Freelance or independent contractor agreement
Review a freelance contract before you start work
The freelance contracts that cause problems rarely look predatory. They are short, friendly, and silent on the things that matter: when payment is actually due, what counts as done, who owns the work if the client stops paying, and what happens when the scope quietly triples.
For freelancers, 1099 contractors, consultants and agencies.
No account needed. You see the price before paying, and the report opens immediately after.
What we check in a freelance or independent contractor agreement
Every review of this contract type runs the full checklist, then reports what it found with the clause quoted and the line number.
- When payment is due, what triggers it, and whether it is tied to a subjective acceptance test
- Late payment interest and the right to suspend work for non-payment
- Deposit or milestone structure versus payment entirely on completion
- Scope definition, revision limits and how change requests are priced
- IP: whether ownership transfers on signature or on final payment
- Whether you keep a portfolio and reuse license over your own tooling and prior work
- Indemnity - the clause most likely to be uncapped and one-directional
- Liability cap, and whether it is at least equal to the contract value
- Termination for convenience and whether you are paid for work already done
- Exclusivity and non-compete terms that stop you serving other clients in the sector
- Worker classification - whether the agreement's own terms undercut your 1099 status
Red flags we see most often
These are the specific terms that turn a routine freelance or independent contractor agreement into an expensive one.
- IP transferring on delivery rather than on payment in full
- "Unlimited revisions until the client is satisfied" with no definition of satisfied
- Payment on "acceptance" with no deemed-acceptance period
- An uncapped indemnity running from you to the client
- Net-60 or net-90 payment terms with no late-payment interest
- Termination for convenience with no payment for work in progress
- An assignment of "all intellectual property" with no carve-out for your own tools and libraries
What you get back
Not a summary of what the contract says. A list of what to change, and the wording to change it to.
Risk score and verdict
A calibrated 0–100 score with a one-line verdict. Clean documents score low — the score is only useful if it can say "this is fine".
Findings with the quote
Each issue names the clause, quotes it verbatim, explains the consequence in your contract's own numbers, and says how far it deviates from market standard.
Pasteable redlines
Replacement wording drafted for each issue, ready to send back to the other side.
What's missing
The standard protections for this contract type that your document does not contain.
Deadlines to calendar
Every date and trigger that costs you something if you miss it, with the consequence spelled out.
Negotiation playbook
Your asks in priority order, the reason to give for each, and the fallback position if they refuse.
Questions about freelance or independent contractor agreements
What should a freelance contract include?
A defined scope with a revision limit, a payment schedule with dates rather than events, late-payment interest, IP transferring on final payment, a liability cap at or near the contract value, and a termination clause that pays you for work already delivered. Anything missing from that list is a gap you will feel eventually.
Should I sign a client's contract or use my own?
Use yours when you can - the drafter sets the defaults. When you cannot, the goal is not to rewrite their paper but to fix the three or four terms that carry real financial exposure: payment trigger, IP timing, indemnity and liability cap.
Who owns the work if the client does not pay?
Whoever the contract says, which is usually the client from the moment of delivery. Tying the IP assignment to receipt of final payment is a one-sentence change and the highest-leverage edit in most freelance agreements.
What should I check in a 1099 independent contractor agreement?
The same terms as any freelance contract - payment trigger, IP timing, indemnity and liability cap - plus one specific to the classification: whether the agreement controls how and when you work. A contract that sets your hours, requires you to use the client's equipment, and bars you from other clients describes an employee, whichever box is ticked. That matters to you because misclassification indemnities in these agreements usually run one way, from you to the client.
Is an uncapped indemnity normal in a freelance contract?
It is common in contracts drafted by client-side counsel and it is not something you should accept without thought. A single IP claim under an uncapped indemnity can exceed everything you earned from that client. Ask for the indemnity to be capped at fees paid and mutual.
Related guides
Freelance Contract Red Flags: 11 Clauses That Cost You Money
The payment triggers, IP timing, revision traps and uncapped indemnities that turn a friendly client contract into an expensive one - and how to fix each.
IP Assignment vs License: Which Are You Really Signing?
Assignment transfers ownership permanently; a license grants permission. Where the line sits in employment, freelance and brand contracts - and why it matters.
Review your freelance or independent contractor agreement now
$49, no account, about two minutes. See a complete sample report first if you want to judge the depth before paying — and if yours finds nothing you can act on, we refund it.
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