Edip Kilinc is the founder of Webwavers. Together with his team, he develops websites, brands, and digital presences for ambitious companies – with over 250 completed projects, and honored with awards including the German Design Award 2026.
A fixed price is not a price quote, but an assumption of risk. The service provider undertakes to deliver a described result for a fixed sum – no matter how long it takes.
This necessarily results in a markup. Anyone who estimates that a project will take 80 hours cannot quote for 80 hours. They must plan for it to take 100. 15 to 30 percent is typical, depending on how clear the description is.
This is not a trick, but the condition for someone to take on the risk. Anyone who wants a fixed price is buying planning security – and that costs money.
The second effect is less obvious: a fixed price makes changes expensive. Any deviation from the described scope becomes a supplementary charge, because otherwise the calculation does not work out. What would take half an hour in an hourly model becomes an offer for 250 euros.
A fixed price is not a price quote, but an assumption of risk. The service provider undertakes to deliver a described result for a fixed sum – no matter how long it takes.
This necessarily results in a markup. Anyone who estimates that a project will take 80 hours cannot quote for 80 hours. They must plan for it to take 100. 15 to 30 percent is typical, depending on how clear the description is.
This is not a trick, but the condition for someone to take on the risk. Anyone who wants a fixed price is buying planning security – and that costs money.
The second effect is less obvious: a fixed price makes changes expensive. Any deviation from the described scope becomes a supplementary charge, because otherwise the calculation does not work out. What would take half an hour in an hourly model becomes an offer for 250 euros.
Three conditions must come together.
The scope is definable. Twelve pages, one contact form, one language, texts are provided by the client. This can be calculated.
The decisions have been made. Anyone who doesn't yet know whether a blog will be added or whether it will be in two languages is buying a fixed price for a project they don't yet know.
There is a fixed deadline or a fixed budget. This is exactly what the model is built for.
Typical projects that fit a fixed price: Relaunch with a clear page scope, landing page, corporate design, migration from one system to another.
It is then important that the scope of services is actually in the offer – not as a heading, but as a list. Website by agreement is not a fixed price, but a dispute with a date.
The hourly rate has a bad reputation because it leaves what stands at the end open. Nevertheless, for certain projects, it is the more honest model.
When the scope only becomes clear during the work. For consulting, ongoing optimization, for everything where the result of the first week determines what makes the second one useful.
When a lot of coordination is necessary. Multiple decision-makers, changing requirements, a project that is still shifting internally.
When you contribute parts yourselves. Then you only pay for what was actually done, instead of a flat rate for services that you take on.
With ongoing support. A fixed monthly amount without a quota means: in quiet months you pay too much, in busy ones you get too little.
To keep it fair, three things are needed: an estimate with a range, a cap from which discussions begin, and a comprehensible breakdown of the hours.
In practice, the most sensible option is usually a combination.
Fixed price for the defined core. The twelve pages, the structure, the design, the technical implementation. Everything that can be described beforehand.
Hourly rate for everything beyond that. Additional pages, change requests after approval, special functions, consulting.
A contingent for the period thereafter. For example, ten hours, available during the first six months, for the little things that always crop up when a site is live.
This has advantages for both sides. You know what the basic version costs. The service provider does not have to factor in a surcharge for the unknown, because the unknown is billed according to actual effort.
Only one thing is important here: It must be determined beforehand what is part of the fixed price and what is not. Otherwise, this boundary shifts during the project – and then it is not a hybrid model, but a point of contention.
Regardless of the model, five points determine whether things run fairly.
The scope of services as a list. Not just "website creation," but exactly what is included.
The number of revision rounds. Two to three per stage are common. Without specifying this, every additional round becomes a conflict.
Who delivers what and by when. Texts, images, access details, approvals. Delay on the client side is the most common reason for postponed deadlines.
What happens in the event of additional effort. Will it be discussed beforehand? From what threshold?
What is handed over at the end. Access details, source files, documentation, usage rights.
A proposal that includes these five points is reliable in both models. One without them is risky in both models – the fixed price only does a better job of hiding it.
Instead of choosing a model, one question helps: How reliably can you describe today what the final result should look like?
If you can write it down on a single page, and the same would still be written there in three months: Fixed price. You are buying certainty and paying a premium for it, which is worth it.
If you notice that every answer begins with 'it depends': Hourly rate with an estimate and a cap. A fixed price on an unclear basis is either too expensive or will be renegotiated during the project – usually both.
And if the answer lies somewhere in between, which is usually the case: Hybrid model.
One last tip: A service provider who immediately quotes a fixed price for an unclear project has either added a generous premium or will demand additional payments. Both can be recognized by the fact that no follow-up questions were asked.
