Pricing
Fixed Price vs Time & Materials: Which Pricing Model Fits Your Project?
6 min read
Pricing models allocate risk. Fixed price puts more risk on the vendor when scope is clear. Time and materials (T&M) shares uncertainty when discovery is still open. Pick the model that matches how well you know the problem.
Fixed price fits when…
Requirements are stable, acceptance criteria are written, and third-party dependencies are known. You want budget predictability for a bounded MVP or a well-specified module.
Expect change control: new ideas become change requests with cost and timeline impact.
T&M fits when…
You are exploring product-market fit, integrating messy legacy systems, or expect weekly priority shifts. You pay for progress and can steer the backlog.
Use caps, milestones, and demos so T&M does not become an open-ended burn.
A hybrid many teams like
Paid discovery (fixed or capped) → fixed or capped build for MVP → T&M for iteration. That sequence protects both sides.
UXCentury will recommend a model during consulting based on your certainty level—not a one-size package.
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