Billing & payment

On Lemon.io’s vetted engineer marketplace, billing runs through pre-paid monthly or weekly subscriptions, processed securely via Stripe — ACH direct debit or credit card.

Typical hourly rates range from $60 to $90/hr, depending on the tech stack, seniority, and scope. All work is billed by the hour; fixed-price projects are not offered.

Developer engagement types

Developers provided by Lemon.io work as independent contractors. Engagements are ongoing — the same developer can continue on a new project after the first one ends.

Full-time	40 hours/week
Part-time	20 hours/week
Short-term	From 160 hours (1 position)
Long-term	Average 8–9 months, often multi-year

Developer subscriptions types

Two payment cycles are available:

• Monthly, charged on the first Tuesday of each month based on hours reported.

• Weekly, charged every Tuesday based on hours reported the previous week.

A prepayment for one billing cycle is collected at the start of the cycle.

Subscription management on Lemon.io, client’s side

Billing page on Lemon.io, client’s side.

How are subscriptions charged?

Subscriptions are prepaid, based on an upfront estimate agreed between a client and a developer (the first week) and then on the developer’s reports.

If a developer logs more hours than estimated in a given period, the next cycle is pre-charged accordingly. If they log fewer, the difference rolls over to your balance, and the next estimate adjusts down.

You only ever pay for hours actually worked.

Example 1

A client pre-pays for 40 hours. The developer logs 36. The 4 unused hours roll over, so the following week’s charge covers only 32 hours (36 hours of updated estimate, minus 4 carried over).

Example 2

A client pre-pays for 40 hours. The developer logs 46. The next week is charged at 46 hours — as an updated cycle estimation, plus the 6 extra hours worked in the previous cycle.

How does the rollover work?

At the end of each billing period, reported working hours are compared against the hours included in your subscription. Any unused hours roll over to the next period.

If your project wraps up with unused prepaid hours, you get the money equivalent back.