Hourly vs fixed-price comparison
| Decision factor | Hourly pricing | Fixed-price pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Best when requirements may change | Best when deliverables and acceptance criteria are precise |
| Risk | Client carries more effort risk | Freelancer carries more estimation risk |
| Revisions | Additional work remains billable | Revision limits must be explicit |
| Budget | Final cost is less certain | Client gets clearer budget certainty |
Choose hourly when
Discovery is incomplete, priorities may change, the client controls dependencies, or ongoing collaboration matters more than one defined deliverable. Set a reporting cadence, billing increment, and approval threshold for extra hours.
Choose fixed price when
The deliverables, assumptions, timeline, inputs, revision limits, and acceptance criteria are specific enough to estimate. Use milestones and a written change-request rule to keep new scope separate.
Calculate before you quote
Find your sustainable hourly floor, then convert it into a scoped price with the project quote calculator. For ongoing work, use the retainer pricing framework; for fixed work, document the scope with the proposal template.