Compare a flat project fee with hourly billing for the same scope. You will see the break-even hour count, the effective rate on the flat fee, and which option totals more at the hours you enter. The comparison runs locally in your browser.
Hourly total is simply the rate times the hours. The effective rate on the flat fee is the fee divided by those same hours. Break-even hours are the fee divided by the hourly rate: that is the point where both arrangements pay the same. If you finish in fewer hours than the break-even point, the flat fee paid you more per hour than billing by the hour would have. If the job runs past that point and you do not issue a change order, the flat fee pays less than hourly billing would have for the same time.
The second column in the result applies the extra hours you type, so you can see the same comparison on a realistic overrun. A flat fee still has a place when the scope is clear and you can estimate time with some confidence. Hourly billing, or a flat fee plus a written change-order process, fits work where the scope is likely to move. The calculator does not weigh quality, timeline or contract terms. It only compares money at the hours you enter.
If you already quoted a fixed price and the job is running long, check the current effective rate with the flat-fee overrun calculator or forecast the rest of the work with the project overrun calculator. To price added scope instead of absorbing it, use the change order cost calculator.
In the default example, a $4,500 fee against $90 an hour breaks even at 50 hours. At 40 hours the fee is $900 above hourly billing and pays $112.50 an hour. If 8 extra hours appear and stay unbilled, the effective rate falls to $93.75, still just above $90, with 2 hours of cushion left.
Flat-Fee Pricing Lab is a $7/month membership for freelancers who quote fixed prices. Each month adds one practical tool, short scripts and a 20-minute check-in. Month 01 is a change-order calculator plus email scripts. Cancel anytime.
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Divide the flat fee by the hourly rate you are comparing it with. At that many hours, both options total the same amount. Fewer hours and the flat fee pays a higher effective rate; more hours and hourly billing would have paid more.
On a flat fee, you do: extra hours come out of your effective rate unless you issue a change order. On hourly billing, the client does, because the invoice rises with time. The calculator shows the money at the hours you enter; it does not choose the contract for you.
No. It only compares the fee with hours times a rate. Use it as a pricing check, not as a profit and tax statement.