Old school retainer model vs. flat fee project pricing, which side are you on now?

I ran my agency on monthly retainers for 8 years. Clients paid a set amount, I did whatever came up. Simple but I always felt like I was either overdelivering or shortchanging someone. About 3 months ago I switched everything to flat fee project pricing, scope in, scope out. One client in Columbus pushed back hard, said they liked the predictability of a retainer. Another one loves it because they know the exact cost before we start. Now I'm stuck wondering if I went too far the other way. Anyone else flip their pricing model and regret it or find it was the best move?

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abby_chen1mo ago

That client in Columbus might not have been pushing back on the model, just the change itself. Mixing both could work too, keep retainers for the clients who want them and flat fees for the ones who need a fixed number.