That client who talked me into using a flat rate for web updates finally proved me wrong

I used to hate flat rate pricing for freelance web maintenance. I always charged by the hour because I figured some months would be light and others heavy. But after a year of tracking my time for this one client in Portland, I realized the flat rate actually covered all the random small fixes and kept my income steady. They paid $150 a month and I averaged about 3 hours of work each month, which came out to $50 an hour. That was better than my hourly rate of $45 because I didn't have to haggle over every little change. So tell me, has anyone else switched from hourly to flat rate and regretted it or loved it?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica_ross3829d ago

Right there with you on this one. Flat rate totally changed how I handle my smaller clients too, it's such a relief not having to track every single five-minute fix. I had one client who would send over these tiny text changes constantly and before I switched I was sending invoices for like $12 and it felt ridiculous. Now I just lump it all into one predictable payment and the math works out way better than I expected. It's funny how the thing I was most scared of turned out to be the best move for my sanity...

emma_clark1mo ago

Yeah, flat rate saved me from nickel-and-diming clients over tiny tweaks. It forces you to actually estimate your workload better instead of chasing hours. Totally worth the switch in my experience.

the_piper1mo ago

Started tracking my time with a flat rate for a client in Seattle who wanted unlimited small changes. Turned out they emailed me at least twice a week with tiny requests like updating a phone number or swapping out a photo. My hourly rate was $50, and I was spending about 6 hours a month on their account, which meant I was basically giving them a discount at $150 a month. Ended up raising the flat rate to $200 and they didn't even blink. So yeah, the experiment worked for me once I got the numbers right.