How much to charge for building a website when you work by scope, not hours
Charge for the outcome and the scope, not for the hours a tool saved you. Work out a project price from the pages, features, content work and rounds of changes involved, add a separate monthly fee for looking after the site, and pass running costs through at cost or include them openly. Then write it all down in a quote the client can compare line by line.
Why hourly pricing works against you
If an AI builder turns a three-day job into an afternoon, hourly billing hands the whole saving to the client and leaves you poorer for being faster. Clients don't buy hours anyway. They buy a site that brings enquiries, explains the business properly and doesn't break. Hours are still useful privately, as a check that a price covers your time, but the number the client sees should be attached to deliverables.
Build the price from scope
Break the job into the parts that really take effort. Building the pages is often the smallest one now; the time goes into everything around it.
| Part | What drives the effort | Questions to ask the client |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and brief | How clear the client is about what they sell and to whom | Who are your best customers? What should a visitor do? |
| Content | Whether copy and photos exist or you write and source them | Do you have text, prices, photos and reviews ready? |
| Pages and features | Number of pages, booking, forms, payment links, collections to edit | Which pages do people ask you about? Do you take bookings? |
| Integrations | Where enquiries and bookings must go | Do leads go to email, a sheet, a CRM or a team chat? |
| Revisions | How many rounds of changes, and who signs off | Who has the final say? How many people will comment? |
| Launch | Domain, DNS, email records, checks | Who controls your domain today? |
Price each part from your own past jobs and add it up. Then sanity-check the total against the value: a site that brings a plumber two extra jobs a month is worth more to them than one for a hobby club, even if it takes the same effort. Offering two or three fixed packages (a one-page site, a five-page site with booking, the same with content writing) makes quoting faster and helps clients choose.
What the quote should say
- The outcome in one sentence: "A five-page site that lets customers book a service and send enquiries."
- The deliverables: pages by name, features, which forms go where, and launch on their domain.
- What the client provides, and by when: copy, photos, prices, logins. Late content is the most common cause of late launches.
- Rounds of changes included, usually two, and the rate for more.
- Running costs, listed separately: domain, website plan, email, any paid tools, and who pays each.
- Payment terms: a share upfront before work starts, the rest at launch.
- Ownership and access: whose account the site lives in, and what happens if they leave your care.
- Exclusions: what isn't included, such as logo design, photography or ongoing SEO.
Charge separately for looking after it
A site needs small changes, checks and occasional fixes for as long as it exists. Rather than bundling that into the build price, offer a monthly care plan with a defined scope: a number of content updates, a monthly check that forms and bookings work, renewal reminders, and a short report. Clients understand a regular fee for a regular service, and it smooths your income. Keep anything outside the plan on a clear per-change rate.
Running costs and accounts when you build with Anticode
Anticode's plans are Free, Pro, Max, Team and Agency; current prices are on /pricing, so check them when you quote rather than copying a figure into a proposal that lasts months. A few facts shape how you set the project up and price it:
- Branding. Free sites carry a small "Made with Anticode" badge; paid plans don't, and Agency is white-label, with no Anticode branding on client sites.
- Custom domains need a paid plan. The client keeps their own domain at their registrar.
- Account ownership. Projects can't be transferred between separate accounts, so decide at the start whether the site lives in the client's account or yours, and price the care plan to match.
- Client sign-off. A client review link lets the client comment on sections without an account; links expire after 14 days by default, which helps keep revision rounds to the dates in your quote.
- Usage. Builds come out of a daily and weekly allowance and show a quote before they run, so heavy revision rounds have a real cost to you as well as time.
Mistakes freelancers make
- Unlimited revisions. Name the number of rounds, every time.
- Starting before content arrives. Make the content deadline part of the schedule, and move the launch date if it slips.
- Hiding running costs in the build fee. The client will find them at renewal and wonder what else is hidden.
- Discounting because AI was involved. Price the result and your judgement, not the tool.
Questions people ask
Should I charge less if I use AI to build the site?
Not by default. The client pays for a working site, clear content and your judgement. Being faster lets you take on more work or spend longer on content, which is where most sites succeed or fail.
Should the client or I pay for hosting and the domain?
Either works, but put it in writing. Many freelancers have the domain registered in the client's name so it stays theirs, and either pass the website plan through or include it in a care plan.
How much upfront should I ask for?
Many freelancers take a share before starting and the rest at launch. The upfront part protects you if the project stalls for months waiting on content.