Client Red Flag Bingofor Developers
How many have you heard? Tap each one that sounds familiar.
Today’s board · 25 Oct
What is Client Red Flag Bingo?
Client Red Flag Bingo is a free BrieflyGo game for freelancers: a 5×5 board of the things difficult clients say — “it’ll be great for your portfolio”, “just one more small change”, “we’ll sign the contract later”. Tap the ones you’ve heard, get your score and a shareable card, and see a practical way to protect yourself from each flag. There’s a new board every day, drawn from over 50 client lines. No sign-up, nothing you tap is linked to you.
Glossary: what a “client red flag” is →Client red flags for developers, and what to do
General practices freelancers use — put them in your quote or contract before the project starts.
| Red flag | Practice | How to protect yourself |
|---|---|---|
| It’s just a simple website | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| Like Uber, but for dogs | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| Should only take five minutes, right? | Written scope | Price the deliverable, not their guess at the effort. |
| It’s just one button | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| “That’s a bug” (it’s a feature) | Warranty window | Fix bugs free for a set period. After that — or for new features — a maintenance retainer. |
| Fixes should be free forever, right? | Warranty window | Fix bugs free for a set period. After that — or for new features — a maintenance retainer. |
| Can you just add AI? | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| Can we pay you in equity? | Fixed fee | Cash fee. Equity only under a separate written agreement, with advice. |
| Make it rank #1 on Google | No guaranteed results | You deliver the work, not rankings, virality or conversions. Say so in writing. |
| Wix does this for free | Fixed fee | Your fee stands on its own — no discounts for promised future work, no exposure instead of pay. |
| Here’s the admin password, by text | One approver, set hours | Agree one secure way to share access — never plain text messages. |
| “It’s broken.” (no details) | Warranty window | Send a short bug-report template: steps, expected, actual, screenshot. |
| An app in two weeks? | Rush fee | Anything faster than your standard timeline carries a rush fee, agreed in writing. |
| Just one more small change | Revision limit | Count the rounds. Extras go on a change order. |
| Push it live Friday at 5pm | Rush fee | Anything faster than your standard timeline carries a rush fee, agreed in writing. |
| We’ll sign the contract later | Signed before you start | No signature, no start. |
| 24/7 support, same price | Warranty window | Fix bugs free for a set period. After that — or for new features — a maintenance retainer. |
| Content coming… eventually | Client-delay clause | If feedback or content is late, the deadline moves by the same amount. |
| Lots more work coming later! | Fixed fee | Price this project on its own. |
| Must scale to a billion users | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| NDA before you can even quote | Written scope | A short mutual NDA is fine. No work until there’s a quote. |
| Can you also fix my printer? | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| We pay when we get paid | Payment terms | Your payment doesn’t depend on their customers paying them. |
| Vanishes when the invoice arrives | Milestone billing | Milestones. Final files go out on payment. |
| My cousin started it. Just finish. | Written scope | Quote a paid code review before you promise to finish someone else’s work. |
| Host it forever, for free? | Warranty window | Fix bugs free for a set period. After that — or for new features — a maintenance retainer. |
| Small tweak: whole new design | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| No budget for testing | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| Just clone Airbnb’s site | Asset licensing | The client supplies licensed fonts, photos and music — or pays to license them. |
| Make it work on every browser ever | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| I bought the domain, so 80% done | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| Need it ASAP. Like, yesterday. | Rush fee | Rush fee, in writing, before you start. |
| Won’t name any budget | Tiered packages | Ask for a range, then send tiered options. |
| I’ll know it when I see it | Written scope | Get the brief signed off, with approval checkpoints. |
| Ghosts for weeks, then “URGENT” | Client-delay clause | A client-delay clause moves the deadline; keeping the old one costs a rush fee. |
| Changes the brief after approval | Change order | The approved brief is locked; changes go on a change order. |
| “That’s not what I asked for” | Written scope | Keep approvals in writing and quote them back. |
| “Quick call?” — every day | One approver, set hours | Your package includes a set number of calls; extra calls are billed. |
| My last freelancer was terrible | Written scope | Ask what went wrong, then tighten the scope. |
| Net-90 payment terms | Payment terms | Negotiate net-15 or net-30, or build the wait into the price. |
| Unlimited revisions included, right? | Revision limit | Strike “unlimited” and set a number of rounds. |
| Can it be like ChatGPT, but ours? | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| The old dev has the passwords | Written scope | Recovering access is setup work — quote it before you start. |
| Just make it faster | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| Can you also manage our servers? | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| Add a blockchain | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| Can it work offline too? | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| Our intern will maintain it | Warranty window | Handover docs and training are a priced line item. |
| Can you fix it remotely? Now? | Rush fee | Anything faster than your standard timeline carries a rush fee, agreed in writing. |
| It worked yesterday | Warranty window | Fix bugs free for a set period. After that — or for new features — a maintenance retainer. |
| Sign our NDA and non-compete? | Signed before you start | Read the non-compete closely — it can block your other clients. |
Already signed with a red-flag client?
Check what your contract says about payment, revisions and rights — free, in about a minute.
Questions
What is a client red flag?
A sign early in a project that a client may cause trouble later: refusing a contract, pushing for free samples, haggling before you’ve quoted, vague briefs, or “we pay when we get paid”. One flag isn’t a verdict, but several together usually mean scope creep or late payment ahead.
How do I protect myself from difficult clients?
Most red flags are handled by a few habits put in writing: a clear scope, a set number of revision rounds, a deposit before you start, payment terms with a late fee, change orders for new requests, and rights that transfer only on full payment. Each square on the board links its own tip.
Is Client Red Flag Bingo free? Do I need an account?
Yes, it’s free and there’s no sign-up. Your board is kept in the link itself — there’s no account to tie it to. We only keep anonymous usage stats, like how often each square is tapped.
Which boards are there?
A general board for every freelancer, plus boards for designers, developers, writers and copywriters, and photographers and videographers. Each one has 24 squares and a free centre square.
Does the board change?
Yes. Every board draws its 24 squares from a larger pool of client lines, and there’s a new board every day — the same for everyone, so you can compare scores with friends. “New board” deals fresh lines from the same edition, and each edition (Agency, Cheap Client, Payment Nightmare, Worst of 2026 and the profession boards) has its own set. The classics show up on most boards.
How do I challenge a friend?
Finish a board and press “Challenge a freelancer”. Your friend gets the exact same board, sees your score, and when they finish, both scores appear side by side.
Is this legal advice?
No. The tips are general business practices freelancers use. For a contract with real money at stake, have it checked — you can run a free risk check on BrieflyGo or talk to a lawyer.
Just for fun. Tips are general business practices, not legal advice — for a contract with real money at stake, get it reviewed. Last updated .