Retainer pricing calculator

Use on discovery calls. This is a worksheet, not financial advice. No income guarantees.

Hours saved / month for client

Client fully-loaded hourly cost ($)

Your build hours (one-time)

Your hourly target ($)

Monthly maintain hours

Value capture % (client savings you bill)

Suggested pilot (build)

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Suggested retainer / month

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Client monthly value created

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Scenario	Pilot

Rule of thumb: pilot ≥ your build hours × hourly target. Retainer ≥ maintain × hourly + 20% buffer, and ≤ ~35% of client value so it still feels cheap.