Most freelancers do not have a retainer. Most of them wish they did.
A retainer is simple: a client pays a fixed amount monthly in exchange for a defined amount of your time or deliverables. Predictable income, lower admin, reduced sales pressure.
Here is how to structure one that actually works.
Why retainers fail (and how to avoid it)
The most common retainer failure: both sides are vague about what the retainer covers.
The client thinks it means "available whenever I need you." You think it means "one specific thing per month." Six weeks in, someone is unhappy.
Define it upfront. Time-based (X hours/month) or deliverable-based (X reports, X campaigns, X hours of support). Both work. Ambiguity does not.
Time-based retainers
Straightforward: you sell a block of hours. £X for up to Y hours per month.
The tricky part: unused hours. Do they roll over? Expire? Roll over with a cap?
My recommendation: expire monthly, with a 2-day notice period if the client wants to use hours. Rollover creates a liability — you end up working free catch-up months. Expiry keeps the commitment mutual.
Deliverable-based retainers
Cleaner for both sides. You commit to specific outputs: two blog posts, one monthly report, four strategy calls. Client knows exactly what they get. You know exactly what you are delivering.
The risk: scope creep on the deliverable itself. Define what "one blog post" means — word count, revisions included, turnaround time.
Pricing a retainer
Retainer rate should be lower than your day rate — you are trading flexibility for predictability. 10-15% discount is reasonable. More than 20% and you are underselling the security premium.
Factor in: this client gets priority access. That has real value. Do not give it away.
The renewal conversation
Set a review date at contract signing — 3 or 6 months. Review the scope, review the rate. Make it expected, not awkward.
An annual rate increase of 5-10% at renewal is standard. Build it in from the start.
The retainer contract
The Contract Template Pack includes a retainer agreement template covering all of the above — hours/deliverable options, unused time policy, renewal terms, and rate review clause. Six templates total, £9.
Do you work on retainer? What was the hardest part to get right?
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