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Free estimate template you can fill in and send today (no signup)

A client has asked "roughly what would this cost?" and you need to answer with something better than a number in an email. This page gives you the fields an estimate needs, a fill-in version you can copy into any document, the three sentences of wording that stop an estimate turning into a dispute, and a two-minute way to produce a PDF without creating an account.

What an estimate is (and is not)

An estimate is your best-informed guess at the price of a job before you do it. It is a planning document for the client and a scope document for you. It is not a bill, and in most places it is not a fixed offer: if the work turns out to be bigger than described, the final invoice can be higher, provided you said so and told the client before the cost moved. UK consumer guidance draws the line plainly: an estimate is a rough price that can change, while a quote is a fixed price that cannot once accepted (Citizens Advice, quotes and estimates). Most other jurisdictions treat the two words the same way in practice, so use the word that matches what you mean. If you are not sure which to send, invoice vs estimate vs quote walks through it.

The 10 fields every estimate needs

These are the fields a client, or their bookkeeper, will look for. Leave one out and you will get an email asking for it, which costs you a day.

Notice what is missing: payment details and a due date. Those belong on the invoice. Putting bank details on an estimate invites the occasional client to pay it as if it were a bill, and then you have money against a document that never fixed the price.

The fill-in template

Copy this into a document, a plain-text email, or the notes of whatever you already use. Square brackets are the bits you replace. The sample figures are only there to show the layout.

ESTIMATE                                       No. EST-1017
                                               Date: 11 Sep 2026
                                               Valid until: 2 Oct 2026

From: [Your name / trading name]               To: [Client name]
      [Address]                                    [Client company]
      [Email] · [Phone]                            [Client address]
      [Tax / VAT number if registered]             Attn: [Contact]

Description                             Qty      Rate        Amount
--------------------------------------------------------------------
[Part of the work, e.g. Homepage design] 1     $[1,800.00] $[1,800.00]
[Part of the work, e.g. Inner pages]     3       $[450.00] $[1,350.00]
[Part of the work, e.g. Build & launch]  1     $[1,500.00] $[1,500.00]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Subtotal      $[4,650.00]
                                              Tax ([0]%)        $[0.00]
                                              ESTIMATED TOTAL $[4,650.00]

This is an estimate, not a fixed quote. The final invoice will reflect the
work actually done. If anything in the assumptions below changes, I will
tell you before the cost changes.

Assumptions and exclusions:
- [You supply final text and images by the start date]
- [Two rounds of revisions included; further rounds at $[150] each]
- [Hosting, domain and stock photography are not included]

To accept: reply "approved" to this email, or sign and date below.
Accepted by: ____________________   Date: ____________

The three-sentence paragraph after the total is the part most templates leave out. It is the difference between an estimate that protects you and one that reads like a quote.

Wording you will actually need

Validity

"This estimate is valid until [date]. After that date, please ask for an updated estimate before accepting." Two to four weeks is normal. Shorter if your material costs move; longer if the client's approval process is slow, but never open-ended.

What can change the number

"The estimated total assumes the scope described above. If the scope changes, or if [the specific thing you cannot control] turns out to be different from what we discussed, I will send a revised estimate before doing any additional work." Name the actual risk: the number of pages, the condition of the existing code, the size of the room, the quality of the source files. A vague "subject to change" clause protects nobody.

Deposit

"On acceptance, a deposit invoice for [30 to 50] percent of the estimated total will be issued. Work starts when the deposit is received. The balance is invoiced on completion." The estimate proposes; the invoice collects.

How to send it today

1. Send a PDF, not an editable file. A Word or Google document can be changed after it leaves you. A PDF is the version you both refer to later.
2. Subject line the client can find again: "Estimate EST-1017: [job name] for [client company]".
3. Three lines of email, no more. Thank them for the conversation, say the estimate is attached and valid until the date, tell them how to accept. End with one question ("does the start date still work for you?") because a question gets a reply and an attachment on its own gets filed.
4. Follow up once, three business days later, if you have heard nothing. A single line asking whether they have any questions. Most silence is a busy week, not a no.

When the client says yes

Save their acceptance (the email reply or the signed page) with the estimate. Then issue the deposit invoice if you agreed one, citing the estimate number. When the work is done, the final invoice should reuse the same line items and descriptions, so the client can lay the two documents side by side and see they match. Change only what has to change: an invoice number from your invoice sequence rather than the estimate sequence, a due date instead of a valid-until date, and your payment details. UK guidance lists a unique number, the supply date and the amounts among the elements an invoice must carry (GOV.UK, Invoicing and taking payment from customers); an estimate that was built with the same fields makes that a two-minute job. The full invoice checklist is in how to write an invoice that gets paid.

Four estimate mistakes that cost real money

• No expiry date. A client returns eight months later expecting last year's rate. Without a valid-until date you are arguing from memory.
• One line, one number. "Website: $4,650." The client cannot see what they are buying, cannot trim it, and will compare it against a competitor's itemised version that looks like better value even when it is not.
• Exclusions in your head, not on the page. If stock photos, travel, hosting, printing or a third round of revisions are extra, the estimate has to say so before the job, not the invoice after it.
• Reusing the estimate number on the invoice. Two documents with the same number and different totals is how bookkeepers lose track. Separate sequences: EST- and INV-. The freelancer invoicing guide covers numbering schemes that scale.

Frequently asked questions