Debate: Should you quote a flat rate or hourly for web work? I changed my mind after a year.

For the first two years freelancing in ABQ I always charged hourly. Felt safe. Then I took on a site rebuild for a local coffee shop that went from 20 hours to 45 because they kept adding features. I made like $12 an hour on that project. A buddy told me flat rate protects your time and sets expectations. Now I'm split. Some clients want hourly for transparency. Has anyone else switched and regretted it or found it works better?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowanw912d ago

Oh man, I gotta push back a little on flat rate protecting your time. I'd say it's actually the opposite sometimes. If you're not crazy specific with what's included in that flat rate, you'll end up doing way more work for the same price when clients come back with a million small changes. I learned that the hard way with a local bakery site where I locked in a price but didn't account for the three rounds of "can we just tweak the menu layout" revisions. Hourly at least makes you think twice before saying yes to extra stuff.

miaprice2d ago

Wait have you tried adding a revision cap to your flat rate proposals? @rowanw91 I feel you on the bakery site thing, I got burned the same way with a restaurant menu once. What helped me was listing exactly what's included in the price like "two rounds of changes, extra rounds at $50 an hour" right in the contract. That way clients know upfront that tweaks past a certain point cost extra, and it's not a surprise for anyone. It takes a little extra time to write it all out but saves so much headache later.

kelly_rivera1d ago

Wait, did you just say "two rounds of changes"? That's GENEROUS. I cap mine at ONE round and make them pay for anything after that. Saves so much drama.