Yes — you should require a deposit before starting freelance work, typically 30–50% of the project price, collected before you write a single line or design a single screen. A deposit isn't a sign of distrust; it's the standard mechanic that separates professionals from hobbyists and committed clients from tire-kickers.

Why deposits work (it is not just about the money)

The cash matters, but the psychology matters more. A client who has paid a deposit behaves differently for the entire project:

  • They're committed. Sunk cost works in your favor — clients who have paid show up to kickoff calls, deliver feedback on time, and don't vanish mid-project.
  • The payment channel is open. The awkward first payment already happened. Milestone and final payments follow an established pattern instead of being a novel event.
  • You're filtered against bad clients. The clients who resist a reasonable deposit are disproportionately the ones who dispute invoices later. The deposit request surfaces them before you've invested anything.
  • Your downside is capped. If the project collapses, you've been paid for the early work instead of eating it entirely.

How much to ask for

The working range is 30–50%. Where you land depends on the situation:

  • 50% for new clients, short projects (under a month), or work with heavy up-front effort like discovery and design.
  • 30–35% for longer projects where the rest is covered by milestones, or for repeat clients with a good payment history.
  • 100% up front is reasonable for small fixed-price items — a logo, an audit, a one-day engagement. Below roughly $500, splitting payments costs more friction than it saves.

Avoid token deposits under 25%. They don't create commitment and they signal that the number is negotiable.

How to phrase it without apologizing

The mistake freelancers make is presenting the deposit as a request. It's not a request — it's how the engagement works. State it as process, in the proposal itself:

  • "Payment: 50% deposit to book the project, 50% on delivery."
  • "Work begins once the deposit is received. Your start date is reserved at that point."

Notice there's no justification, no "I hope that's okay." Clients accept confident process. They negotiate hesitant asks.

Collect it at the moment of approval

Where deposits go wrong is the gap between agreement and payment. The client says yes, you send banking details or an invoice, and days pass while nothing officially starts. Momentum decays, and sometimes the project quietly dies in that gap. The fix is to make approval and deposit the same action: the proposal itself carries the payment link, so "yes" means the deposit is paid and the start date is locked. This is exactly how Tendrly handles it — the proposal includes a one-click Stripe payment link for the deposit, and if you're splitting the rest into a payment plan (up to 5 installments), the remaining payments get scheduled email reminders automatically.

Handling pushback

Some clients — usually larger companies — will say their process doesn't allow prepayment. Options, in order of preference:

  • Reframe it as milestone one. "Project initiation — 40%" invoiced on signing often passes procurement where "deposit" doesn't.
  • Shrink the first chunk. A smaller first milestone due in week one limits your exposure while fitting their process.
  • Walk away if they refuse any early payment and the client is unknown to you. A client unwilling to commit anything before delivery is asking you to carry all the risk.

FAQ

Are deposits refundable if the client cancels?

State your policy in the proposal. A common fair approach: the deposit covers work performed to date, and any unused portion is refunded. For booked time you turned other work away for, non-refundable is defensible — just say so up front.

Do deposits apply to hourly work too?

Yes, as a retainer: the client pre-pays a block of hours and you bill against it, topping up when it runs low. Same commitment effect, adapted to open-ended scope.

What if a long-standing client asks to skip the deposit?

With a genuine payment history, relaxing to a smaller deposit or first-milestone billing is a reasonable loyalty concession. Just keep it explicit as a favor tied to their track record, not a permanent policy change.