The short answer
A web design contract should cover scope, revisions, timeline, payment, who owns the work, third-party licenses, who checks the facts, domains and hosting, liability, and how either side can end it. Use this checklist as a starting point, and have a lawyer in your state review it. This isn't legal advice.
Read this first
We build software and we aren't your lawyers. This guide explains what contracts for web work usually cover, with sample wording you can treat as a web design contract template to adapt with a lawyer's help. Law varies by state and country, and a clause that's fine in one place can fail in another. An hour of a lawyer's time on your standard agreement is cheap beside one dispute.
"Designer" below means you, and "Client" means the business hiring you.
The checklist
- Who the parties are, with legal names and addresses
- What you'll build, and what's left out
- How many rounds of changes, and what more costs
- Dates, and what happens when the client is late
- Price, deposit, due dates and late fees
- Who owns the finished work, and when
- Stock photos, fonts and anything else licensed
- Who's responsible for the facts on the site
- Who holds the domain and pays for hosting
- What you don't promise, and the limit on liability
- Accessibility, privacy and other legal duties
- How either side ends it, and what's handed over
- Monthly plan terms, if you sell one
- Contractor status, confidentiality and governing law
- Signatures
Scope and what's left out
Most disputes start here. List the pages and features in a schedule at the end, so the contract stays the same from job to job.
Designer will build the website described in Schedule A (the "Site"). Anything not listed in Schedule A is outside this agreement and will be quoted separately before work starts.
Schedule A should count things: five pages, one contact form, connecting one domain. Your proposal can serve as Schedule A if it's specific enough.
Revisions and changes
"Unlimited changes" is how a two-week job takes three months. Define a round, and say what happens after the last one.
The fee includes two rounds of changes. A round is one combined list of changes, sent in writing. Further rounds, and changes after approval, are billed at $[rate] an hour, quoted before work starts.
Timeline and client delays
Your dates depend on theirs. Make that explicit, and give yourself a way to close a project that has gone quiet.
Designer will deliver a first draft within [number] business days after receiving the deposit and the materials in Schedule B. If Client takes longer than [number] business days to respond, the dates move by the same amount. If Client doesn't respond for [number] days, Designer may close the project and invoice for work done.
Payment and late fees
Check your state's limits on interest before you use a figure.
Client will pay [50]% of the fee before work starts and the balance before the Site goes live. The deposit is non-refundable once work has started. Invoices are due within [14] days. Late amounts carry interest at [rate]% a month, or the highest rate the law allows if that's lower. If an invoice is more than [30] days late, Designer may pause work after written notice.
Taking payment before launch is your best protection, because a site that's already live is harder to get paid for. Also check whether you owe sales tax. Washington, for example, began taxing custom website development in 2025.
Who owns the work
Many clients assume they own what they paid for. In US copyright law, that doesn't happen by itself.
The Copyright Office's guide to works made for hire explains that a commissioned work only counts as made for hire if it falls into one of nine listed categories and both sides agree in a signed document. A website doesn't fit neatly into that list, so "work for hire" wording alone may not do what you think. A transfer of copyright has to be in writing and signed by the owner. So if the client is to own the work, use an assignment.
When Client has paid all fees in full, Designer assigns to Client all copyright Designer holds in the final Site, except Designer's tools, templates, code libraries and third-party materials. Designer grants Client a perpetual license to use those excepted items as part of the Site.
If you'd rather keep ownership and license the site, that's allowed too. Just say so, and say what the license covers.
If AI helped write it
The Copyright Office's 2025 report on AI concludes that purely AI-generated material isn't protected and that prompts alone don't make you the author. What you wrote or meaningfully shaped by hand is still protected. So you may have less to assign than a client assumes, and you shouldn't promise more than you hold.
Parts of the Site may be drafted with AI tools and reviewed by Designer. Designer makes no promise that those parts are protected by copyright.
If it runs on a hosted builder
A client can't own the platform a site runs on. Say what they get if they leave, and check the builder's terms before you promise anything.
The Site runs on [platform] under that company's terms. On cancellation, Designer will provide [the site's files, an export or a copy of its content].
Portfolio rights
Designer may show the Site in its portfolio and say it built it, unless Client objects in writing.
