Website deposits explained: how much to pay, what it should cover

Every freelance web designer worth hiring will ask for a deposit before they start. The question isn't whether to pay one — it's how much, what it covers, and how to make sure you're protected if things go sideways.

This post walks through the numbers you should expect, what a fair deposit agreement looks like, and the warning signs that a deposit is really a "down payment on a project that may never ship".

The standard: 50% upfront, 50% on completion

For most small business websites (around R20,000 – R300,000 in the South African market), the industry-standard split is 50% to start, 50% when it's done. Some designers do 33/33/33 (start, midpoint, completion) on bigger projects. Some ask for the full amount upfront for very small jobs.

What you generally should not see:

• 100% upfront on a R200,000 project from someone you've never worked with.
• A first payment of more than 70% on anything but the smallest jobs.
• "Refundable up to X date" deposits where X is the day after you sign.

A 50% deposit roughly aligns the designer's risk (committing time) with yours (committing money). Neither party can walk away without losing something.

What the deposit should buy you

The deposit isn't just "to start". It should buy you specific, tangible things:

• A locked scope. Once you've paid, the scope of the project is fixed in writing. Out-of-scope requests become "change orders" with their own price tags. This protects both sides.
• A start date. The designer commits to a calendar slot. Your project is on their schedule, not floating.
• A first deliverable. Either a homepage draft, wireframes, or a content questionnaire — something concrete arrives within a defined timeframe (usually 5–10 business days).
• A refund policy. If the designer never starts, or starts and disappears, you should have a written path to getting some of your money back.

If your designer's proposal doesn't cover all four, ask.

The balance: what triggers the final payment

The balance shouldn't be due "when the project is done" with no further definition. That phrase is where projects die.

Better triggers:

• On approval of the staging site. You log in, look at it, and click "approve". Once you do, the balance is due and the designer hands over the files / pushes to your domain.
• On handover of files / hosting access. Some designers won't transfer login credentials or codebase access until the balance is paid. That's fair.
• On a specific calendar date if you've gone quiet. Designers sometimes include a clause: "if no feedback for 30 days, balance becomes due". This protects them from infinite-delay projects.

In practice, approval-triggered is the cleanest. You see the result. You approve. You pay. The designer hands over.

Holding deposits vs. taking them

There's a small but meaningful distinction between a deposit that's billed and collected (the designer has the money) and one that's authorised but held (the money is reserved on your card but not yet captured).

For most projects, the deposit is collected upfront — that's how the designer keeps the lights on while working for two weeks. But on larger projects, some platforms support holding a deposit in escrow until a milestone is hit. If you're nervous about a designer you don't know, escrow is worth asking about.

Monthly retainers and what they replace

A lot of designers now offer monthly maintenance subscriptions instead of (or alongside) one-off projects. The pitch: pay £100–£500/month, get a defined number of small changes per month, hosting and updates included.

A retainer is not a deposit. It's a continuous service. The two can coexist: pay a deposit to build the site, then convert to a monthly retainer for upkeep once it's live. That model lines up everyone's incentives — the designer wants you to stay happy because their monthly income depends on it.

Red flags

Walk away if:

• The deposit is requested by bank transfer to a personal account, with no invoice.
• The "contract" is a paragraph in an email.
• There's no written scope, just "a website".
• The designer won't say when the first deliverable lands.
• The refund terms are missing or extremely one-sided.

Stripe Checkout, an invoice, a written scope, and a clear "what happens next" — these are the non-negotiables.

A reasonable deposit conversation

If you're not sure, here's a script:

"Happy to pay the deposit. Can you confirm in writing: (1) the scope this covers, (2) what I'll receive first and by when, (3) what triggers the balance, (4) what happens if either of us walks away?"

Any designer worth working with will have answers ready. If yours doesn't — that, more than the deposit amount itself, is the signal.