Every discount you give and every unpaid hour you work lowers your real hourly rate on a project. A ₱20,000 job you quoted for 20 hours pays ₱1,000 an hour. Give a 15% discount and spend 8 extra hours on unpaid revisions, and your real rate drops to about ₱607 an hour, a 39% cut you never agreed to. Run your own numbers below.
Scope-creep calculator
Start with what you quoted, then add the extras that crept in.
Estimates only. The point isn’t to never flex, it’s to see the price before you say yes. Small favors add up faster than they feel like they do.
Stop the leaks before they start
Grab the two free tools — the Rate Calculator and the First-Client Checklist — and price the work right before you say yes.
Frequently asked questions
What is scope creep in freelancing?
Scope creep is when a project quietly grows past what you agreed to, through extra revisions, new requests, or “quick” favors that were never in the price. Each one lowers what you really earn per hour.
How do discounts affect my hourly rate?
A discount comes straight off your pay for the same work, so it cuts your real hourly rate by the same percentage. A 20% discount on a fixed project is a 20% pay cut for those hours.
How do I avoid unpaid extra work?
Write down what’s included before you start, set a number of revisions, and treat anything beyond that as a paid add-on. Naming it upfront makes it normal, not awkward, to charge for extras.
Should I ever give a discount?
Sometimes, for a reason you choose, like a longer contract or a client you want to keep. The trick is to give it on purpose and know the real cost, not to hand it over just because it was asked for.