Fixed price or time and materials?

The two ways software is usually contracted put the risk in different places. Choosing well is less about which is cheaper and more about how settled your requirements are.

The two models side by side

Aspect	Fixed price	Time and materials
You pay for	An agreed scope, at an agreed price	The days actually worked, at an agreed rate
Who carries overrun risk	The supplier — so they price it in	You
Changing your mind	A change request, priced separately	Simply more days
Works best when	Requirements are written down and stable	Requirements are still being discovered
Main danger	A padded price, or a fight over what "done" means	A budget that keeps growing

What fixed price really means

A fixed price is not cheaper — it is more certain. The supplier carries the risk of it taking longer, so a sensible one adds a margin for that risk. You pay for the certainty.

It only works if "the scope" is written precisely enough that both sides agree on what was promised. On a vague brief, fixed price does not remove the uncertainty; it relocates it into arguments about whether something was included.

What time and materials really means

You pay for the work done, so nothing is padded and changing direction is cheap. In exchange you carry the risk of it taking longer. That is a good trade when you are still learning what you need, and a poor one when you are not watching the budget.

The protection is visibility: a weekly report of days used against days planned, and a cap you agree in advance.

The hybrid that suits most first projects

Fix what is known. Pay by the day for what is not.

A fixed-price discovery

A short, priced piece of work that turns your idea into a written specification.

A fixed-price build of what is now defined

Once the scope is written down, it can honestly be fixed.

Time and materials for everything after

Changes, improvements and the things you only learn once people use it.

Questions people ask next

Which is cheaper?

Neither, by default. Fixed price includes a risk margin; time and materials includes the risk itself. On a well-defined project fixed price is often similar; on a vague one, time and materials is usually more honest.

Can I cap a time-and-materials contract?

Yes, and you should: an agreed ceiling that triggers a conversation before it is passed.

What turns a vague project into a fixable one?

A written specification. That is exactly what the discovery step produces — and what a Moksy Blueprint gives you before you speak to a supplier at all.

Make your project fixable

Fixed prices need fixed requirements. A Moksy Blueprint turns your idea into the written scope a supplier can honestly price — before you have paid anyone for discovery.