Pricing strategies
There is no single right way to price your work. There are models — each with a shape that fits some jobs better than others. Here are the ones worth knowing.
Hourly rate
You charge for every hour you work, tracked and invoiced after the fact.
Best for: Open-ended work where the scope genuinely can't be pinned down.
Day rate
You sell whole days rather than hours, which removes the pressure to justify every minute.
Best for: On-site work, workshops, and clients who book you in blocks.
Fixed project fee
One agreed price for a clearly defined deliverable, no matter how long it takes you.
Best for: Well-scoped projects you've delivered something similar to before.
Value-based pricing
Your price is anchored to the outcome the client gets, not the time you spend.
Best for: Work with a measurable commercial upside you can point to.
Retainer
The client pays a recurring fee to reserve your availability or an ongoing scope.
Best for: Long-term relationships and smoothing out feast-or-famine months.
Milestone pricing
A fixed fee split into staged payments released as each phase is signed off.
Best for: Larger builds where a single upfront payment is a hard sell.
Cost-plus pricing
You total up your costs — time, tools, subcontractors — and add a fixed margin.
Best for: Work with real pass-through costs, like production or print.
Tiered pricing
Good, better, best options that let the client choose their own budget.
Best for: Proposals where you want to move the question from whether to which.
Productized services
A fixed scope at a fixed price, sold the same way every time.
Best for: Repeatable work you can systemise and sell without a custom quote.
Subscription pricing
Clients pay monthly for continuous access to a defined service.
Best for: Predictable revenue from maintenance, support, or always-on work.
Performance-based pricing
Part or all of your fee depends on hitting an agreed result.
Best for: Confident specialists with control over the metric being measured.
Market-rate pricing
You benchmark against what comparable people charge and position yourself against it.
Best for: Sanity-checking a number before you take it into a negotiation.
Go deeper on every strategy
Worked examples and scripts, straight to your inbox. No spam.