Estimate what a new business website should cost to build
Built for US agencies, freelancers, and consultants pricing recurring client work.
Agency Retainer Planner
Use Nemin.io to estimate a fair monthly retainer for ongoing client work. Enter your committed hours, rate, tool costs, and target profit to see a price range and a midpoint you can quote with confidence.
Your Results
Enter your details and click calculate.
How to price a retainer that protects your margin
Whether you're drafting a brand-new monthly package or revisiting an agreement that has drifted, this planner turns your delivery inputs into a defensible number. It's a quick way to standardize quotes across clients so recurring commitments never end up underpriced.
- Quoting a new monthly marketing retainer
- Repricing a client whose scope has grown
- Comparing retainers at different hour commitments
- Setting a floor price before a proposal call
- Confirming software and tool costs are covered
Who This Calculator Helps
This tool is useful for agencies and freelancers who bill clients on a recurring monthly basis and want pricing that stays profitable.
Plan your retainer in four steps
- Enter the hours you'll commit to each month
- Add your hourly rate and monthly software or tools cost
- Set the profit margin you want to hit
- Review the retainer range and quote from the midpoint
Planning NoteUse this range as an opening position for scoping talks rather than a set fee. Real retainer pricing shifts with scope creep, revision rounds, client communication overhead, seasonal workload, and changing software subscriptions, so treat the range as a starting point and adjust it for each engagement.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Agency Retainer Planner calculate?
It estimates a monthly retainer range for recurring services, plus a planning midpoint, your base delivery cost, and the profit margin you're aiming to reach.
Who should use this retainer planner?
It's built for agencies, freelancers, consultants, and marketers who invoice clients each month and want a repeatable way to set fair, profitable recurring fees.
How is the retainer amount worked out?
The planner multiplies your committed monthly hours by your hourly rate, adds your software and tools cost to reach a base delivery cost, then applies your desired profit margin to produce the range and midpoint.
How firm is the retainer this suggests?
Treat it as a directional guide rather than a binding quote. Since it can't see scope changes, rush requests, or client-specific overhead, sanity-check the figure against what each account actually demands.
Can I compare retainers at different hour levels?
Yes. Adjust the monthly hours and margin and rerun this free browser tool as often as you like to weigh several tiers before sending a proposal.