Since it’s Friday and Fridays are awesome, let’s make a tradition. Every Friday I’m going to open up the blog post for all of us to answer a set question with your favorite answer. Ready? Let’s go!
I do both. On smaller projects I tend to charge hourly, because it’s easier (and cheaper for the client). Larger projects, like a full website code, I charge by the project. I require my clients to pay 50% up front to avoid walk-aways and scammers. 
What are yours?
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I charge by the hour for everything. When it comes to projects I charge “project hours.” Meaning if I feel the project should take 20 hours, I charge for the 20 hours. If it takes less than 20 I make a little extra money per hour, but if it takes more than 20 (without feature bloat or scope creep) I make a little less money per hour.
Also the rate per project hour changes based on the number of people I am bringing into the project and the job types needed to complete it. An example of this would be designing a business card over developing a website. The rate per hour will be different because of the number of people involved in each is different.
The rate is also elevated on the estimated amount of client interaction. Larger projects require me to spend more time talking to the client with emails and meetings and I consider my time to be valuable.
Aside from this, I also have an hourly rate for things that are not really production related. Things like project consultation and web strategy get an hourly rate. These are easier to quote because generally a meeting is for a set number of hours and will generally not exceed the time slot.
Hi Amber,
Your assessment is correct. Hourly and project rates are the way to go depending on the project at hand.
Thanks,
Jesse
My projects are normally a flat rate for work done inside the scope. Anything outside the scope is an hourly rate. There is some give, but I try to not be a push over.
because I continue to attempt to work under a small contract, there are discounts based on the hours needed each month, anything outside of that is defaulted to the base rate.
Oh, I’m not a web developer like Anthony, I’m a Systems Consultant & Administrator. I do both installs and maintenance of server hardware.
I charge per day, as it is rare for a client to need any less, if it is a big job I figure out how many days it would take to complete that project and make sure that for those days my only focus is to that one project.
As regards to deposit my policy is 50% deposit for new clients.
I also wanted to say that you have a beautiful website Amber, keep up the good work !