A contract clause checker for freelancers: paste a client contract and instantly see the clauses that hurt you — an IP grab, a non compete clause, unlimited revisions — with the exact counter-language to push back. No lawyer, no signup.
An example of the free check's output, so you know what to expect — paste your own contract above to see your real results.
This clause opens the door to endless back-and-forth without additional pay. It can turn a fixed-fee project into an hourly drain on your time and erode your effective rate.
Revisions shall be limited to two (2) rounds included in the project fee. Additional revisions beyond this limit shall be billed at the hourly rate of $XXX/hour.
You are being asked to surrender every right to your own creative work. This means you cannot reuse code, designs, or copy in your portfolio or for future clients.
Contractor retains ownership of all pre-existing materials and general methodologies. Client receives a perpetual, non-exclusive license to use the final deliverables for the stated purpose. Contractor may use anonymized excerpts in their portfolio.
Your liability is capped while the client faces no comparable limit — or worse, you are made solely responsible for all damages. A single mistake could wipe out months of earnings.
Each party's liability shall be limited to the total amount paid or payable under this agreement. Neither party shall be liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages.
FairClause runs your contract text against a library of clause patterns built from real freelance agreements — the free check covers 12 of them, Pro adds 28 more plus a missing-protection audit. They fall into a handful of families.
Anything that decides when, how much, and how reliably you get paid: unlimited revisions with no cap on the free rework, Net 60+ payment terms that starve your cash flow, pay-when-paid clauses that tie your invoice to a client's own customer paying them, payment due only on vague “acceptance,” unpaid trial or spec work, expenses you're expected to absorb yourself, and set-off clauses that let a client withhold money over any claimed dispute.
Who actually owns what you build. This covers work-for-hire and all-rights-assigned language, IP that transfers to the client on delivery instead of on payment — so a non-paying client still legally owns your work — moral-rights waivers, pre-existing “background” IP quietly folded into the assignment, and portfolio bans that stop you from ever showing the work you did.
Clauses that shift financial and legal risk onto you: liability caps that only protect the client, unlimited liability with no ceiling at all, one-way indemnification that makes you cover the client's legal costs, liquidated-damages penalties that can dwarf the project fee, oversized insurance requirements, and absolute warranties that make you the insurer of the impossible.
Non-compete and exclusivity clauses that can block you from earning a living elsewhere, non-solicitation terms broad enough to catch referrals, non-disparagement clauses that silence honest reviews, and confidentiality definitions so wide that everything — even public information — counts as secret.
What happens when the relationship ends: termination without any compensation for work already done, contracts that auto-renew on old terms unless you catch the notice window, and immediate-termination language with no chance to fix a minor breach first.
The fine print that decides how a dispute actually plays out: one-way attorney-fee shifting, mandatory binding arbitration, venue clauses that force you into the client's home court, unilateral rights to amend the agreement after you've signed it, and one-way assignment rights that let a client sell your contract to a stranger.
Some of the riskiest contracts don't contain a bad clause — they simply leave out a good one. Pro also checks for what's absent: no upfront deposit, no late-payment interest, no kill fee, no revision cap, no acceptance deadline, no portfolio right, and no liability cap for you. Silence on any of these defaults against you.
The free check and the Pro check both run as JavaScript on your own device. Your contract text is never uploaded to a server, never stored in a database, and never transmitted anywhere — the analysis happens locally, in the tab you're reading this in. You could disconnect from the internet after the page loads and the free check would still work.
The only network calls FairClause makes are to verify a Pro license key against Gumroad and, once, to fetch the extra Pro rule pack after activation — neither call ever sends your contract text. Reading the text you paste or upload, matching it against the clause library, scoring the contract, and drafting the counter-language all happen entirely client-side, every time.
Most freelancers only need to run a contract through FairClause once or twice a year — that's why Pro is a one-time unlock, not a subscription.
The ones that cost freelancers money: IP assignment before payment, a non compete clause, unlimited revisions, pay-when-paid, one-sided indemnity, unilateral termination and vague scope. The free contract clause checker names each one, shows the sentence that triggered it, and drafts the counter-language.
No. The whole analysis runs as JavaScript on your own device — nothing is uploaded, stored or transmitted. You can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it still works.
No. FairClause is automated pattern analysis and drafting help, not a law firm. For anything binding, or anything you are about to litigate, talk to a licensed lawyer in your jurisdiction.
Pro is a one-time $19 unlock that adds the deeper checks — pay-when-paid, IP transfer before payment, auto-renewal traps, jurisdiction and liability caps — plus the full counter-language library and an exportable report.
Not directly. Open the PDF, select the contract text, copy it and paste it in. Keeping it to pasted text is what lets the tool run entirely in your browser.
Rarely, in practice. Most of the flagged clauses are boilerplate the client never read either, and the drafted emails keep a collaborative tone. How to negotiate a freelance contract walks through the wording.
Yes. The free check — 12 clause patterns, the exact snippet that triggered each one, and counter-language for every flag — costs nothing and always will. Pro is an optional one-time $19 unlock for the deeper checks; there is no subscription and no limit on how many contracts you can run through the free tier.
Yes, with one caveat: FairClause flags patterns that are worth negotiating wherever you are — pay-when-paid, IP-before-payment, unlimited revisions — but which clauses are actually enforceable varies by country and state. Treat every flag as something worth raising, and confirm enforceability with a local lawyer for anything you plan to rely on.
How to negotiate a freelance contract — what to say, with the counter-emails.
Contract red flags — every clause FairClause flags, explained.