the vendor holds the keys to custom themes or functionality. If you can’t access your own code, you’re not in control of your site.

Transparent licensing

Any third-party plugins, themes, or tools used on your site should be licensed in your company’s name, not the vendor’s. If your contract ends, you shouldn’t lose functionality just because you didn’t “own” the licenses.

Billing clarity

If you’re paying a retainer, you should know exactly what’s included and what isn’t. Itemized invoices, clear time logs, and defined scopes help build trust and reduce surprises.

Defined SLAs and support terms

Know what “support” means in your agreement. Will issues be resolved in 2 hours or 2 weeks? What happens during off hours? Is uptime monitored? These things matter most when they’re missing.

Questions worth asking early

If you’re responsible for selecting or managing the agency partnership, whether you’re a founder, head of marketing, product owner, or project sponsor, it’s worth slowing down the process and asking a few pointed questions early. Questions not just about timelines and deliverables, but about access, control, and what happens if things don’t go according to plan.

1. Who owns what?

Are the hosting account, domain, and code repository created under your company’s name? If not, regaining access later can become surprisingly difficult.

2. What level of access will you have?

Will your internal team receive full admin access to the CMS, hosting, and DNS  or limited roles? Ask for full access. 

3. How are third-party solutions licensed?

Licenses should be in your name to ensure continuity, even if the vendor relationship changes.

4. Where does the code live, and how is it maintained?

It should be stored in a version-controlled repository with at least basic documentation. This protects your investment and enables smoother transitions.

5. What happens if we part ways?

Understand what offboarding looks like. How will ownership, access, and documentation be handed over if needed?

What happens when you want to change vendors

Once you’re locked in, switching vendors is rarely straightforward. The lack of direct access to your hosting environment or server credentials can turn what should be a routine migration into a costly, drawn-out project filled with risk.

In some cases, the previous agency may delay or even refuse to hand over critical assets like codebases, licenses, and server configurations. Your new team is stuck until the old vendor decides to cooperate.

Custom code, often undocumented and highly specific, adds further complexity. Before any meaningful updates can happen, new developers must learn what’s been done. That drives up cost and slows timelines. Worse still, if backups, data ownership, or recovery processes weren’t clearly defined, your site could face prolonged downtime or even data loss.

In many cases, these complications do more than just add cost and delay; they disrupt operations, derail marketing initiatives, and impact customer experience as well. The result? Teams stay locked in, not because it’s working, but because the effort to switch feels more painful than staying put.

One organization we worked with had heavily customized its site with a previous agency. Over time, even basic content updates required developer intervention. When they finally tried to move, they discovered the agency controlled the plugin licenses and refused to hand over the codebase immediately. It took months and substantial cost to recover control. Meanwhile, their product roadmap was put on hold, and marketing campaigns missed key windows.

This could have been avoided with better access policies and ownership alignment from the beginning.

Security and continuity aren’t afterthoughts, they’re foundational

In vendor partnerships, lapses in access control or documentation don’t just cause inconvenience, they introduce risk. We’ve seen situations where businesses couldn’t respond quickly during a security issue because only the vendor had admin access. In some cases, even something as simple as granting access to a new team member required vendor involvement, slowing things down and leaving internal teams with limited control. When access management and operational knowledge aren’t documented and owned by your organization, even routine updates can turn into friction points. And in critical moments, that lack of preparedness can lead to serious disruption. This is another way vendor lock-in quietly undermines your ability to operate with agility.

Conclusion: Ownership is empowerment

Taking these steps doesn’t mean you expect the worst; it means you’re creating a partnership that’s built to last. One based on clarity, transparency, and mutual respect.

At rtCamp, we’ve seen what happens when businesses lose control not because of platforms, but because of misaligned vendor relationships. That’s why we work differently. Our engagements prioritize client ownership across infrastructure, code, and process so you never have to rely on us to access what’s rightfully yours.

Because when you’re in control, you can move faster, launch smarter, and focus on what truly matters.

Need a trustworthy engineering partner to help you break free from vendor lock-in?  Fill out the contact form and we’ll get back to you.