Website rescue.
Stuck with an agency or builder that holds your domain, hosting, or code? We help you get control back and rebuild on accounts in your name. Your domain and your data stay yours, whatever happens.
Who actually controls your site right now?
Most owners don't know until they try to leave. Four things decide it: the domain (whose registrar account is it in?), the hosting (can you log in?), the source files (do you hold them?), and the analytics. The domain is the one that matters most, a site can be rebuilt in weeks, but a lost domain can be gone for good.
Start with a WHOIS lookup and an honest inventory of what you can and can't log into. That five-minute picture tells you whether this is a quick fix or a real recovery.
What can you get back, and how hard is each piece?
Your domain and your content are usually recoverable on your own. If the domain is in your name, you can move it without anyone's permission; if it's in someone else's account, it becomes a transfer, the first thing we secure. Your text and images can be copied straight off the live site.
The harder pieces are the source files and any hosting the other party controls. Sometimes we get them; often it's faster to rebuild than to fight for them. Either way the finish line is the same: domain, hosting, and files in accounts that belong to you.
How does a rescue actually work?
First we audit what you control and what you don't, in plain language, with no jargon and no scare tactics. Then we secure the domain and recover whatever is genuinely recoverable. Then we rebuild, preserving your page addresses and setting 301 redirects so your Google rankings carry across.
The domain goes in your name and stays there, and your data is yours, because that is the whole point of a rescue. On the rebuild itself we will not repeat the trick that got you here: if you buy the project once, you own it on completion and nobody can hold it over you again. If you would rather pay nothing up front, we will build it on a subscription, and then Mule owns the project until you buy it out, and we will say so in writing before you sign rather than let you discover it. The buyout falls every month until it reaches zero. Given why you are on this page, buying it once may well be the right answer, and we will tell you so.
What does it cost?
There's no separate 'rescue' price to invent. A rescue and rebuild is quoted from your brief like any other Mule project, and you can buy it once and own it outright or subscribe with nothing down and buy it out later.
The honest first step is free: email us what you can see and we will tell you whether moving is even worth it for your situation. Sometimes it is not, and we will say so.
Your web designer disappeared, how to get your site back
Read →Your agency won't give you your files, what to do
Read →How to check who actually owns your domain
Read →How to move off Squarespace and actually own it
Read →Switch off Wix, Weebly, or Format and keep everything
Read →What happens when you stop paying Squarespace or Wix
Read →Owner-of-record, the principle behind all of this
Read →No-subscription website, no lock-in, ever
Read →
About website rescue.
My agency won't give me my files or domain, what can you do?
We start by finding what you already control. The domain is the priority: a WHOIS lookup shows the registrar, and if it's in your name you can move it without anyone's help. We recover what's recoverable, then rebuild on accounts in your name so the leverage is gone for good. Email info@mule-digital.com with what you can see and we'll tell you where you stand.
Can you rescue a Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, or Format site?
Yes. Your content and your domain come with you; the layout, which lives inside the builder, gets rebuilt hand-coded on hosting you own. We've done it off all of them. The move is ordered so the current site stays live until the new one is genuinely ready.
Will I lose my Google rankings or email if I move?
Not if it's done in the right order. We keep your page addresses where we can and set permanent 301 redirects for any that change, so rankings carry across. Email is mapped before anything switches, and we keep the old setup running as a safety net until the new one is confirmed.
How long does a rescue and rebuild take?
It depends on how tangled the domain and accounts are and how big the site is. Securing the domain can be quick; a full rebuild is usually a few weeks. We map a realistic timeline before you commit to anything.
Is this a separate fee, or part of a plan?
There's no separate rescue charge. The rebuild is quoted from your brief like any other project: buy it once and you own it on completion, or subscribe with nothing down, in which case Mule owns the project until you buy it out and the buyout falls every month until it is free. The first read of your situation is free either way.
Get your site back.
Send what you can see — who the domain is with, what you’re stuck on. We’ll tell you straight where you stand. Quoted from your brief.