New freelancers often underestimate how long projects take. If you quote $1,000 fixed for work you think takes 10 hours at $100/hour, but it actually takes 20, you've just cut your rate in half. Hourly pricing protects you when scope creeps.
If you're new, you genuinely don't know how long projects take. So quoting a fixed price without experience, that can backfire, and fast. Let's say you charge $100 per hour. You quote $1,000 for a project you think will take 10 hours, but it ends up taking 20. Suddenly, you just worked for $50 an hour instead of $100. You need a model flexible enough to protect you from these miscalculations. That's where hourly pricing comes in.
