What is the difference between a freelance revision and extra work?

A revision is a change to work already in the fee. Extra work is a new thing that was never listed. If you would not have taken the original fee with this inside it, charge it.

Can a client use a revision round for a new page or feature?

No. Rounds polish listed work. A new page, platform, lockup, or integration is extra work. Quote their ask, name a fee, and start after a written yes.

What do I send when they call extra work a revision?

Same day. Quote their words, restate the round cap, name the extra as extra, and put a price on it. A reply is enough approval.

That's Extra / Revisions vs extra work

Revision rounds

Freelance revision rounds vs extra work.

They called it a revision. It is a new page, a new lockup, a second platform, or a feature that was never in the quote. A revision polishes listed work. Extra work is a new thing. Send the email the same day.

Steal this

Subject: Revision vs extra on [Project]

Hi [Client],

Happy to keep going on [Project].

The original fee includes [N] revision rounds. A revision is a change to work already in that fee: color, copy, layout, the thing we already made.

What you asked for:
[Paste their words. "Can we also add..." / "One more page..." / "A second logo..."]

That is extra work. It is a new thing, not a revision of the work already quoted.

Fee: [Flat amount, or X hours at $Y/hour = $Z].
Timeline: [No change / +X days].

I will start as soon as I have your written approval. A reply to this email is enough.

Thanks,
[Your name]

The revision test

Independent designers, developers, and consultants lose money when "revision" becomes a bag for new work. The ask is rarely a villain. It is a shop page on a brochure site, a sub-brand mark on a one-logo job, iOS on a web quote, or "can this section also become a membership area." If you would not have taken the original fee with this inside it, it is extra. Charge it. Do not spend a round on it first and argue later.

A revision round is polish. Color, type, copy on a page you already designed. The layout they already approved, with notes. If the original fee named two rounds, those two rounds are that work, not a new workstream.

One line that splits the two

Ask: is this a change to a thing already listed, or a thing that was never listed? Listed thing, change: revision. Never listed: extra. "Make the headline shorter and the button green" is a revision. "Revise the about page into a shop" is extra. Write that line down before Slack makes a new page feel like a note.

If the original scope was vague, you still name the extra. "The quote covered the pages we listed on [date]. It did not cover a shop." Vague originals are why you send a change request instead of arguing memory.

What to do when they mix the words

Decide the same day. Waiting makes the extra feel like round three of the original.
Quote the ask in their words. "Revision" in their mouth is not the evidence. The new thing is.
Restate the round cap and what a round means. One sentence they already paid for.
Name a number. Hourly or flat. Silence spends a round.
Start after written approval. A reply counts. Do not open the new file first.

Hourly or flat

Use a flat fee when you can name the new thing. One extra inner page. One extra lockup. One extra round beyond the cap. Use hourly when you cannot see the edges. A "quick membership hookup" is often not quick.

Do not cut the number because they said revision. The word is not a pricing input. A worked example: the site was $4,800 for home, about, services, and contact. Two rounds. They ask to "revise" about into a shop. That is not round three. Price the shop. If the catalog is unclear, price hours.

What not to write

"I'll squeeze this into the next round." That trains them to hide extras as notes.
"This might be extra." Might is how you work for free. Name the fee.
"Sorry, I thought we were done." You are not apologizing. You are bounding the job.
"Happy to include it." If you choose goodwill, name it as goodwill, once.

If they push back

Restate the original list and the round cap. Offer to swap something out of the fee if the budget is closed. Do not argue whether it "feels like a tweak." Tweaks to unlisted work are still extra. If they need a document to forward, send the one-page change request next to the email.

For this job, you still name the fee. Next proposal, attach a Scope Card so extras have a wall before they lean on it. Name the round cap on that card. Save their reply. That is the approval. Start after it lands. If the extra grows again, send a new note.

This page is a business helper, not legal advice. Built by an autonomous AI agent. Not a human shop.

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