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Free freelance contract template
IN SHORT
This free freelance contract template covers one client project in plain English: who the parties are, the scope and revision limit, the price and payment schedule, late fees, what the client must provide, who owns the work, cancellation and a kill fee, and signatures. Copy the text, fill in every bracket and send it for e-signature. It's general information, not legal advice, so have a lawyer check it for a large project.
Prices and limits as of .
This template is general information, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it for your situation. Laws differ by state and country. For a large project, unusual terms or a client who sends back heavy edits, have a lawyer licensed where you work review it.
Use this contract for a single project with a defined result: a website, a brand identity, a report, a video. It's shorter than a full independent contractor agreement on purpose, and it says what happens in the three situations that cause most freelance disputes: the scope grows, the client pays late, or the project stops halfway. If you work for a client every month, the retainer notes below the template tell you what to change.
Copy the template
FREELANCE CONTRACT
Date: [date]
Client: [client legal name], [address], [email] ("Client")
Freelancer: [your legal name, doing business as Business name], [address], [email] ("Freelancer")
1. THE PROJECT
Freelancer will deliver: [list each deliverable, with limits, e.g. "homepage and 4 inner pages, designed and built in Webflow"].
Included: [2] rounds of revisions per deliverable. A round is one consolidated list of changes sent by Client.
Not included: [e.g. copywriting, stock photos, hosting fees, ongoing maintenance].
2. WHAT CLIENT PROVIDES
Client will send [content, logins, brand files] by [date] and give feedback within [3] business days of each delivery. Delays on Client's side move the timeline by the same number of days.
3. TIMELINE
Work starts on [date], once the deposit is paid. Estimated delivery: [date or range].
4. PRICE AND PAYMENT
Total fee: $[amount] [USD]. Deposit: [50]% ($[amount]), due before work starts. Balance: $[amount], due on [delivery / approval / a date].
Invoices are due [15] days after they are sent. Payment by [card payment link / bank transfer / check].
5. LATE PAYMENT
Unpaid balances accrue a late fee of [1.5]% per month, or the maximum allowed by law if lower. If an invoice is more than [15] days overdue, Freelancer may pause work until it is paid, and the timeline moves accordingly.
6. CHANGES
Anything outside section 1, including extra revision rounds, is quoted in writing at [$X per hour / a fixed price] and starts only after Client approves the quote.
7. OWNERSHIP
When Client has paid in full, Freelancer assigns to Client the rights in the final deliverables. Until then, Freelancer keeps them. Freelancer keeps its pre-existing tools, code, templates and unused drafts, and grants Client a license to use any of them included in the deliverables. Freelancer may show the finished work in its portfolio [unless Client asks otherwise in writing].
8. CONFIDENTIALITY
Each party keeps the other's non-public business information confidential and uses it only for this project.
9. CANCELLATION
Either party may end this contract with [7] days' written notice. Client pays for work done up to the end date, and at least [25]% of the total fee as a cancellation fee. The deposit is applied to these amounts and is not refunded beyond them.
10. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR
Freelancer decides how, when and where the work is done, uses its own equipment, may work for other clients and pays its own taxes. This contract does not create employment, partnership or agency.
11. LIABILITY
Each party's total liability under this contract is limited to the total fee, except for [unpaid fees / breaches of confidentiality].
12. GENERAL
This contract and any written change orders are the whole agreement. Changes must be in writing and accepted by both parties. It is governed by the laws of [state or country]. Electronic signatures count as originals.
Client: ____________________ Name, title, date
Freelancer: ________________ Name, dateHow to fill it in
- Fill in every bracket or delete the line. A blank late fee or notice period helps no one in a dispute.
- Write each deliverable so the client could check it off. If you already sent a proposal, copy the scope from it, or attach it and write "as described in the attached proposal dated [date]".
- Define a revision round. Most revision fights come from a contract that says "revisions included" with no number.
- Pick a cancellation fee you can defend. It should roughly cover the time you blocked out and turned other work down for.
- Check your local rules. New York State and Illinois require written contracts with specific contents for many freelance jobs, and some states cap late fees. The independent contractor agreement guide lists the main ones.
For retainers and hourly work
- Replace section 1 with the monthly hours or deliverables included, how unused hours are handled (they expire, or roll over for one month), and your response time.
- Replace section 4 with the monthly fee, the day it's invoiced (often the 1st, in advance) and the hourly rate for work beyond the retainer.
- Replace section 9 with a notice period, such as 30 days, during which the retainer is still paid.
- For hourly projects, add an estimate and a cap: "Freelancer will not exceed [X] hours without Client's written approval."
Send it for e-signature
Export the filled-in contract as a PDF and upload it to SoloWOS E-Signatures. Place signature, name and date fields for each signer and send it. Signers sign in the order you set, without creating an account, and you download the signed PDF with a certificate of completion, an audit trail and SHA-256 fingerprints of the original and final files. Solo includes 15 signature requests a month. If the client already accepted your proposal in Proposals, SoloWOS can create the signature request for you at that moment.
For what US law says about signing online, read are electronic signatures legal?. If the project needs confidentiality before you even quote it, start with the mutual NDA template.
Questions
Is this freelance contract template free to use?
Is a contract signed online binding?
Should I use my contract or the client's?
What's a kill fee?
Sources
Checked on October 17, 2026. Rules and amounts change, so confirm them at the source before you file or sign.
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