Independent Contractor Agreement Generator
Create a PDF contractor agreement covering services, payment, IP ownership, and termination.
What this agreement covers
A written independent contractor agreement protects both sides by spelling out the scope of work, payment terms, and how the relationship can end — before any of that becomes a disagreement. The generated document includes a description of services, payment terms (hourly, flat fee, or milestone-based), a termination clause with a notice period, an explicit independent-contractor-status clause, work-product/IP ownership assigned to the client, and a governing-law clause.
Everything is generated locally in your browser using the open-source pdf-lib library — nothing you type here is ever sent to a server.
Contractor, not employee
This template is built for genuine independent-contractor relationships: the contractor controls how the work gets done, isn't on payroll, doesn't receive employee benefits, and is responsible for their own taxes. If the working relationship actually looks like employment — set hours, close day-to-day supervision, use of company equipment — using a contractor agreement instead of an employment contract can create real misclassification risk. When in doubt, a quick consultation with an employment attorney is worth it.
Example scenario
A small business hires a freelance developer to build a marketing website over roughly six weeks, with a fixed scope. Since the total price is agreed upfront rather than tracked by the hour, they'd choose flat fee, enter the description of services, set a 14-day termination notice in case either side needs to end the engagement early, and generate the PDF for both parties to sign before work begins.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from an employment contract?
An independent contractor agreement explicitly establishes that the worker is not an employee — no withheld taxes, no benefits, and the contractor controls how the work gets done, not just what gets delivered. Misclassifying an employee as a contractor can create real tax and legal liability, so only use this when the relationship genuinely fits the contractor model.
Who owns the work once it's finished?
This template assigns ownership of the finished work product to the client once payment is made in full — standard for most freelance and contract work. If the contractor needs to retain rights (for example, to reuse a code library or design system in future projects), that needs to be negotiated and added explicitly.
Hourly, flat fee, or milestones — which should I pick?
Flat fee suits well-defined, scoped work where both sides agree on the total upfront. Hourly suits open-ended or evolving work where scope may change. Milestones suit larger projects where payment is tied to completing defined phases — useful for both sides to track progress and manage cash flow.
Is my information stored anywhere when I generate the PDF?
No — the PDF is built entirely in your browser using the open-source pdf-lib library. Nothing you enter is ever sent to a server.