Fill in a short form and PeerInvoice turns it into a clear agreement. Your client signs it online, and the deposit invoice is created for you. Invoicing itself stays free.
You landed the project. Before you start designing, coding or writing, you know the drill: agree on the scope, the price, how many revisions are included, when it is due and what happens if the client changes their mind. None of that should need a lawyer for a typical freelance job.
Most freelancers either skip the conversation or reuse a template they found years ago and email it back and forth until two people are holding two different versions. Then the work starts, the invoice gets written from memory, and the numbers on the invoice don’t quite match what everyone remembers agreeing to.
The fix is simple: write the agreement and the invoice from the same numbers. The price, the deposit and the dates you type once are the ones in the contract, and the ones on the invoices that follow.
Contract Shield is the agreement tool inside PeerInvoice Pro. You enter the project details, your client reviews the full agreement on a web page, signs it online, and you both receive a signed PDF. Everything else in PeerInvoice stays free.
The agreement is a plain-English freelance services agreement that deals with the things that cause most disagreements:
You choose the numbers that matter for each project: the price, the deposit, the kill fee (what is owed if the client cancels), the monthly late interest, how many revisions are included, the delivery date and exactly what you will deliver. The surrounding clauses are the same for every agreement, so there is no legal wording to get wrong by accident.
Contract Shield is a general-purpose template. It isn’t legal advice, and PeerInvoice isn’t a law firm. For large, unusual or high-stakes projects, have a lawyer look it over.
Each agreement has ten sections. Before you create one, you can preview the full text exactly as your client will see it.
Once you create an agreement, its text is saved. Later changes to PeerInvoice never alter an agreement that already exists, so what your client signed is what you both keep.
Step 1: Fill in the project. Pick a saved client or type a new one. Enter the project name, price, deposit percentage, kill fee, late interest, revisions, start and delivery dates, and the scope of work. A summary on the side shows what is due when the client signs and what is due on delivery.
Step 2: Preview and create. Read the full agreement as your client will, then create it. Nothing is sent until you choose to send it.
Step 3: Send it. Email it to your client from PeerInvoice, or copy the link and send it yourself. The link works for 30 days. If it hasn’t been signed, PeerInvoice reminds your client twice. You get an email when they first open it and another when they sign.
Step 4: Your client signs. They need no account. They read the agreement, type their name and initials, and tick a box agreeing to sign electronically.
Step 5: The deposit invoice appears. The moment it is signed, you and your client each get a signed PDF, and the deposit invoice is created for you with the right amount. With no deposit, the whole fee is invoiced on delivery instead.
Step 6: Do the work, keep track. Log each round of revisions against the number included, so you can see when it is time for a change order. Mark the project delivered and the balance invoice is created. If a client cancels, you can issue the kill fee invoice in one click.
Step 7: Get paid. Clients pay you directly through the Cash App, Venmo or PayPal.Me links on each invoice. Your pipeline shows every project from awaiting signature, to in production, to delivered, to paid. Would you rather offer choices first? Proposals let a client pick one of up to three options, and their choice becomes a ready-to-sign agreement.
There are two plans. Invoicing is free. Contract Shield, and the tools around it, are part of Pro. PeerInvoice is built for one freelancer per account, so there are no team seats, shared logins or extra tiers.
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice pages with Cash App, Venmo and PayPal.Me | ✔ | ✔ |
| Email invoices to your clients | ✔ | ✔ |
| Discounts, tax, late-fee notes and part payments | ✔ | ✔ |
| Client list with notes and payment history | ✔ | ✔ |
| Contract Shield: agreements your client signs online | — | ✔ |
| Deposit invoice created automatically when the client signs | — | ✔ |
| Signed PDF emailed to you and your client | — | ✔ |
| Proposals with up to three options | — | ✔ |
| Automatic invoice reminders and receipts | — | ✔ |
| Reminders for agreements that are not signed yet | — | ✔ |
| A private link for each client | — | ✔ |
| Repeating invoices for retainers | — | ✔ |
| Your logo, color and name on invoices, agreements and emails | — | ✔ |
| See when a client opens an invoice | — | ✔ |
| Project pipeline, from signed to paid | — | ✔ |
| Extra contacts for each client | — | ✔ |
| Price | $0 | $9 a month or $80 a year |
There is no free trial, because the Free plan is yours to keep for as long as you like. If you upgrade and it isn’t for you, email us within 14 days of your first payment for a full refund. See the refund policy for the details.
