# 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 project-based or 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. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.lemon.io/billing-and-payment.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.