Freelance Project Quote Calculator

Fixed-price quoting without losing money

Fixed-price work pays well when your estimate is right and badly when it isn't. The two mistakes that hurt most are forgetting non-billable project work (kickoff calls, revisions, project management) and leaving no buffer for the scope that always grows.

This calculator starts from your estimated hours and rate, adds direct project expenses (stock assets, subcontractors, software), then applies a contingency buffer and a tax margin so the price you send is the price you can live with.

Choosing a contingency buffer

A 10–15% buffer suits well-scoped work with a clear brief. Push toward 25–40% for vague requirements, a new client, or a domain you haven't worked in. The buffer is not padding — it is the price of uncertainty, and the client is buying certainty from you.

Estimate the hours, then price the risk

A quote has two jobs. The first is to cover the work: hours times your rate, plus anything you buy on the client's behalf. The second is to cover the difference between the project you were described and the project you will actually deliver — and that gap is where fixed-price work goes wrong.

Estimate the hours for the scope as written, then add a buffer sized to how well you understand the work. A repeat of something you have built three times might need 10%. A first-of-its-kind build for a client who has not decided what they want needs 40% or a different pricing model entirely. The buffer is not padding you should feel guilty about; it is the price of carrying a risk the client would otherwise carry themselves.

Quote a single number, not a breakdown of hours. An itemised estimate invites negotiation line by line and reframes the conversation around your speed instead of the outcome. Keep the hours in your own notes, where they belong.

What to put in writing before the number

Most disputes about a quote are not about the amount. They are about what the amount included. Three sentences prevent nearly all of them: what is delivered, how many rounds of revisions are covered, and what happens when the scope changes.

Name the deliverables concretely — "five page designs, desktop and mobile" rather than "website design". State the revision limit and your hourly rate for anything past it. And define a change as anything not on that list, priced separately before it starts. Without that last clause you have not sold a project, you have sold unlimited access at a fixed price.

Payment terms belong in the same paragraph: a deposit before work begins, the balance on delivery, and a due date measured in days. A quote that goes out without terms is a quote you will be chasing later.