Most freelancers treat consulting and development as the same type of work. They are not. The value delivered is different, the client's decision-making frame is different, and the correct pricing approach is different.
Development projects: scope drives price
Development work has a deliverable. The client can evaluate whether the deliverable was received. The price is tied to the scope of what will be built.
Fixed-fee development projects are priced based on estimated time plus buffer, multiplied by your rate. The client buys a defined output.
Consulting engagements: impact drives price
Consulting work has an insight, a recommendation, or a decision that the client needs to make. The value is not hours worked. It is the quality of the thinking and the impact of the recommendation.
An hour of consulting that prevents a $50,000 implementation mistake is worth significantly more than an hour of development billing. Pricing it at your development rate leaves most of the value uncaptured.
How to price consulting correctly
Session-based, not hourly. A defined session (90 minutes, half-day, full day) at a flat rate that reflects the value of the thinking, not the time.
A useful rule of thumb: consulting sessions should be priced at 2-3x your effective development hourly rate. The premium reflects the fact that consulting is pure expertise application, with no implementation overhead.
The conversation with clients
"I price advisory and consulting work differently from implementation. A 90-minute session focused on [topic] is [rate]. If you would like, we can use that session to address [their specific question] directly."
Clear framing. Specific deliverable for the session. No ambiguity about what they are paying for.
Raise Your Rates covers the full pricing framework including how to structure different service types. EUR 9.
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