Price a monthly retainer from an hourly rate and the hours it covers, and see the effective hourly rate a retainer implies.
Frequently asked
How much discount should a retainer have?
Typically 5–15%. You’re trading a little margin for guaranteed monthly income and lower sales effort. Below your ad-hoc rate by more than ~15% and the certainty isn’t paying for itself.
What if the client uses fewer hours than the retainer covers?
Standard practice is that unused hours don’t roll over — the client pays for availability, not just output. State this in the agreement so it’s clear up front.
Retainer (the app) auto-generates the monthly recurring invoice for exactly this fee, with GST, on the same date each month. Try Retainer free