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First consulting client: pricing infrastructure vs. the automation itself?
Posted on 11/3/26 at 7:15 pm
Posted on 11/3/26 at 7:15 pm
I'm working on securing my first client as a consultant. It's a custom build automation that I am confident I can deliver on. Just curious as to how people usually break out the pricing on the infrastructure vs the automation itself.
My thought was a one time set up fee for the server. Then a flat fee per automation/application depending on how complex it is.
Then a monthly fee to maintain the server, troubleshoot the automation, check on logs. Up the price on the monthly fee after each automation goes live.
This is all new to me coming from the corporate world where I was just receiving a salary and had all the assets at my disposal.
Anyone willing to provide some insight on how to approach this, or what they’ve seen on the other side as the company hiring the contractor? Happy to take it offline if anyone’s willing to chat. I'd love to get some insight on my pricing without posting details here...
My thought was a one time set up fee for the server. Then a flat fee per automation/application depending on how complex it is.
Then a monthly fee to maintain the server, troubleshoot the automation, check on logs. Up the price on the monthly fee after each automation goes live.
This is all new to me coming from the corporate world where I was just receiving a salary and had all the assets at my disposal.
Anyone willing to provide some insight on how to approach this, or what they’ve seen on the other side as the company hiring the contractor? Happy to take it offline if anyone’s willing to chat. I'd love to get some insight on my pricing without posting details here...
This post was edited on 11/3/26 at 7:17 pm
Posted on 11/3/26 at 8:59 pm to Lazy But Talented
I would do the opposite, flat fee for server setup and config and T&M for the automations.
The monthly recurring fee sounds like a good plan. What type of system is this? Is this using an automation engine like n8n?
The monthly recurring fee sounds like a good plan. What type of system is this? Is this using an automation engine like n8n?
Posted on 11/3/26 at 9:01 pm to Lazy But Talented
Set it up, then billable hours to support
Posted on 11/3/26 at 9:44 pm to Brisketeer
I am giving the price of the automation based on my estimated hours and then adding a little buffer. When speaking with them they were not really interested in what my hourly rate, just a price to get it up and going.
Using python scripts on a lightweight platform I built for scheduling, retries, run logs, etc.
quote:
What type of system is this? Is this using an automation engine like n8n?
Using python scripts on a lightweight platform I built for scheduling, retries, run logs, etc.
Posted on 11/4/26 at 7:45 am to Lazy But Talented
quote:
I am giving the price of the automation based on my estimated hours and then adding a little buffer. When speaking with them they were not really interested in what my hourly rate, just a price to get it up and going.
I don’t know shite about what you are doing, but as someone who has clients and different engagement setups, the worst thing you can do is not be comfortable with your pricing and just meet their demands to win the work. It’s easy to say, but you really are better off waiting for work and clients you are comfortable are the right fit than doing something you don’t want to do just to get the client
Posted on 11/4/26 at 10:59 am to Lazy But Talented
quote:
When speaking with them they were not really interested in what my hourly rate, just a price to get it up and going.
If you do a fixed price, just make sure you have solid requirements that are signed off by the client.
Posted on 11/4/26 at 11:45 am to Brisketeer
thanks for the feedback every one. 
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