Never blow a retainer budget again.
Retainer Burn logs every hour against each client's monthly budget, shows a live burn gauge, and alerts you at 70% and 90% — so scope creep never costs you a free week of work.
Free while in beta · No credit card · 2-minute setup
This month's burn
June 2026 · 5 active retainers
Northwind just crossed 70% of this month's retainer.
Trusted by 1,200+ independent freelancers and studios
Everything you need to protect your hours
No timesheets to wrestle, no enterprise dashboard to configure. Just the one number that matters — how much of each retainer is left.
Live burn gauge
See used vs. remaining hours per client at a glance — color-coded green, amber, and red so risk is obvious.
One-click time tracking
Start a timer or log time manually. Minutes roll up against this month's budget the instant you stop.
70% & 90% alerts
Get a heads-up the moment a client crosses each threshold — fired once per month, never spammy.
Per-client retainers
Set a monthly hour budget per client. It resets automatically at the start of each month.
Timezone-aware
Budgets reset on your calendar month in your timezone — no off-by-one-day surprises.
Private by default
Row-level security keeps every client, entry, and alert visible only to you. Always.
Set up in two minutes
Three steps between you and never working an unpaid hour again.
Add your clients & budgets
Create a client and set their monthly retainer in hours. That's the whole setup.
Log time as you work
Hit the timer or punch in minutes manually. Every entry counts against this month.
Relax — we'll warn you
Watch the gauge fill and get alerted at 70% and 90%, long before you overrun.
Freelancers stopped working for free
“I used to find out I'd blown a retainer when I invoiced. Now I get pinged at 70% and actually have the scope-creep conversation in time.”
“Switched from a bloated all-in-one. Retainer Burn does the one thing I needed and my hours stopped leaking.”
“Two-person studio, five retainers. The dashboard is the first tab I open every morning.”
Simple, honest pricing
One plan. Unlimited clients. Free while we're in beta.
Solo & Studio
then $12/mo · cancel anytime
- Unlimited clients & retainers
- One-click timer + manual entries
- Live burn gauges & dashboard
- 70% and 90% overrun alerts
- Timezone-aware monthly resets
- Private, row-level-secured data
Stop billing yourself for the overruns.
Set up your first client in two minutes and see exactly where every retainer stands.