What is Retainer?
A recurring monthly payment from a client in exchange for guaranteed access to a set number of hours or deliverables.
What Is a Freelance Retainer?
A retainer is a recurring arrangement where a client pays a fixed monthly fee in exchange for a guaranteed block of your time or a set of deliverables. It's one of the most valuable income structures for freelancers because it provides predictable, recurring revenue.
Types of Retainers
Time-based retainer: Client pays for X hours per month. Unused hours may roll over or expire — agree upfront.
Deliverable-based retainer: Client pays for specific recurring outputs (e.g., 4 blog posts/month, weekly social media management). Hours are not tracked.
On-call retainer: Client pays a smaller fee for priority access and response time, with additional hourly billing for actual work.
How to Price a Retainer
Most freelancers apply a 10-20% discount to their standard hourly rate in exchange for the payment security:
**Monthly Retainer = (Hourly Rate × Monthly Hours) × (1 - Discount %)**
Example: $80/hr × 20 hrs × 0.9 (10% discount) = $1,440/month
Retainer Best Practices
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