R/GA
Independent again since 2025, and spending on AI talent.
What is R/GA?
Since buying itself back from Interpublic Group in March 2025, with majority backing from Truelink Capital, R/GA has moved quickly. It set up a $50M innovation fund, launched a global AI products team, and made the first acquisition in its nearly 50-year history: Addition, an AI system design studio. In September 2026 it hired former Google executive Sadie Thoma as its first global chief business officer. The agency has run out of New York since 1977 and now works from ten countries, including Austin, London, São Paulo, Singapore, and Stockholm. Product design still arrives bundled with brand and marketing strategy.
R/GA works primarily with clients in Enterprise transformation, Consumer products, Media & entertainment sectors. Its primary differentiator is: Pairs product design with brand and marketing strategy, and since going independent has been buying and building AI design capability.
R/GA tech stack and services
| Service area |
|---|
| Product Design |
| Branding |
| Web Design |
| UX Research |
| Motion Design |
R/GA pricing
Short answer: R/GA uses a project-based, retainer for ongoing programs pricing approach. Minimum engagement starts at Not published.
| Engagement model | Typical range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed project | From Not published | Well-defined scope |
| Retainer | Monthly rate; not public | Ongoing AI engineering |
R/GA pros and cons
| Advantages | Things to consider |
|---|---|
| +Product design and marketing strategy come from one team, which saves large brands a second vendor | -Ownership changed in 2025 and the AI products team is new, so ask how much of that capability would touch your project |
| +Acquired AI system design studio Addition, its first acquisition, funded from a $50M innovation fund | -Trade-press reports of 25% year-on-year revenue growth in Q1 2026 come from the agency itself |
| +Offices in ten countries across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific | -Marketing-led positioning and large-brand pricing fit early-stage product teams poorly |
| +Leadership bench keeps growing after the buyout, including a first global chief business officer hired in September 2026 |
R/GA vs alternatives
How R/GA compares to the other top Product Design agencies.
| Company | Best for | Key difference | Rating | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phenomenon Studio | Founders needing one accountable team, not a design/dev... | Runs discovery before design starts, then keeps the same senior team through development and post-launch support; 92% of clients return for more work (per company website) | 4.9 | Full comparison |
| IDEO | Enterprises that want design capability built inside their... | Three decades of human-centered design history, now aimed at building clients' in-house design and innovation capability | 3.6 | Full comparison |
| Frog | Enterprises needing digital plus physical product design. | Designs physical hardware (IoT, automotive, medical devices) and the software on it within one team, a pairing most firms on this list dropped years ago | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| Accenture Song | Regulated enterprises — banking, telecom, automotive — embedded... | 36 studios and 2,000+ specialists operating inside Accenture's enterprise consulting arm — the largest global footprint of any agency on this list, with compliance coverage to match | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Work & Co | Premium brands, design paired with strong engineering. | An engineering-heavy studio whose client list (Apple, IKEA, Nike, Disney) outsizes its ~400-person team, now part of Accenture Song | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Huge Inc | Large enterprise brands comfortable with a recently rebuilt... | A 1999 agency name rebuilt through a 2024 private-equity sale, the Hero Digital merger, and a new CEO in 2026 | 3.7 | Full comparison |
| Fantasy | Enterprises designing AI products, independent senior studio. | Independently owned for 25+ years, with recent enterprise AI platform work for BNY and Salesforce | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Instrument | Brands wanting design bundled with marketing, Stagwell-network. | Campaign US 2026 Design Studio of the Year, combining product, brand, and marketing design inside Stagwell's Code and Theory Network | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| MetaLab | Well-funded SaaS/fintech, full-stack design through design systems. | A design portfolio (Slack, Uber, Coinbase, Midjourney) that outsizes its 160-person headcount, covering the full stack from research through design systems | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Clay | B2B SaaS, AI, fintech — big-tech credibility, low... | An unusually large enterprise client roster (Coinbase, Meta, Google, Slack) for a studio that doesn't publish its own founding year or team size | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| ustwo | Health, finance, and consumer teams wanting an employee-owned... | An employee-owned, B Corp-certified studio with a growing healthcare portfolio and clients like Google, DeepMind, and HSBC | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Ramotion | Startups/mid-market, brand identity plus product design. | Bundles brand identity work with UX/UI and app development for a client range spanning early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Netguru | Companies wanting design plus full development, one team. | Product design plus full software delivery from a 400-plus-person team, with client work for IKEA, Volkswagen, and Vinted | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Fireart Studio | Startups/mid-market, design plus full development, one studio. | 700+ delivered projects for 200+ clients and a 4.9 Clutch rating, with design and development from one Warsaw team | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Qubstudio | Banks and fintechs, from MVP through enterprise redesign. | Ranked #1 UX/UI agency on Clutch in 2026, with measurable banking results (Gulf Bank's app rating rose from 1.9 to 4.8) and a 4.9 rating across 94 reviews | 4.6 | Full comparison |
| Excited | SaaS/fintech teams wanting an award-winning specialist at mid-market... | A 5.0 Clutch rating across 56 reviews and four Red Dot awards, focused narrowly on SaaS and fintech | 4.5 | Full comparison |
| Bakken & Bæck | Tech companies (AI, decentralized systems), design plus research. | A five-city European studio that blends design with genuine computer-science research depth, evidenced by recent AI work for Sierra and Coinbase | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| Big Human | Startups/consumer brands, small senior studio, product builders. | A compact, senior remote team that has worked on consumer hits like HQ Trivia and Vine and also builds its own startups | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| UXDA | Banks and large fintechs with enterprise design budgets. | The only studio on this list built exclusively around financial-services UX, with 150+ banking and fintech platforms shaped across 39 countries | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Onething Design | Multi-vertical companies, one studio across five industries. | Covers five distinct industries — BFSI, consumer, enterprise, healthcare, automotive — from one team with both US and India delivery presence | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| UX studio | Complex B2B SaaS, research-first design partner. | Research-first B2B SaaS design with a 5.0 Clutch rating across 41 reviews, comparable in method to Phenomenon Studio's discovery-first approach | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| Halo Lab | E-commerce and web-app teams wanting design and build... | A 4.9 Clutch rating across 100 reviews, the largest review base among boutiques here, with design and development in one 150-person team | 4.4 | Full comparison |
R/GA FAQ
What is R/GA?
Independent again since 2025, and spending on AI talent.
How much does R/GA charge?
R/GA uses project-based, retainer for ongoing programs pricing. Minimum engagement starts at Not published. A discovery call is required to get project-specific quotes.
What tech stack does R/GA use?
R/GA works with Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, After Effects, Miro. Primary industries served include Enterprise transformation, Consumer products, Media & entertainment.
Is R/GA right for enterprise?
Large brands that want product design and marketing from one partner. ~2,000 team size. Key consideration: Ownership changed in 2025 and the AI products team is new, so ask how much of that capability would touch your project.
What are the best R/GA alternatives?
The best alternatives to R/GA depend on your use case. Top options are:
- Phenomenon Studio: runs discovery before design starts, then keeps the same senior team through development and post-launch support; 92% of clients return for more work (per company website)
- IDEO: three decades of human-centered design history, now aimed at building clients' in-house design and innovation capability
- Frog: designs physical hardware (iot, automotive, medical devices) and the software on it within one team, a pairing most firms on this list dropped years ago
Compare R/GA with other Product Design agencies
Verify all details directly with R/GA before making a decision.