# Do I pay by the hour or by the project?

**Short answer.** By project as soon as you can describe the scope: then the agency carries the risk of surprises and you get certainty on the amount. By the hour, you pay for uncertainty you created yourself.

The question is not which form is cheaper, but who carries the risk when the work turns out harder. Under a project price that is the agency; under an hourly rate it is you.

## By project, as soon as you can describe the scope

You get an amount and the agency gets the responsibility to deliver within it. If it takes longer than expected, that is their problem. Which is why a project price usually sits slightly above the sum of the estimated hours: it contains a risk margin, and you pay it knowingly.

What to settle alongside it: the number of feedback rounds, what happens on a change, and what is not included.

## By the hour, only for what you cannot bound

Research, coaching, a crisis, an exploratory phase, or work whose size depends on your own decisions. Here an hourly rate is fairer than a project price, because an agency forced to name an amount for an unknown scope prices itself against the worst case.

What to settle alongside it: a ceiling per phase, and a mandatory alert when that ceiling comes into view. An hourly rate without a ceiling is an open account.

## The form that works out best most often

A project price for the bounded parts and an hourly rate for the tail you cannot describe, in one contract. That is clearer than one form stretched over everything.

## Where it always goes wrong

A project price on a scope that is not settled. You then negotiate every change for three months, and at the end the relationship is damaged over an amount smaller than the time the discussion cost. If you cannot describe the scope, the first assignment is that description, and the price comes after.

## And one thing not to forget

An hourly rate says nothing about the price. Two agencies at the same rate can differ eightfold in hours on the same line. So compare what gets made, not what the hour costs. See [what a normal hourly rate is](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/normaal-uurtarief-bureau), and the [PAR instrument](https://www.ikag.be/par) IKAg uses to express a proposal in units of work.

See also: [which remuneration models exist](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/vergoedingsmodellen) and [how to keep costs from running away](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/kosten-onder-controle-houden).

## Related questions

- [Fee, commission or hourly rate: which do I choose?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/fee-commissie-of-uurtarief): A fixed fee when the work returns every month, a project price when it is bounded, an hourly rate only for what you cannot bound. Commission on media spend rewards volume, not effect.
- [What is a normal hourly rate for an agency?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/normaal-uurtarief-bureau): The hourly rate is the least meaningful number in a proposal: it says nothing about how many hours are in it. Two agencies at the same rate can differ eightfold on the same line.
- [How do I keep the costs from running away?](https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq/kosten-onder-controle-houden): Almost every overrun comes from scope that grew without anyone writing it down. Agree that every extension gets a written estimate before work starts, and the argument disappears.

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IKAg is the business consultant for marketing and agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands. Market figures come from the Agency Barometer, calculated on the annual accounts agencies filed with the National Bank themselves. Figures on pitches and satisfaction come from IKAg-guided processes, and are always presented as such.

- All questions: https://www.ikag.be/en/factsheets/faq
- Last updated: 2026-09-05