Payments & terms
Terms published in the open, because opaque terms are how both sides get hurt. This is how the money actually moves here: deposits, milestones, currencies, and what happens when things go sideways.
The payment shape
Deposit, 30–50% at signing. Books the schedule and covers kickoff work. Large builds trend toward the lower end; small builds toward the higher, because fixed costs weigh more on small projects.
Milestones, billed on acceptance. Each milestone in the statement of work has acceptance criteria, you verify on staging, then the invoice goes out. Typical mid-size builds run 2–4 milestones between deposit and final.
Final, on launch acceptance. The last 10–20% holds until the site is live and the handover pack is delivered. Both sides keep leverage exactly as long as both sides have obligations.
Retainer and maintenance work bills monthly in advance, with the month's allowance defined in the plan, see care plans for what they cover.
Currencies and methods
Invoicing in USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, AED or INR at the quoted amount, currency risk is ours to manage, not a line item on your invoice. Bank transfer and Wise for most clients; PayPal where it is the practical option. International clients receive proper invoices usable for their accounting; Indian clients receive GST-compliant invoices.
What you get before you pay anything
Before the deposit, you hold: the written scope, the milestone schedule, the price, and the contract terms. That package is free and works with any developer, if a competitor's scope beats ours at the same quality, take it. The pricing logic behind the numbers is on the rates page, and the full contract reasoning in the contract guide.
The terms that protect you
- IP transfers on final payment. The contract assigns all deliverables, design, code, configuration, to you, effective when the final invoice clears. No hostage clauses, no license-back surprises.
- Kill-fee exit. Cancel at any milestone boundary: you pay completed milestones plus work-in-progress, you receive everything completed to date, and the project ends cleanly. Dead projects should be buried, not billed.
- Defect window. Thirty days post-launch: anything broken that the build should have caught gets fixed free. New requests are new work, the line between those two is in the SOW.
- Your accounts, always. Domain, hosting, CMS, analytics, registered to you from day one. The access model makes lock-in structurally impossible.
- Mutual confidentiality. Standard mutual NDA terms on request, the template is free if you want it reviewed before we ever talk.
What the terms ask of you
Terms cut both ways, honestly stated: invoices paid within their terms (net-7 for milestones on active builds keeps momentum), decisions and feedback delivered on the agreed schedule, and scope changes going through the change-note process rather than arriving as assumptions. The clients who get the best work here treat the process as a partnership instrument, not an obstacle course, and get treated the same way in return.
Late, disputed, and ugly scenarios
Late payment pauses work at the next milestone boundary, stated plainly, applied without drama, resumed without penalty once cleared. Disputes get resolved against the written documents, which is precisely why everything lives in writing. And if the relationship genuinely breaks? The kill-fee clause is the civilized exit: work paid for is work delivered, everything hands over, everyone walks away whole. In years of practice, the clause has mostly served as reassurance, the existence of clean exits is what keeps projects from needing them.
Questions buyers actually ask about money
"I am paying from abroad, how do USD/INR, invoices and taxes work?" Cross-border engagements are routine: invoicing from India in USD (or your currency), paid by bank transfer or card, with the Indian tax side handled on this end. You receive proper invoices for your accounting; your local tax treatment stays with your accountant.
"How do payment schedules stay fair?" Payments run against visible milestones, a deposit to start, staged payments on approved deliverables, final payment at handover, each with acceptance criteria you can check yourself. Nothing is invoiced ahead of the work it pays for, and the schedule appears in the written quote before you commit.
"What if the project changes scope mid-way?" The change-request mechanics: one paragraph, what changes, what it costs, what it moves, accepted in writing before the work. No surprise invoices, no surprise scope.
Read the instruments yourself
Every document behind these terms, brief, RFP, SOW, NDA, maintenance agreement, handover, is published free in the templates section. Review them with anyone you like before we talk.
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