Web developers build and maintain websites, web applications, and e-commerce stores for small businesses, agencies, and startups. Most solo developers bill for design and build work, ongoing maintenance, hosting or plugin resale, and one-off fixes. Invoices usually tie to project milestones, hours logged, or a monthly retainer.
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Web developers price in four main ways. Hourly billing is common for fixes, consulting, and projects with unclear scope. Fixed-price project fees are typical for brochure sites, Shopify or WordPress builds, and landing pages, and are usually split into a deposit, a mid-project milestone, and a final payment at launch. Monthly retainers cover maintenance, updates, backups, security monitoring, and a set number of support hours. Some developers also resell hosting, domains, premium plugins, or third-party licenses, usually at cost plus a markup or as a flat annual fee. Rates depend on stack, experience, and client type. Custom application work and specialized skills such as React, API integrations, or performance work command more than template-based site builds. Define what counts as a revision round and bill extra work as change orders, since scope creep is the most common reason web projects go unpaid or underpaid.
| Service | Priced | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly development (freelance, general) | per hour | $50-150 |
| Senior or specialized development (custom apps, API work) | per hour | $100-200 |
| Brochure or small business website (5-10 pages) | flat fee | $2,500-8,000 |
| E-commerce store setup (Shopify, WooCommerce) | flat fee | $3,000-12,000 |
| Landing page | flat fee | $500-2,500 |
| Website maintenance retainer (updates, backups, security) | per month | $75-500 |
| Hosting resale or managed hosting | per month | $15-75 |
| Bug fix or small change request | per hour (1-hour minimum) | $60-130 |
Typical US ranges. Rates vary by region, experience, and job size.
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small business website, milestone 2 of 3: page templates built and content loaded (8 pages) | 1 milestone | $2,400.00 | $2,400.00 |
| Contact form with spam protection and email routing | 1 flat fee | $250.00 | $250.00 |
| Additional revision round beyond 2 included (header and navigation changes) | 3 hours | $90.00 | $270.00 |
| Premium theme license, annual (billed at cost) | 1 license | $79.00 | $79.00 |
| Managed hosting setup and first month | 1 month | $35.00 | $35.00 |
| Total | $3,034.00 | ||
Notes: Payment due within 14 days of invoice date. Milestone 3 (launch) invoice will be sent when the site goes live. Late balances accrue 1.5% per month. Accepted by ACH, check, or card. Source files and admin credentials transfer after final payment.
Clients often have several open projects. Naming the milestone, such as 2 of 3, ties the invoice to the signed proposal and shows where the project stands.
If a client questions a charge, you can point to the agreed scope, deposit schedule, and revision limits.
Clients dispute vague lines like 'development work'. Specific entries such as 'fixed checkout bug on mobile Safari' hold up under review.
Domains, premium plugins, themes, stock images, and hosting should be visible line items so clients see what is a recurring or pass-through charge.
Work outside the original scope should show the approved change order or email date so the extra charge is not a surprise.
Annual charges are easy to forget. Listing the renewal period prevents lapses and disputes over who owns the renewal.
Agencies and larger companies often reject invoices without a PO number or the right accounts payable contact, which delays payment.
Most web developers collect a deposit of 30-50% before starting, then bill the balance at milestones or at launch. For small projects under about $1,500, many ask for full payment up front or 50% up front and 50% at delivery. Net 14 is common for solo developers, and net 30 is typical when working with agencies or corporate clients. Late fees of 1-2% per month are common if stated in the contract. Retainers are usually billed monthly in advance. Payment methods include ACH, card, check, and wire transfer. Card fees run around 3%, and some developers pass that on or offer a small discount for ACH. Holding final files, admin access, or the launch itself until the last payment clears is a common and reasonable practice if the contract says so.
State in your contract that the site goes live or credentials transfer once the final invoice is paid. Staging links and a locked-down admin give you leverage without any dispute over work already delivered.
Include two or three rounds of revisions in the fixed fee and bill extra rounds hourly. List each extra round on the invoice with the date so clients see the pattern.
Bill hosting, maintenance, and licenses as their own recurring lines rather than burying them in the project price. It makes renewals predictable and keeps cash flow steady after launch.
Splitting a project into deposit, design approval, build complete, and launch keeps you paid as you work and limits how much you are owed if a client goes quiet.
Logging hours shows you whether your flat fees are profitable and gives you data to back up change orders when scope grows.
Use a flat fee when scope is clear, such as a set number of pages and features, since clients prefer knowing the total. Use hourly when requirements are vague, when you are fixing or extending an existing site, or when the client keeps adding requests. Many developers quote a flat fee with hourly billing for anything outside the written scope.
Yes, if your contract says so. Either pass costs through at cost or add a markup for managing the account. List each item separately on the invoice. If the client owns the account directly, it is often cleaner to have them pay the vendor and avoid reselling.
Your contract should say that the project is paused after a set period of inactivity, such as 30 days, and that milestones completed to that point are due. Send an invoice for work completed and any unpaid milestone, and note the pause policy on it.
It depends on the state. Some states tax custom software or website services, some tax only prewritten or digital products, and many do not tax services at all. Check your state's rules or ask an accountant, and show any tax as its own line on the invoice.
That is set by your contract, not the invoice. Many developers transfer ownership of the custom work upon full payment while keeping rights to their own reusable code and tools. Put a short note on the invoice that rights transfer on payment in full, and make sure the contract says the same.
Send a Web Developer estimate for approval, then turn it into an invoice when the work is done.
Web Developer estimate template