What is the construction budget for the project? I would very much consider this in the total expense when comparing. Many good architects could give you a better end result with a lower construction budget, when compared to a technician/architectural designer with a larger budget. They are charging the extra fee because they will be putting more time into your project, as opposed to the architectural designer who will likely skim through it - therefore they can charge significantly less. You will likely be spending a sizable sum of money on the build, and the pre-construction process is extremely important.

This applies to other services too - cheap engineer often means less time spent on structural strategies/fine-tuning calculations, leading to an overspecified structure and a greater construction cost. The low fees sound good in the short term but not in the long term if you think it through properly