A software development contract for a freelance developer or a small studio is the accepted proposal made precise: what is being built, counted in screens, integrations and roles; how a change to that scope is priced; the milestones the client pays at; what acceptance means; and who owns the code when. A website development contract is the same document at a smaller scale. Both fail when acceptance is undefined and scope changes arrive as favors. The proposal and contract template tool on this site works the deposit, milestone and cancellation schedule from your own figures, free and without an account.
Scope in countable units
The software proposal counted screens, integrations, migrations and user roles; the software development contract restates the count. A change request then lands in a line that has a price, the hours-and-rate arithmetic the proposal used, rather than in an argument about what was meant.
Milestones and acceptance
Development is paid in stages against things the client can see: the deposit, the design or specification milestone, the build milestone, the balance at acceptance. The contract defines acceptance as the agreed tests passing in the agreed environment within a stated number of days of delivery, after which the deliverable is accepted whether or not the client has looked at it.
Change control and the care after launch
Every website development contract needs a change clause: how a change is requested, how it is priced, and that it moves the schedule. It also states what happens after launch, the warranty period for defects and the care plan, priced separately, for everything else.
Ownership and payment
Who owns the code and when, usually the client on final payment with the studio keeping its own libraries and the right to show the work. Under New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act a hiring party must pay a freelance worker by the date in the contract or, if it names none, within 30 days of the work being done; a contract that names the date is the one that protects you. Proposal suites charge per seat: from the vendor's own pricing page, Proposify Basic is $29 per user per month and Team is $49 per user per month on monthly billing. Scopedly Pro is $29 per month for the whole studio, and every tool on this site works free with no account.
Questions people ask about software development contract
What should a software development contract include?
The counted scope, change control, milestones and acceptance criteria, the warranty and care terms, ownership of the code on final payment, and how either side ends the engagement.
Is a website development contract different?
Smaller, not different: the same counted scope, milestones, acceptance and ownership clauses, usually with fewer integrations and a shorter warranty.
Can the tools on this site write the contract?
They work the money terms, the deposit, milestones and cancellation schedule, from your figures and print them. The wording of the legal clauses is yours or your lawyer's; this site publishes no legal advice.