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Freelance Contract Built From Your Deal
Describe the client and the work. Get a freelancer's services agreement with deposit, revisions, kill fee and ownership on payment, written from your side.
River's freelance contract template drafts a client services agreement from a few lines about the job. Describe the client, the work, the price and how you want to be paid. River writes the contract from the freelancer's side. It covers scope and deliverables, deposit and payment dates, revision limits and a change request process. It adds a kill fee, ownership passing to the client once you are paid, portfolio rights, and how either side can end the project. Anything you did not mention is set to a sensible default and marked in brackets.
The free templates that rank for this search are blank forms, many neutral on purpose and some written for the business doing the hiring. They leave you to work out what protects you. This one starts from your deal and your interests: work begins after the deposit clears, unpaid invoices pause the work, extra rounds cost extra, and the client does not own the files until the final invoice is paid. It also reflects rules where you work, such as New York's written contract requirement for freelancers.
It is for freelance writers, editors, designers, marketers and consultants starting a project with a new client, or putting an old handshake arrangement in writing. Use it before work starts, not after the first late invoice. Ghostwriters have extra needs around credit and confidentiality, which the ghostwriting contract generator covers. If you are the business hiring someone, use the independent contractor agreement instead, since it is written from the hiring side. Marketplace jobs usually run on the platform's own terms, so there the Upwork proposal writer is the better place to start.
What protects a freelancer in a client contract
Payment terms do most of the work. Ask for a deposit before starting, for example 30 to 50 percent from a new client, and tie the rest to delivery rather than to approval, which can drift for weeks. State the invoice due date in days and say what happens when it passes: work pauses, and a late fee applies if you choose to charge one. A clause the client has already signed is far easier to enforce politely than a rule you introduce for the first time in a reminder email.
Scope and revisions come next. Name each deliverable, its length or quantity, and how many rounds of changes are included. Then define a round: one set of combined comments, returned together. Anything beyond that, or any new deliverable, goes through a short written change request with a price. This is not about being difficult. It gives you a neutral way to say yes to extra work and be paid for it, rather than absorbing it quietly to keep the relationship smooth.
Some places now set rules for freelance contracts. New York State's Freelance Isn't Free Act, in force since August 2024, requires a written contract for work worth $800 or more, alone or combined over 120 days. When the contract sets no payment date, the client must pay within 30 days of completion. In the UK, business clients who pay late can owe statutory interest of 8% above the Bank of England base rate. River drafts with those rules in mind where they apply.
How it works
Describe the deal
The client, the work, the price and how you want to be paid, in your own words.
Choose where you work
Pick where you are based so the contract reflects local rules and governing law.
Get the contract
A full agreement in a document, with numbered sections and signature blocks for you and the client.
Adjust in chat
Ask to add a retainer, change the kill fee, or make the tone friendlier for a long-standing client.
What you get
- A complete services agreement written from your side, laid out like a legal document
- Deposit, payment dates and what happens when an invoice goes unpaid, in plain terms
- Deliverables, revision rounds and a change request process that keeps extra work paid
- A kill fee and termination clause so a cancelled project still pays for work done
- Ownership passing to the client on full payment, with your right to show samples
- Every default marked in brackets, plus a note on local rules and what to check
Common questions
Do I really need a contract for a small job?
It is wise for any paid job, and sometimes the law expects one. In New York State, work worth $800 or more, alone or combined over 120 days, needs a written contract. Even where nothing requires it, a one-page agreement settles price, scope and payment date before a misunderstanding can turn into an unpaid invoice.
Is this legally binding?
A signed agreement can bind both sides, which is why its wording matters. River drafts it from your deal and writes it in plain, conventional contract language, but it does not give legal advice or promise the result is enforceable where you live. For large projects, unusual terms or a client with its own paper, have a lawyer review it.
Can I charge a late fee?
Usually, if the contract says so and the fee is reasonable. River includes a late fee only when you ask for one, and writes it as a clear, fixed rule. In the UK, business clients who pay late can owe statutory interest even without a clause. Elsewhere, check local limits on interest before choosing a high rate.
What if the client sends their own contract instead?
Read it against what you would have asked for. Paste their contract into chat after River drafts yours and ask what is missing or one-sided: payment timing, revision limits, ownership before payment, and how the project can end. You can then ask for specific changes rather than rejecting their document outright, which clients usually accept more readily.
Who owns the work under this contract?
The client, once you are paid in full. Until then you keep ownership, which gives you a fair lever if the final invoice stalls. The contract also keeps your right to show the finished work in your portfolio after publication, unless you tell River the project is confidential, in which case it drafts a stricter clause instead.
Sources
Built by
Chandler Supple
Co-founder & CEO, River
Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.
Freelance Contract Built From Your Deal
Describe what you need, add any files you have, and your workspace opens with the work already underway.