The Risk Freelancers Take When Contracts Are Weak

[kevin1]

Payment disputes in freelancing rarely come out of nowhere. They’re often rooted in vague agreements, shifting expectations, and scope creep that turns “one small change” into unpaid labor. Many developers accept these risks early in their careers, assuming professionalism will prevail — until it doesn’t.

Seasoned freelancers now respond with stricter defenses: upfront deposits, milestone billing, escrow platforms, and detailed scopes of work. The lesson from cases like this isn’t that public confrontation is the answer, but that prevention matters more than recovery. In a market where code is easy to ship and payment is easy to delay, structure is the real protection.

[ed]

this is why deposits and milestones arent being difficult, they’re self defense