Free quiz · Pricing and Revenue
Retainer vs Project Decision Tool.
A handful of questions on how often the work recurs and how predictable it is, weighed against the breakeven point where a retainer stops making sense.
Sets the recommended rates below to this market.
Recommended
Ad-hoc, watch the breakeven
At 8 hours a month, ad-hoc pricing is still cheaper. A retainer starts paying off once you regularly need more than 17 hours a month.
The breakeven is where ad-hoc and retainer cost the same. Below it, ad-hoc is cheaper. Above it, the retainer is, and it also buys you priority response and less time spent re-scoping the same kind of request every time it comes up.
Estimate done
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An estimate works from typical scope. A quotation works from yours. Send this breakdown over and you get a fixed price back, from the person who would do the work, within one business day.
What this tool measures
A retainer and a project are sold as if they were interchangeable and they are not. A project buys a fixed outcome with an end. A retainer buys standing capacity: someone who is available, already knows your setup, and does not need a new quote approved before starting.
Which one is right depends on how often the work recurs and how predictable it is, and then on one piece of arithmetic: the number of hours a month at which the retainer stops costing more than paying as you go.
How to use it
Answer frequency honestly rather than aspirationally. "We will probably need something most months" is occasional, not monthly, until it has actually been monthly twice.
Predictability is the second axis and the one people skip. Spiky work is the harder case: the same total hours, but concentrated, which is exactly when ad-hoc availability fails and a retainer earns its premium.
Put in real rates. The defaults are market starting points, and the breakeven is only meaningful against the numbers you are actually being quoted.
How to read the result
The breakeven is the number of hours a month at which both options cost the same. Below it, ad-hoc is cheaper on paper. Above it, the retainer is cheaper and also better, which makes that side of the line an easy decision.
Below the breakeven the decision is not purely arithmetic. A retainer also buys priority response and removes the re-scoping and re-quoting of every small request, and for some businesses that is worth paying slightly over the odds for.
The recommendation weighs frequency and predictability alongside the arithmetic, which is why it sometimes says retainer even when ad-hoc looks cheaper. Standing capacity is a different product, not a discount.
What to do next
If you land near the breakeven, ask for a retainer with a rollover of unused hours and a stated notice period. That converts the main risk of a retainer, paying for capacity you did not use, into a much smaller one.
If you land firmly on project, ask what an urgent request costs and how quickly it can start. That answer is the real difference between the two, and it is cheaper to learn now than during an outage.
Questions people ask
Are unused retainer hours normally rolled over?
Sometimes, usually with a one-month expiry, and it is always worth asking. A retainer with no rollover is priced for availability rather than for hours, which is legitimate but should be stated plainly.
What notice period is reasonable?
Thirty days is standard for a small retainer and ninety is common for larger ones. Anything longer should come with something in return, such as a rate held for the term.
Can I start on a project and move to a retainer?
That is the usual and sensible order. Build, run it for a quarter, then buy capacity for what the quarter showed you actually need. Buying a retainer before you know the pattern is buying an average of a guess.
Does a retainer get me a lower hourly rate?
Usually a modestly lower one, because guaranteed volume is worth something to the supplier. If a retainer's implied hourly rate is higher than the ad-hoc rate, you are paying for priority, and that should be an explicit choice.
Where to go from here
- Agency Hourly Rate Calculator — if you are the one setting these rates, this is the floor they have to clear.
- Hosting and Maintenance Plan Builder — the most common retainer of all, priced by traffic, backups and response time.
- Freelancer and Agency Quote Comparator — when suppliers quote different shapes, this shows what each one actually covers.
The guide behind this tool
Built by GoDesign FZE, who work on both retainers and fixed-scope projects.
Get in touch
Want someone to just do this part?
The tool is free and stays free. If you would rather hand the work over, tell us what you are dealing with and you get a straight answer on scope, cost and timeline.
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- One business dayEvery enquiry gets a reply from the person who would scope the work, not a sales sequence.
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