Here is how two typical projects might be set up. The numbers are examples, not recommendations: you choose your own.
A brand identity project ($6,000):
A 50% deposit of $3,000 is invoiced the moment the client signs. Two rounds of revisions are included. The kill fee is 30%, so if the client cancels after work has begun, $1,800 is owed. Late payments add 1.5% a month. The scope lists the logo suite, the brand guidelines and the social templates, so anything else is a separate quote. On delivery, you mark the project delivered and the $3,000 balance invoice is created. If you are a designer, see how PeerInvoice fits your workflow.
A landing page build ($4,500):
A 40% deposit of $1,800 is due at signing, with one round of changes after launch. The scope states front-end work only, and leaves out the back-end. If the client asks for more, you log it, see that it is outside what was agreed, and send a change order. Developers can see how PeerInvoice works for engineering projects.
In both cases, the agreement isn’t an obstacle. Most clients appreciate knowing exactly what they are buying before any money changes hands, and a clear agreement lets you say “here is what you get and how we protect both sides” without sounding defensive. Our guide to stopping scope creep goes deeper on this.
Honestly, there are good alternatives. Here is how they compare:
| Option | Effort | Fit for your project | Connected to your invoices | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A free template, edited in Word | Often an hour or more, every time | Depends on the template and your edits | No | Free, plus your time |
| A lawyer (read our freelance agreement guide first) | Days to weeks | Tailored to you | No | Often hundreds of dollars or more |
| A separate contract tool plus an invoicing tool | Two accounts to set up and keep in step | Depends on the tool | Usually by hand | A second subscription |
| PeerInvoice Pro | A few minutes per agreement | General-purpose template, with your own numbers and scope | Yes, built in | $9 a month or $80 a year |
A lawyer is still the right call for large or unusual work. For the everyday projects that make up most freelancing, a clear, signed agreement that is already connected to your invoices beats a vague email thread by a wide margin.
It is a general-purpose agreement written in plain English, and it gives you a clear, signed record of what was agreed. PeerInvoice isn’t a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. No template fits every situation, so for large, complex or unusual projects, have a licensed attorney review the terms.
You set the price, deposit, kill fee, late interest, number of revisions, start and delivery dates, and the scope of work. Set the kill fee or the late interest to 0% and that term is removed. The wording of the clauses themselves is the same for everyone.
No. They open the link, read the agreement, type their name and initials, and tick the box to sign electronically. They can also have a copy of the signed agreement emailed to them at any time.
The link stays open for 30 days, and PeerInvoice sends your client two polite reminders. You can email it again at any time, or cancel the agreement if the project falls through. Your dashboard shows which agreements are still waiting.
No. Free covers invoicing. Contract Shield is part of Pro, which is $9 a month or $80 a year. There is no free trial, but if you upgrade and change your mind, you can ask for a refund within 14 days of your first payment.
No. PeerInvoice is built for one freelancer per account, so there are no team seats or shared logins. If you work with someone else, each of you uses your own account.
Yes. Open the client from your client list and choose New agreement. Their name and email are already filled in, so you only enter the price, dates and scope for the new project.
Read our free freelance agreement template to see what a good agreement looks like.
Every project you take on without a written scope, clear payment terms and a limit on revisions is a risk you carry on your own. Setting this up takes a few minutes:
That is the whole workflow. A clear agreement, invoices that match it, and one place to see where every project stands.
