Project fee ormonthly retainer?
A project pays once and ends. A retainer pays every month and compounds, usually at a discount you offer for the commitment. This calculator puts them side by side: the one off project fee, the monthly and annual retainer, the effective hourly rate under each, and how much more (or less) the retainer earns you over its term. Stable recurring revenue almost always wins.
Your numbers
Your full, undiscounted rate. Unsure? Use the freelance rate calculator first.
Estimated hours for the one off project.
Hours committed to the client each month.
How long the engagement runs.
Discount you offer off your hourly rate for the monthly commitment.
The verdict
Monthly retainer
$1,870
Project fee (one-off)
$8,800
Retainer over term
$22,440
Uplift vs project
$13,640
Extra across the term.
Effective hourly
$94
After your discount.
Annualized retainer
$22,440
One-off vs the full term
The real win
The retainer isn't just 155%more money — it's recurring, forecastable revenue that ends the hunt for the next project. That stability is worth more than the discount it costs you.
Sensitivity · how much discount is too much
Retainer total & uplift by the discount you offer
| Discount | Retainer total | vs project |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $26,400 | +$17,600 |
| 10% | $23,760 | +$14,960 |
| 15% | $22,440 | +$13,640 |
| 20% | $21,120 | +$12,320 |
| 30% | $18,480 | +$9,680 |
| 40% | $15,840 | +$7,040 |
A commitment discount is worth giving — to a point. Watch where the retainer stops out-earning the one-off project, and don't discount past it just to close.
Your move
Recurring revenue changes everything. Filling it with the right clients is the work.
Retainer earns $22,440 over 12 months vs $8,800 for the project — +$13,640 (155%).
The math here is the easy part. Landing retainer clients who value the outcome, and stay, is a positioning and marketing problem, which is exactly what I solve. If you want a pipeline of clients happy to commit monthly, book the call and I'll show you, free, where I'd start.
Plain English
One paycheck versus a salary you built yourself.
A project is a defined scope for a fixed fee: you do the work, you get paid, the relationship resets to zero. A retainer is an ongoing agreement, the client pays a set amount each month for a set block of your time or a defined set of outcomes. The trade is simple: clients get priority access and predictable support, and you get predictable income, often in exchange for a modest discount on your hourly rate.
That discount is why people hesitate, it feels like leaving money on the table. The math says otherwise. A retainer that runs even a few months almost always out earns the equivalent project, because it keeps paying while a project ends. More importantly, recurring revenue changes how the whole business feels: you stop the exhausting cycle of constantly hunting the next project, you can forecast, and one signed retainer can cover your baseline costs for a year.
This calculator makes the comparison concrete. Enter your standard rate, the size of a comparable project, and the terms of a retainer, hours, length, and the discount you'd offer. It shows the project fee, the monthly and annualized retainer, the effective hourly rate after the discount, and the total uplift the retainer delivers over its term. Use it to price the retainer confidently, and to see that the discount buys you something worth far more than the margin it costs.
The formula
Retainer total = rate × (1 − discount) × hours/month × months
At $110/hour, an 80 hour project bills $8,800, once. A 20 hour/month retainer at a 15% discount is $110 × 0.85 × 20 = $1,870/month, or $22,440 over a year. Same client, same skill, the retainer earns roughly $13,600 more across the year and replaces it as recurring, forecastable income.
Retainer norms
Common shapes for freelance and agency retainers. Yours will vary, but these are the patterns that hold up, and the discount range clients expect for committing:
| Term | Typical shape | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Discount | 10 to 20% off hourly | For the monthly commitment |
| Minimum term | 3 to 6 months | Shorter is really a project |
| Hours / month | 10 to 40 | Define overage up front |
| Review | Annual | Reprice as value grows |
Source: Agency & freelance retainer norms · 2025
Read the comparison
Retainer total far exceeds the project.
Recurring revenue is doing its job. Lead with the retainer in your proposal; offer the project only as a fallback for clients who won't commit.
Your retainer discount is above ~25%.
You're giving away too much for the commitment. 10 to 20% is plenty, the client is already getting priority and predictability. Pull it back.
Effective hourly rate dipped below your floor.
The discount has eaten your real rate. Either raise the base rate, cut the discount, or reduce committed hours so the math still pays you properly.
Short retainer term (1 to 3 months).
That's really a project in disguise. Either price it as one or sell a longer term, the value of a retainer is the recurring stability, which a short one doesn't deliver.
Client only wants project work.
Deliver the project well, then propose a retainer to maintain and improve the result. The best retainers are sold after a successful first project.
How to win and price retainers
01Sell outcomes, not hours
A retainer for 'managed growth' or 'always on creative' is easier to sell and value than '20 hours a month.' Frame it around what the client gets, not the clock.
02Keep the discount modest
10 to 20% off your hourly rate is the norm. The client is paying for priority and predictability, you don't need to discount heavily on top of that.
03Convert projects into retainers
The natural moment to propose a retainer is right after a project succeeds. Pitch the ongoing work that protects and compounds the result you just delivered.
04Set clear scope and overage terms
Define what's included and what happens when they exceed the hours. Vague retainers turn into unpaid scope creep fast.
05Build your baseline from retainers
Aim to cover your fixed costs with recurring revenue. Once the lights are on regardless, project work becomes upside, not survival.
06Review and re price annually
Retainers quietly become underpriced as you add value. Build in an annual review so the rate keeps pace with the results you deliver.
The vocabulary
- Retainer
- An ongoing agreement where a client pays a set monthly fee for a defined block of time or scope of work.
- Effective hourly rate
- Your real per hour earning after discounts, retainer revenue ÷ committed hours.
- Recurring revenue
- Predictable income that repeats each period. The foundation of a stable freelance or agency business.
- Scope creep
- Work that expands beyond the agreed deliverables without extra pay, the main risk in a loosely defined retainer.
- Annualized value
- A monthly figure multiplied by 12 to show its yearly worth, useful for comparing retainers to one off fees.
Project vs retainer questions, straight answers
For your business, almost always. A retainer turns unpredictable one off fees into recurring, forecastable revenue, ends the constant hunt for the next project, and usually out earns the equivalent project work over its term, even after the discount you offer for the commitment. Projects are great for testing a new client; retainers are how you build stability.
Keep going
A calculator tells you what. A call tells you what to do about it.
Send me the account behind these numbers. I'll tell you straight where the money's leaking and what I'd fix first — free, and you keep it whether you hire me or not.