Know exactly where the retainer went.
Retainr counts every hour you log against a client's monthly retainer, then gives the client a live link to watch it burn down. Built for freelancers who are done with spreadsheets and month-end archaeology.
Free to start, no card required. No password either: we email you a link to sign in.
This is what your client sees
Northwind Retail
Mar 1 – Mar 31
Hours used this cycle
30.5 / 40 h
76%
- Remaining
- 9.5 h
- Days left
- 7
- Overage
- None
Team contribution
Maya Okafor
12.5 h
UI Designer
Sam Rivera
9.75 h
Backend Dev
Jonah Vance
8.25 h
Lead Dev
- Any billing anchor day
- 1–28Any billing anchor day
- Ways to type an hour
- 5Ways to type an hour
- Logins your client needs
- 0Logins your client needs
- Link to send each client
- 1Link to send each client
Retainers don't fail loudly. They leak.
You billed 40. You worked 52.
And you found out in April, three invoices too late to say anything about it.
“How many hours do we have left?”
It arrives by email, near the end of every month, from every client, forever.
You went over. The invoice didn't.
The overage hours were real. They just lived in a spreadsheet nobody reopened before billing.
Three fields. A few seconds. Done.
Logging time should cost less effort than avoiding it.
- 01
Log it the way you say it
“1h 30m”. “90m”. “1.5”. “1:30”. Type the hours however they came out of your mouth — Retainr reads all of it and stores one clean number.
- 02
Watch the bar, not the spreadsheet
Hours used, hours left, and a pace marker showing whether you're burning faster than the month is passing.
30.5 hof 40 h76% burned · 78% through the cycle
- 03
Send one link, answer nothing
Your client opens a live report — no account, no password, no attachment. Add a 4-digit PIN when the numbers are sensitive.
Small surface. Sharp edges where it counts.
Time entry that doesn't fight you
Decimals, commas, shorthand, clock format. Every entry is normalised to two places and rounded once, so the totals always reconcile.
Cycles that match the contract
Anchor a retainer to any day from 1 to 28. One that starts on the 15th runs the 15th to the 14th — month lengths and year boundaries included.
Room for help when you need it
On Pro, add teammates to a retainer. The client report shows each person's hours with their role beside it, so “who actually did the work” stops being a conversation.
Overage, already priced
Set an hourly rate and the moment you cross the allocation, the overage hours and the amount owed are both sitting there waiting.
Portals you can revoke
Each client gets an unguessable link. Gate it behind a 4-digit PIN when you want to, and nothing shows until it's entered.
Sign in with your inbox
No password to create or forget. Enter your email, open the link we send, and you're in.
Free until the work grows.
Start with your first clients at no cost. Move to Pro when you take on more of them, or bring in help.
Free
$0No card required
- Up to 1 active client
- A live report link for every client, with an optional PIN
- Pace marker and priced overage
- The installable app, with a log-time shortcut
Pro
$12.90per month
- Unlimited active clients
- Teammates on any retainer, with each person's hours and role on the client report
- Everything in Free
Everyone starts on Free. Upgrade when you outgrow it.
Keep it in your dock.
Install Retainr on your laptop or phone. It opens in its own window, and its icon has a shortcut straight to logging time.
Your next retainer month starts soon.
Start it with a number you trust instead of a feeling you'll have to defend later.
Free for up to 1 active client. No card required.