Price a design or web project three ways: what it costs you to make, what the market pays for it and what the client can spend. Then see where the quote should land, and what to do when the numbers don't meet.
Most quotes are built from one number, usually the hours. That tells you what the work costs you. It doesn't tell you what it's worth, or what the client can pay.
Line the three up from highest to lowest. The order changes from project to project: sometimes the budget is on top, sometimes your cost is. The quote goes somewhere along that line, and where depends on your situation.
The profit isn't in the production cost. It comes from where you choose to price, and that depends on how full your calendar is and who the client is. The calculator asks.
If the budget and the market value both sit well above your cost and you quote near cost, you've given the difference away. Unless you're quiet and need the win, price closer to the budget.
When the budget is below your cost, the project as described loses money. The calculator shows how many of your hours the budget pays for. Cut the scope to fit, or decline politely.
The calculator rounds to clean steps: $25 under $2,000, $50 up to $10,000 and $250 above. Prices ending in 9 read like a retail sticker, so avoid them. When you're pricing near a client's budget, land a little under a round number. $9,700 against a $10,000 budget gives the client a small win, and puts you under anyone who bid the full $10,000.
Clients often don't share a budget because they think it will be used against them. Try these in order, and stop when you get an answer:
Ask with a range. "Projects like this usually land between $8,000 and $15,000. Where does that sit for you?"
Ask what they've spent before. "What did the last website cost you?" is easier to answer than "what's your budget?"
Explain why you're asking. "It tells me which version of this to propose, so I'm not pitching something you can't use."
Send a rough estimate first. A one-page range before the full proposal. Their reply tells you whether you're close.
Whatever number you hear, keep a straight face. A surprised reaction to a small budget, or a delighted one to a big budget, costs you either way.
The number you quote assumes a set number of revision rounds. Every extra round comes off your profit unless it's priced in. Put the included rounds and the price of an extra round in the proposal. The rate calculator works that out.
HopBack is a client feedback tool for agencies and freelancers. Each review is a numbered round, the client sees "round two of three" when they open it, and the comments sit on the design or the page instead of in emails, so the scope you priced is the scope you deliver.
Yes. No account, no email, no limit. It is a free tool from HopBack, and it stays free.
From your own past projects first: what similar jobs sold for, and which quotes you won and lost. Then ask clients what they've paid for similar work, and check industry surveys and the prices competitors publish. Enter the lowest and highest you'd believe for work like yours. Surveys often run higher than a small studio in a smaller market can charge yet, so weigh them against your own results.
Compare your quote with the market range and the budget. If you're quoting near your cost while the budget and the market both sit higher, you're undercharging. The calculator shows all four on one bar, so the gap is easy to see.
When you're busy, or the client is tricky, yes. When you're steady, a little under a round budget gives the client a small win and puts you under bids that land right on it. Never go below your cost to get under a budget.
Your hourly rate already has profit in it. Use it for production cost and you add profit twice, then price yourself out of projects you could have won. Production cost should be what the work costs you. The profit comes from where you price it.
Into the hours and the situation. Estimate round by round, including the calls, so the hours are honest. Then, if the client or the project looks risky, choose "Tricky client" and price above the top of the market range.
Many agencies add 10 to 20% for managing and fronting the cost. Whatever you do, say it in the proposal.
Work it out with the agency and freelance rate calculator, then come back. Its "Price a project from your break-even rate" link carries the right number across.
No. Everything is worked out in your browser and kept in the page address. Nothing is sent to us.