Fixed price vs hourly: how to buy software development without surprises
Why fixed-scope pricing protects founders and small businesses — and how to make it work.
Hourly billing feels flexible. In practice it moves all the risk onto the client: if the work takes longer, you pay more.
Why fixed price works better for most small projects
- You can budget. You know the total before you commit.
- Incentives align. The developer is rewarded for working efficiently, not slowly.
- Scope gets clear early. A fixed price forces a written spec, which prevents misunderstandings.
What makes a fixed price fair
A fixed price is only as good as the spec behind it. A good spec includes:
- The pages or screens to be built
- What each feature does, in plain language
- Acceptance criteria — how you’ll both know it’s done
- What is explicitly not included
- The warranty period and what it covers
Handling changes
Changes are normal. On a fixed-price project, each change request is quoted before work starts, so you decide whether it’s worth it. No surprise invoices.
When hourly makes sense
Open-ended research, ongoing product development with a stable team, or projects where nobody can define “done” yet. For a website, an MVP or fixing an existing app, fixed price is almost always the better deal.
Our approach
Every VeriShipped project starts with a free scoping call and a written spec. You pay 50% to start and 50% only after you approve the finished work on a staging site.
Need this done for you?
Fixed price, fully tested, launched on your accounts.