Flat-rate vs hourly: which side actually makes more money long-term?

After I switched from charging $75 an hour to a flat $2,000 per web project last November, I made $1,200 more in three months but ended up doing 18 hours of unpaid revisions, so is hourly really the safer bet or does flat-rate just reward efficiency better?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_hall59d ago

$2,000 for a web project and 18 hours of free revisions sounds like you paid them to take your time. Finley nailed it with the cap thing, I learned that the hard way when a client turned a 10 hour flat rate job into a 40 hour nightmare because "we just need a few more tweaks." Hourly means you get paid for every stupid change they make, flat rate means you better have a contract that turns into a brick wall after two rounds. Honestly, I charge hourly for anyone who says "we'll figure out the details later" and flat for people who hand me a list of exactly 12 things and don't move from there.

finley_smith9d ago

Have you thought about how the TYPE of project affects which rate works better? A flat $2,000 for a site that takes 30 hours is way different than one that takes 15 hours, and you mentioned revisions which is the REAL killer in flat-rate work. I charge hourly for clients who ALWAYS want changes and flat for ones who know exactly what they want upfront. The secret nobody talks about is writing a contract that caps revisions at 2 rounds or 5 hours, that changes the math completely. Hourly feels safer but flat-rate only rewards efficiency if you ALSO punish scope creep.

the_hayden9d ago

And what about the client who pays hourly but micromanages every single minute you're clocked in?