Are design and development agencies dead? Is anybody choosing them anymore?

I think that software companies have managed to do what they do best. "Make something expensive cheap". In this case, the des/dev (Marketing website) companies are being replaced by highly specialised freelancers using less complicated to manage infrastructures. Product design and dev? Not dead for sure.

Design and development agencies still hold value and relevance in today's market, despite the evolving digital services landscape.

If anything, they just target a different demographic compare to that of a freelancer.

I have the feeling there are even more, especially services like 5k a month / unlimited changes / no meetings.

No, they are not) I’m a CEO of such an agency and we are still existing and working:)

Design and development agencies are not dead. While the landscape of design and development services has evolved with the rise of in-house teams, freelancers, and specialized firms, agencies still play a vital role in the industry. Many businesses, especially those without extensive in-house resources, continue to rely on agencies for their expertise, experience, and the ability to handle complex projects. In order to reduce development waste companies focus more on user experience to develop user friendly software and drive revenue. I work in a UX UI design & development company, where their main focus is to develop product after multiple research, testing, prototyping, etc. The name of the company is Koru UX Design, an award-winning User Experience design agency and specialise in Enterprise UX with over 12 years of innovation, creativity, and user-centric design