What to charge for a discovery call — a pricing framework for solo consultants
The "what should I charge for a discovery call" question quietly determines a huge amount of your week. Charge nothing and your calendar fills with tire-kickers. Charge $500 and you wonder why no one books. There's a right answer for your specific situation — but it's not what most advice tells you.
This is the framework I use, and the math that drives the choice.
The three models
There are exactly three. Don't let anyone sell you a fourth.
Model A: Free discovery call
The default. 20–30 minutes, no money changes hands, both sides decide whether to keep talking.
The economics:
- Cost to you: ~45 minutes (15 min prep + 30 min call) per call.
- Cost to them: 0.
- Conversion rate: typical is 20–30% to a paid engagement.
At 10 discovery calls/month: ~7.5 hours of unpaid work for 2–3 conversions.
Model B: Paid strategy session
Charge for the call itself. Usually $150–500. No commitment beyond the session.
The economics:
- Cost to you: 90 minutes (30 min prep + 60 min call + 30 min written follow-up).
- Cost to them: real money.
- Conversion rate to a longer engagement: typically 40–60%, but you've already been paid.
At 4 paid sessions/month: ~6 hours of paid work plus 40–60% conversion. Net win.
Model C: Refundable paid call
Charge for the call, refund it if they sign on for the larger engagement. Apply it as credit.
The economics:
- Cost to you: same as Model B.
- Cost to them: real money, but psychologically reversible.
- Conversion rate to engagement: often higher than Model A, because the financial commitment selects for serious buyers.
At 6 calls/month with $300 fee: ~$1,800 collected. Refund 60% (because they convert). Net ~$720 plus more conversions than free discovery.
When each one works
| Situation | Best model |
|---|---|
| You're new and need volume to learn | A (free) |
| Your time is scarcer than your leads | B (paid) |
| You're an authority and people would pay just to talk | B (paid) |
| You're mid-career, calendar's full of bad-fit calls | C (refundable) |
| You sell six-figure engagements | C (refundable) |
| You sell sub-$500 services | A (free) |
The pattern: as your hourly rate goes up and your inbound volume saturates, you should move from A → C → B.
The friction question
The argument for free discovery is "lower friction means more leads." That's true. The question is whether those leads are who you want.
Here's the test: write down the five clients who paid you the most in the last year. Did any of them book through a frictionless free-discovery flow? Or did they all come through referrals, warm intros, or after consuming a lot of your work?
For most independent practitioners I know, the high-LTV clients didn't need a free 30-minute call to decide. The free call is mostly there for the low-value prospects to qualify themselves in. Which is fine — but be honest about who you're catching with that net.
How to communicate a paid discovery call
The mistake people make is apologizing for the fee. Don't.
Wrong:
"I know this is a bit unusual, but I do charge $300 for an initial call. I hope that's OK!"
Right:
"First session is a 60-minute strategy block — $300. We'll cover [X, Y, Z] and you'll leave with a written one-page plan. If we end up working together, the fee credits toward the engagement."
The second one is shorter, clearer, and frames what they're getting. The first one frames what they're paying. People pay for outcomes, not for time.
The intake question that filters
If you go with free discovery, the single highest-leverage thing you can do is add one good intake question to your booking page:
"What's the deadline or budget that's driving this?"
This question is magical. It's not "what's your budget" (which feels gatekeeper-y) — it's about the constraint. The answer tells you instantly whether they're serious. Anyone who writes "no deadline, no budget" is browsing. Anyone who writes "by end of Q3, we have $50K budgeted" is real.
Free calls + this one question filter ~70% of the bad ones without you having to charge.
Pricing the paid version
Three anchors:
- At least 1.5x your hourly rate. A 60-minute strategy call should cost more than 60 minutes of your billable time, because it includes prep and follow-up.
- Round number that's not a round number. $300 is fine. $297 is desperate. $312 implies precision (whatever that means). Charge $300 or $500, not $297.
- Cheap enough to be "a maybe." If your prospects are individual professionals, $150–300. If they're VC-backed startups, $500–1,000. If they're enterprise procurement, you're doing something else.
What we built into MeetingWith
When you set up a meeting type — paid or unpaid — the booking page handles:
- Intake questions (forced choice, short text, links to prep docs).
- A confirmation email that includes the agenda.
- AI-enriched notes after the call, so the written follow-up writes itself.
- Per-client history so you walk into call #4 already prepped.
The whole point: get the friction out of running discovery calls so you'll actually be good at them. MeetingWith is free — no tier, no trial — so this isn't a cost decision either.
FAQ
Should a free discovery call have homework? Yes. Ask for one short paragraph or a link to relevant context. It self-filters, and the calls go better.
Can I switch from free to paid later? Yes, and you should. Most established consultants have done exactly this. Announce it once, raise the price, watch the spam disappear.
What about charging only after the call ("if you got value")? Don't. It sounds generous but it puts you in a permanent collections role. Be paid up front or be free.
How long should the paid call be? 60 minutes minimum. Anything shorter signals it's not worth charging for. If your engagement is short by nature, sell a package (the call + a written follow-up).
What if the prospect ghosts after paying? They paid. You won. Send them the prep doc anyway and move on.
Stop running unpaid sales calls disguised as "discovery." Set up a paid meeting type in MeetingWith — claim a handle below. It's free.