Stop selling hours you no longer spend
If AI halves your delivery time and you bill hourly, you just halved your income for identical output. The client's outcome hasn't changed — the deliverable is the same, the value is the same. Only your input changed, and inputs are the worst thing to sell.
Move to fixed fees first, value pricing second
Fixed-fee quoting based on the deliverable is the easiest transition: clients already understand it, and every efficiency gain becomes your margin. Value pricing pays more but requires a conversation about the client's numbers — what the work is worth in revenue or cost avoided — which not every engagement supports.
- • Quote the deliverable and the outcome, never the hours.
- • Anchor on client value before you mention any price.
- • Use tiered packages so the client chooses scope, not rate.
- • Track effective hourly rate privately to check your pricing is working.
Should you disclose AI use?
Increasingly, yes — many client contracts now require it, and some prohibit AI in deliverables entirely. Frame it as a capability rather than a discount: clients buy your judgement, taste, and accountability for the result. Check the contract before you assume either way.
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Read the guideFAQ
Should I charge less because I use AI?
No. The client buys an outcome, not your hours. Discounting for AI speed converts your productivity gain into their discount and permanently resets your rate expectations. Price the deliverable.
How do I switch from hourly to fixed-fee pricing?
Start with your next new client, not your existing ones. Estimate the hours the work would take, multiply by your floor rate, add a 20–30% buffer for revisions, and quote that as a project fee tied to a defined deliverable.
What percentage of client value should I charge?
10–20% of first-year value is the common band for project work. Below 10% you're underpricing; above 25% clients tend to push back unless the outcome is exceptionally certain and well-evidenced.
What's a floor hourly rate and how do I calculate it?
Take your target take-home income, gross it up for tax, add business expenses, then divide by realistic annual billable hours — usually 20–25 hours a week over 44–48 weeks, not 40. That's the minimum rate that works.
Do clients care that I use AI?
Some do, and a growing number of contracts explicitly address it. Read the agreement. Most clients care about quality, reliability, and accountability — but disclosure requirements are a contractual matter, not a judgement call.
What do I do with the hours AI frees up?
Take on more projects, raise your standards on existing ones, or invest in marketing and productised offers. Freed capacity only becomes income if you fill it deliberately — otherwise it just quietly disappears.
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