Independent · Illinois · Building since 2020

Websites that carry signal. Not templates. Not slop. Built by hand for people who do real things.

I'm Joey Barbush. I build fast, custom sites for small businesses, colleges, and individuals. And I power the workflow with HIPJOY, a cognitive operating system I designed myself. Your site gets the same care.

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Who this is for

Three kinds of people I build for, and each one gets their own thing.

01 · small business

You do good work. Your Google result is a Yelp page.

I'll build you a real one-page site in a week, photos, reviews, contact, map. $350 flat. No subscription. You own it forever.

02 · colleges & educators

Courses, labs, and faculty pages without the clunky CMS.

Hosted free on GitHub Pages. Version controlled. No paid platform lock-in. Professors, TAs, student orgs. I speak your register.

03 · individuals

Portfolio. Side project. Memorial. Personal brand.

Simple, clean, custom. $150 for a one-pager (sliding scale if things are tight. Just ask). I want you to look like you deserve to.

Live demo

Type your business name. Watch the preview update live.

This is a toy, but it shows the idea. Your actual site would be pixel-perfect, branded to you, with your photos and reviews. Ask for a real mock in the contact form below.

▶ Configure mock
▶ Preview
Painter · Your area
Hawthorn Painting
Serving homes and businesses with careful, clean, lasting paintwork. Interior. Exterior. No rush jobs.
Book a free estimate
The engine

HIPJOY, 14 agents score every page before it ships.

The process is the difference. Nothing ships unscanned -

HIPPO
LUMENARCH
NAVIX
NEURO
REBEL
SONARIS
SPIRALETH
VOX
WELLSPRING
HEARTMOTHER
ARCHIVIST
GUARDIAN
CONAVIGATOR
CODEBREAKER

You don't need to understand any of this to hire me. But you should know: your website won't feel like it was cranked out by an assembly line, because it wasn't.

See HIPJOY live on my hub →

How it works

Four steps. About a week. You look great at the end.

01
You tell me what you do
Email, 10-minute call, or a paragraph in the contact form below. Rough is fine. I fill in the gaps.
Day 1
02
I build a working mock
Custom design, your photos, your voice. Not a template. You see a real link, not a Figma file.
Days 2–4
03
One revision pass
You point at what's off. I fix it. Most people need one round. A second round is free if needed.
Days 5–6
04
Ship + hand over
Goes live on your domain (or free hosting). Source files handed over. You own everything. I disappear unless you want me around.
Day 7
Pricing

Flat fees. No retainers. You own everything when we're done.

Real numbers, stated up front. No "call for quote." No scope creep. No subscriptions to me.

Individual / student / creator
$150
One-page site · ~5 days start to finish
  • Custom design, not a template. Your actual voice, your actual work.
  • Portfolio, personal brand, side-project landing, memorial page, event.
  • Free hosting on GitHub Pages. You keep it forever.
  • Full source handed over. Nothing locked to me.
  • Sliding scale if things are tight, email and ask.
vs. Wix Premium ($192/yr forever + your time)
Multi-page / college / lab
$750+
2–8 pages · ~2–3 weeks
  • Full architecture: nav, footer, multiple pages, maybe a blog.
  • Professors, labs, student orgs, course pages, small product catalogs.
  • Content migration if you have an old site I'm replacing.
  • Basic SEO + accessibility pass.
  • Two revision rounds included. Extras at $75/hr if needed.
vs. university vendor ($3,000–10,000+)
Half up front, half on delivery. Stripe or Zelle. No signed contract needed under $1K.
Not happy? Don't pay the second half. I keep the design, you walk. Fair.
I do 2–3 sites a month. Book early if you have a deadline.
Common questions

Things people ask before they hit send.

Why this price, and not cheaper?

Because I don't use templates, I don't outsource, and I write the copy with you. A $30 Wix template is cheaper upfront but costs you $200/year forever and looks like everyone else. My sites pay for themselves on the first booked customer.

Why this price, and not more expensive?

Because I'm an independent operator at 21, not a 10-person agency. My overhead is a laptop and coffee. I pass that savings to you. If you want a $5K agency engagement, I'm not your person.

What do you NOT do?

I don't do e-commerce checkout (Shopify is better for that). I don't do anything that needs user login / accounts unless we scope that separately. I don't do SEO marketing retainers. I don't do logo design, I'll use what you have or recommend someone.

Who owns the site?

You do. Full source files, full domain ownership, full hosting account. You can fire me the day after launch and nothing breaks. That's the deal.

Do you use AI to build?

I built HIPJOY, a cognitive OS that routes decisions through 14 named agents. So yes. AI helps me think faster. But every line of code and every sentence of copy passes through me. I don't ship anything I didn't read.

How long until my site is live?

Individual/student: ~5 days. Small business: ~7 days. Multi-page: ~2–3 weeks. If you need faster, ask. I sometimes have a same-week slot open.

What if I don't know what I want?

That's normal. I'll send you 2–3 rough directions after our first conversation, you pick one, we go from there. You don't need a finished vision. Just a rough sense of what you do and who you serve.

Work

Sites I've built. More on request, or ask for a free mock of yours.

joeybarbush-hub
Personal brand · HIPJOY field

Joey Barbush · Personal Hub

My own site. Live. Fully static. $0/mo to run.

NEURO
Single entity landing

Entity landing page

One of 14 linked from the main hub. Distinct identity, shared DNA.

Offers grid
Service tier directory

Offers / services directory

Grid of 14 tiers. Supabase-backed signup forms. Shared CSS.

Portfolio
Operator sovereign surface

Portfolio (operator register)

For dev audience. Three-audience hero, technical capabilities, shipped work.

About me

I'm 21. Based in Illinois. Independent.

I've been writing software since high school. I build full-stack, HTML, CSS, JS, React, Python, SQL. Whatever the job needs. Finishing up my associate's degree at Waubonsee Community College this year, where I also played golf on the team.

I use AI heavily, Claude Code, my own HIPJOY layer, Gemini. But I drive every decision and review every line before it ships. Custom-built, not template-applied.

If you want the long version, read the about page. Otherwise. Hit the contact form below and tell me what you need.

About page → LinkedIn GitHub joeybarbush@gmail.com
Start

Tell me what you need. Rough is fine.

Replies within 24 hours, usually faster. Or email direct: joeybarbush@gmail.com
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