Stock photos, fonts and licenses
You can't pass on rights you don't have. Stock photos, fonts and plugins each come with their own terms.
Stock photos, fonts and other third-party materials remain under their own licenses. Designer will list them on request. Client is responsible for keeping any license that needs renewing.
Who checks the facts
This matters more now that AI drafts so much copy. AI can get a price, an opening time or a claim wrong, and the client is the only one who knows the truth.
Client is responsible for the accuracy of everything on the Site, including prices, hours, license numbers and claims. Client will read each draft before approving it. Designer won't publish a review or testimonial unless Client confirms it's genuine.
The FTC's rule on fake reviews makes this more than good manners, since it covers reviews from people who don't exist or never used the business. Shingle is built not to invent, with a separate review that removes lines the facts don't support. The client still checks what's published, so keep the clause even there.
Domain, hosting and access
The kindest thing you can do is make sure the client owns their own address. Holding a domain hostage over a bill is how web designers get bad names.
Client owns the domain and holds the account where it's registered. Designer will need access only to add the records the Site requires. Designer won't hold the domain as security for payment. Hosting is [included in the monthly plan or billed separately as described in Schedule C].
What you don't promise
Say this one in writing. Then say it on the phone too.
Designer doesn't promise any search ranking, traffic, number of leads or revenue.
Limit on liability
Without a limit, a small job can carry a big risk. A common approach is a cap at the fees paid, though what's enforceable varies, so this is one to run past your lawyer.
Except for fraud and anything else the law doesn't allow to be limited, each party's total liability under this agreement is limited to the fees paid in the [12] months before the claim. Neither party is liable for lost profits or other indirect losses.
Many freelancers add a short warranty, which gives clients comfort at little cost.
Designer will fix defects reported within [30] days of launch at no charge.
Accessibility, privacy and sector rules
Say what you'll do, and who stays responsible. The Justice Department's guidance says the ADA's requirements reach what businesses open to the public offer on the web, and it leaves them flexibility in how they comply.
Designer will follow common accessibility practices during the build. Client remains responsible for its own legal duties, including accessibility, privacy notices, cookie rules and any rules for its profession.
Regulated trades deserve a second look. Dentists, therapists, lawyers and financial advisors can each have rules about what a site may say or collect.
Ending it
Life happens, and a contract should say what a clean exit looks like. A kill fee is what the client pays if they stop partway, so you aren't left carrying the work.
Either party may end this agreement with [14] days' written notice. Client will pay for work done up to that date, and the deposit is kept against it. On full payment, Designer will hand over the items listed in Schedule C.
Monthly plans
If you sell hosting and changes each month, put the plan in its own short section, because it'll outlast the build. Define a small change, cap the hours and say what happens on the way out.
The monthly plan renews each month until either party gives 30 days' written notice. It includes up to [number] hours of small changes a month, which don't roll over. If Client cancels, Designer will [hand over or export the Site] within [10] business days, and may then take the Site down.
If you sell a site on a subscription with no setup fee, add a minimum term, or you can lose money on an early cancellation.
The clauses that seem dull
They're short, and they save arguments.
Independent contractor. Designer is an independent contractor and not Client's employee.
Confidentiality. Each party will keep the other's private information private.
Governing law. This agreement is governed by the laws of [state]. Disputes will be handled in [county, state].
Entire agreement. This document and its schedules are the entire agreement. Changes must be in writing.
Signing online is fine for most contracts like this. Under the federal E-SIGN Act, a contract can't be denied effect just because it's electronic.
What goes wrong
- No contract because it's a small job or a friend. That's when memories differ most. One page is enough.
- Copying a template you don't understand. If you can't explain a clause to a plumber, rewrite it or ask your lawyer.
- Promising full ownership of everything. Licensed photos, your own templates and AI-written text may not be yours to give.
- Starting before it's signed. Excitement fades, and so does your chance of settling the terms calmly. Get the signature and the deposit first.
- Never updating it. Each dispute should change your template, so the same one doesn't happen twice.
When the contract is ready, send it with your proposal, so saying yes takes one step. Again, this guide is general information and isn't legal advice.
