Paste your freelance contract and understand exactly who owns the work, when you get paid, what happens if the project is cancelled, and how many revisions are included.
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Freelance contracts govern some of the most financially and creatively significant work relationships, yet they are routinely misunderstood by both parties. Clients often send contracts drafted by their legal teams that are heavily weighted in the client's favor, while freelancers — eager to win the project — sign without scrutiny. The core issues are rarely explicit: intellectual property assignment clauses may transfer ownership of everything you create, not just the final deliverable. Scope-of-work language that is vague invites scope creep without additional compensation. Payment milestone structures that tie full payment to "client satisfaction" rather than delivery of work create collection problems. Indemnification clauses can expose freelancers to liability for issues entirely outside their control. Kill fee provisions — if they exist at all — may be far lower than the value of the work completed. Understanding these clauses is critical to running a sustainable freelance business.
Several clauses in freelance contracts have an outsized impact on your rights and earnings. Intellectual property assignment clauses determine whether you retain any rights to work you create — many client contracts demand a full work-for-hire transfer, including moral rights. Revision limit clauses define how many rounds of changes are included in the quoted price, and what happens if the client exceeds that number. Kill fees determine what percentage of the contract value you receive if the client cancels a project after work has begun — standard is 25–50% depending on completion stage. Non-compete clauses can prevent you from taking similar projects from other clients for a period of time. Late payment terms and interest provisions protect you when invoices go unpaid. Non-disparagement clauses may restrict what you can say about the project in your portfolio. Each of these directly affects your livelihood as a freelancer.
LegalSimplifier's AI reads your freelance contract and gives you a plain-English summary of every clause that matters to your work and payment. You receive a structured breakdown of the payment schedule, IP ownership terms, revision limits, kill fee provisions, non-compete scope, confidentiality requirements, and dispute resolution process. Risk flags highlight one-sided clauses — for example, full IP transfer with no additional compensation, vague scope of work, or missing kill fee provisions — so you know exactly where you are exposed. Negotiation tips suggest specific language changes you can bring back to the client before signing, such as capping the IP transfer to the final deliverable or adding a clearly defined revision limit. Using the Provider perspective, the AI analyzes the contract from your position as the freelancer, surfacing the obligations and risks that are most relevant to you specifically.
Paste your freelance contract and get a plain-English breakdown in under 30 seconds.