The Ultimate Guide to Pricing Your Creative Services (Without Second-Guessing Yourself)

Struggling to price your design or freelance services? Learn how to confidently set your rates with this high-value, creative-friendly pricing guide.

Why Pricing Is So Hard for Creatives

Most creatives didn’t start their business because they loved pricing strategies or talking about money. We started because we wanted to make beautiful, useful, or meaningful work. So it makes sense that pricing often brings up uncertainty, imposter syndrome, and a whole lot of second-guessing.

But here’s the truth: the way you price your services shapes everything—from how potential clients perceive your value to how sustainable your business becomes. Learning how to price confidently is one of the most important business skills you can build.

Understanding the Value of Your Work

Before you price anything, you need to understand what your work is worth to the client. This isn't about your hourly effort—it’s about the outcome you create.

Ask yourself:

• What transformation does your service create for your clients?

• How does your work improve their business or life?

• What might they lose if they don’t hire you?

• How much more money could they make with your services?

If a rebrand leads to stronger customer trust and better conversions, or a website redesign boosts sales, that value matters.

Bonus: show this value in your proposals. Look up industry standard conversion rates, and calculate the potential additional revenue your clients could be making with improved conversion rates.

Common Pricing Models (and How to Use Them)

There’s no one-size-fits-all method. Most creatives use a combination of these models:

1. Hourly Pricing

• Pros: Easy to calculate, good for retainers

• Cons: Encourages trading time for money, caps income

2. Project-Based Pricing

• Pros: Clear boundaries, better for scope

• Cons: Requires careful planning and estimates

3. Value-Based Pricing

• Pros: Highest earning potential, focused on ROI

• Cons: Harder to estimate for new service providers

✨ At Function (our design studio), we typically use a hybrid model: we calculate our base hourly rate, then create custom flat-rate packages from there. That way we know we’re covered, but we’re selling value—not time.

How to Build Strategic Packages

Packages make it easier for clients to say "yes." But they only work when they’re:

• Clear

• Outcome-focused

• Aligned to client needs

Tips:

• Use anchor pricing (3-tiered options with a mid-tier sweet spot)

• Include brief results or ROI statements for each package

• Customize names and visuals to feel brand-aligned

Want to simplify your proposal process? Check out our post on how to send a proposal that converts.

Accounting for Expenses and Profit Goals

Don’t forget to build a sustainable margin.

Your prices need to cover:

• Software and tools you'll need to use

• Taxes

• Team support (even future contractors)

• Your salary and time off

If you want to pay yourself $75,000/year and work ~25 hours/week, your minimum hourly rate needs to reflect that. Do the math backward to find your baseline!

Calculate your hourly rate:

(Desired Annual Salary + Expenses + Profit Goal) ÷ Billable Hours Per Year = Baseline Hourly Rate

How to Communicate Your Prices With Confidence

Clients want to trust you—not just your portfolio, but your process. Clear pricing shows that you know your value.

Tips:

• Practice saying your prices out loud until they feel normal

• List starting prices or ranges on your site if it aligns with your brand

• Have a beautiful proposal ready to go with your pricing breakdown

Need help showing your value? Learn how to improve your sales process in this post.

Bonus Tools to Help You Price Smarter

• The Brand Planner – Includes a full pricing clarity exercise

• nuSchool Pricing Calculator – A simple web-based tool for calculating rates

• WillowSpace Proposals – Send professional, customized proposals that clients can accept with a click

• ChatGPT – Use AI to ask what industry rates are in your location to get a baseline

Streamline Your Client Experience With WillowSpace

Setting your rates is just one part of the equation. To confidently book more clients, you need smooth, consistent systems behind the scenes.

✨ With WillowSpace, you can:

• Send beautiful proposals and digital contracts

• Set up payment plans and auto-late fees

• Build client portals that wow

• Automate the boring stuff (like invoice reminders)

Try WillowSpace for free and start pricing your services with confidence—and getting paid on time.