Software for freelance web developers

Freelance development money comes in two shapes: the fixed-price build, and the maintenance hours that trickle in for years after launch. The build needs a tight scope and a deposit. The hours need tracking, or they never get billed. SoloWOS handles both without a project-management suite.

A website build, step by step

1. Prospects fill out an inquiry form built from the "Project inquiry" starter (services and budget), with questions you add for timeline and current site. A conditional question asks for the current platform only if they already have a site.
2. Start the proposal from the "Website project" starter: discovery and sitemap, design for up to 5 pages with two revision rounds, build, launch support, and terms with a 50% deposit and the balance at launch. Edit the line items and send the link.
3. The accepted proposal can create a signature request for your contract. Spell out who owns the code and the hosting accounts.
4. Create the deposit invoice from the proposal. The balance invoice comes from the same proposal at launch.
5. Break the build into tasks on a Notes & Boards board with due dates, and start the Time Tracking timer from the task you're on, even on a fixed-price job, so you learn what your estimates miss.
6. Instead of a status call, record a Screen Recording of the staging site. The client comments at the second where the menu breaks on their phone.

Maintenance and retainers

The "Monthly retainer" proposal starter covers a fixed block of hours each month. Log every plugin update and small fix against the client's project, and at month end open a new invoice and use "Add unbilled time" to pull those entries in as line items. The guide to tracking billable hours walks through it. For a fixed monthly fee, set the retainer invoice to repeat on the 1st: SoloWOS sends it each month with the pay link, and the client pays it by card or transfer. Hours over the block go on a separate invoice built from unbilled time.

A typical week

• Monday: a dentist's office accepts the website proposal. The contract and the deposit invoice go out before lunch.
• Tuesday to Thursday: you work through the board, timer running from each task. A 3-minute video shows the client the staging homepage.
• Wednesday: a retainer client reports a broken contact form. You fix it and log 40 minutes against their project.
• Friday: the time report shows the build is 6 hours over estimate on the booking integration. You note it for the next quote.
• End of month: three maintenance invoices, each built from unbilled time, paid by card through your Stripe account.

For developers who want to connect things

The SoloWOS API lists contacts, bookings, form responses, proposals and invoices, and creates contacts and invoices. Signed webhooks tell your own code when a proposal is accepted, a document is signed or an invoice is paid. Use them to set up a new client in your hosting panel or your own dashboard.

All 13 tools, one by one

Proposals, Time Tracking and Invoicing are the core for a developer. The rest, tool by tool:

• Link in Bio: a simple page for your GitHub or LinkedIn profile with your portfolio, the inquiry form and a booking link. On Solo and Team it can run on a subdomain of your own site.
• Short Links: short links for the staging URL and the launch checklist you send a client, so a long preview URL fits in a text message and you see whether they clicked.
• Forms: a bug report form for retainer clients (page URL, device, what they expected), and an automation can turn each submission into a task on your board. Screenshots still come by email.
• Scheduling: a free 30-minute scoping call for new builds and a paid 1-hour consulting slot for people who want a code review or advice on a platform.
• Proposals: the "Website project" starter for builds and the "Monthly retainer" starter for care plans, with the hosting and domain costs the client pays directly written into the terms.
• E-Signatures: the build contract and a separate maintenance agreement that sets response times and what counts as out of scope, each signed from a link.
• Document Tracking: share the technical proposal or the handoff document as a tracked PDF and see whether the client opened the section on content updates.
• Screen Recording: after launch, record how to add a blog post or change a menu in the client's CMS, so the handoff doesn't need a training call.
• Notes & Boards: a page per client with the stack, the hosting provider, DNS notes and who has access (not the passwords), next to the build board.
• Time Tracking: describe each maintenance entry, because unbilled time is grouped by description on the invoice, so the client reads "Plugin updates" and "Contact form fix" instead of a bare total.
• Invoicing: a recurring invoice for a fixed care plan, a deposit and a balance for each build, and an hours invoice from unbilled time, all paid through your own Stripe account.
• Expenses: plugin and theme licenses, your tooling subscriptions and the hosting you resell, with receipts. Add resold hosting to the client's invoice as its own line.
• Automations: when a proposal is accepted, create a "Set up repo and staging" task; when the final invoice is paid, email the client your handoff checklist.

Start with these three

Proposals from the "Website project" starter, Time Tracking with a project per client, and Invoicing connected to Stripe. Add the inquiry form when the referrals slow down.

Free tools for developers

• Project cost calculator to price a build from hours per phase.
• Time card calculator to add up hours logged elsewhere.
• Business days calculator for launch dates in a timeline.
• UTM builder for the launch links you hand to the client's marketing team.
• Freelance rate calculator for your maintenance rate.

What SoloWOS won't do for a developer

• No Git, issue tracker or GitHub integration. Boards are simple Kanban with due dates and labels, not sprints or story points.
• Recurring invoices repeat the same lines each month, so hours over the retainer go on a separate invoice. Nothing charges the client's card automatically.
• No desktop timer app; the timer runs in the browser.
• Don't collect hosting or admin passwords through a form. Use a password manager's sharing feature instead.