6 Different Ways in Which a Freelancer Can Charge a Client

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I. Introduction

Are you a freelancer? Did you just accept your first gig and is now wondering how much you will charge your client? There is actually no guideline on how to compute that and it varies among freelancers. In some cases, the client will already allot a budget for the project, but on some, not even a clue on how much the project would cost.

In this article, I will share my experience and discuss 6 different ways in which a freelancer can charge his or her client.

1. Per hour
1. The most common way in various freelancing websites such as Upwork, and freelancing.ph.
2. It’s straight forward and doesn’t require any estimation.
3. You should see my previous video on how to compute your hourly rate, it would really help and knowing your hourly rate is an advantage since you can post it in your profile and clients’ who would approach you already agree to that amount.
4. The problem I see with per hour task is that there is a high chance of over or underpricing. That is why the scope of work should be clear before the engagement.
5. Per hour is most common on short term task such as 
1. bug fixes
2. Marketing - a client would want to post products on social media per hour every day
3. ESL
6. Payment is normally per week.
2. Per month
1. It’s normally applicable for medium to long term projects which could last from a month to years.
2. In this case, accurate estimation is required as you might get stuck with a rate that doesn’t correspond to the workload. A trial of one month would be good as you will be able to gauge the actual workload and adjust the rate afterward.
3. Example jobs in this category are virtual assistants where you will be doing various tasks as needed by your client, the same as a brand manager.
3. Per project or engagement
1. There is no low or high rate in this category. The rate is flexible and will depend on your agreement with your client.
2. Example jobs for this category are
1. Graphic or logo design
2. Video production, let’s say editing a cooking video for $500
3. Recruitment, 25% of the recruited employee’s salary
4. WordPress installation
5. The software development project, like an inventory system
6. And for developers, Web scraping or data extraction from online websites
3. Payment depends on your agreement with the client. It could be per milestone or deliverables. For example, on the logo’s first draft the client should pay 50%.
4. Retainer’s fee
1. This method is seldom employed. It’s like you have a regular monthly fee even without doing anything. This is often possible when a deep trust is established between the client and the employee.
2. I was able to get into this kind of contract after working for several years for a certain client. My task specification is mostly website maintenance where I continuously update a WordPress installation, install plugins and add content as needed.
5. Per metrics
1. Or per measurable work delivered such as per word.
2. Examples in this category are encoding, medical transcriptionist and content writer.
3. Pay is normally per week.
6. And finally, when you have a set defined services, which you can offer it in tiers
1. For example WordPress development package
1. Package A - WordPress installation with basic plugins and themes - Php20k
2. Package B - E-commerce store using Wordpress with 20 products - Php30k
3. Package C - Package B + Security Configuration - Php40k
4. Discounted Offer A - If the client has 2 websites then a discount of 10% will apply.
2. It’s contract-based and payment will depend on your agreement with the client

And so those are the different ways in which you can charge your client. I hope that this knowledge will be of help to you. To help this blog/channel, spread the knowledge by liking and sharing my videos and subscribing to my channel. It will really keep the channel going and inspire me to do more videos.