Framer Experts connects your portfolio to client handovers

Framer’s refreshed Experts programme connects two parts of agency life that often sit apart: showing the work and handing it over. Its 1 October announcement reopened applications to creators with two high-quality sites on their profile and said rankings now rewarded handovers, recent work and revenue. For a small studio, that makes the programme a question of commercial fit as well as presentation. Framer’s announcement

The opportunity is straightforward: a studio already delivering Framer sites to clients can make that work easier to discover. The more interesting implication is that a beautiful portfolio and an active client-delivery business are different kinds of evidence. The refresh asks for both.

Two sites open the door

The October announcement introduced an application route through the Creator menu: choose Apply, then complete a short form if eligible. Each portfolio entry needs a live Framer site, a description and visuals. The redesigned profiles also let creators choose which tab visitors see first. Experts refresh

Framer’s current application page explicitly welcomes individuals and agencies, requires two published Framer sites on a Community profile and says qualified applicants can join immediately. Two sites are therefore the starting requirement; they are not a promise that every submission will qualify.

For a studio seeking client commissions, the new first-tab setting deserves attention. Someone following a profile link should encounter the work that explains the service being sold. If your business also sells components or templates, decide whether those products or completed client sites should lead that particular introduction. Our Marketplace Analytics analysis covers the separate question of understanding demand for resources.

What the directory actually rewards

The ranking guide, updated 27 October, gives the October announcement more precision. It names four signals: handovers followed by a paid plan, recent handovers, the value of plans clients buy after handover, and an account/profile trust score. It also says rankings are relative: your numbers can improve while another Expert moves ahead.

That definition matters when reading “revenue”. The guide refers to Framer plan value following a handover, not the design fee on your agency’s invoice. A large branding engagement is not automatically a stronger directory signal than several smaller website deliveries. Nor does the documentation provide weights from which a studio could calculate a future position.

The October announcement also promised site quality as a ranking factor in November. That was a separate planned change: the sources reviewed here do not confirm its rollout. Studios can improve their portfolio now without assuming that an unpublished quality formula already determines their position. October announcement

A consultancy studio has two different decisions

Imagine a two-person studio with a striking restaurant site, two consultancy sites and a retainer maintaining an established software company’s website. This is an illustrative scenario, not a reported agency result.

The studio wants more consultancy work. One consultancy project reorganised a confusing service catalogue; the other gave a small marketing team editable case studies. Those two examples make a coherent proposition together. The restaurant site might be more spectacular, but leading with it asks potential consultancy clients to make the connection themselves.

The first description could explain how the studio grouped overlapping services and built the resulting pages, crediting the client for copy and photography. The second could show a case-study index alongside an individual entry, explaining what the client can maintain. Together, they give a buyer something concrete to discuss: “We have the same problem with our service pages.” No invented conversion uplift is necessary.

The retainer raises a different question. It may be the studio’s most profitable relationship, yet maintaining an existing client-owned site does not involve a new handover. Directory position therefore cannot stand in for the health of this business. The studio can use its two consultancy examples to explain a speciality while judging the retainer by margin, client satisfaction and renewal prospects.

The handover is a billing event too

Where ownership genuinely belongs with the client, Framer’s Project Transfers documentation describes a practical route. The owner or workspace admin uses File → Transfer Project, supplies the recipient’s email and chooses whether to remain an editor. The client accepts an invitation; Framer says the live site and connected custom domain remain available throughout.

Acceptance cancels the existing Site plan and credits unused subscription value to the original owner. The recipient must select and pay for any required plan. For our consultancy studio, the useful preparation is a short handover appointment with the person authorised to purchase that plan. Explain the recurring bill before sending the transfer, and agree the studio’s continuing editing role. Our client website review guide can help structure the approval that precedes this step.

There is a further commercial distinction: Pro Expert status unlocks automatically after $500 in client-handover commissions, with no second application. Published benefits include prioritised directory placement and a free full editor seat on client projects. That threshold concerns commissions, not project fees or total client subscription spending. Budget ongoing support using the studio’s actual status rather than assuming every Expert receives the Pro seat benefit.

Source and scope

Reviewed on 8 November 2026 against Framer’s 1 October announcement and the official guidance linked above. This is documentation-based analysis, with an illustrative studio, not an account test or a measurement of rankings, referrals or revenue. Published ranking signals describe the programme; they do not establish what any individual agency will earn or where it will appear.