Freelance web designers work for themselves. If you decide to become a freelancer, you have a lot of freedom as you are your own boss. You get to decide what clients and projects you want to work on. You also get to choose what type of work you will do by deciding what specific services you want to offer. Finally, you are able to decide your own work hours. Along with these freedoms and flexibility though, is the difficulty of balancing the tasks of managing your own business and completing the client work.
Agency web designers work for some type of advertising agency. In this scenario, you do not have as much freedom as a freelancer. However, unlike a freelancer, you do not have to manage your own business.  Your work hours are decided by the agency, along with what clients and projects you will work on. The type of work you will do as an agency web designer depends on the agency and the services they offer.
In-house web designers usually work for a single company. Similar to agency web designers, you do not have the same freedoms as freelancers. Your work hours are set by your company, along with the projects you work on. In-house web designers are typically tasked with working on a certain section of a company’s website and continually improving it.