Three years freelancing taught me one expensive lesson:
clients don't try to scam you. They just have really selective memory about what's in the contract.
"Hey can you add user profiles real quick" sounds reasonable until you realize the contract says "landing page build" and you just agreed to 12 hours of free work.
I'd either do the work (and lose money) or have the awkward conversation (and risk the relationship). Neither option felt good.
The actual problem, most scope creep happens because:
Contracts use vague language like "reasonable effort" or "as needed"
You genuinely can't remember what you agreed to 6 weeks ago
Clients interpret "mobile responsive" as "also build us an app"
By the time you realize it's out of scope, you're already halfway done
What I built:
ScopeShield scans your contracts and tells you if client requests are covered or billable extras.
The main feature is an email gateway. You forward the client's "quick favor" email to a specific address and get back:
Verdict: In scope or out of scope
Relevant contract clause cited
Draft email response (the "bad cop" so you don't have to be)
Also has:
Ambiguity detector (flags vague terms before you sign)
Clause generator (adds protections you forgot)
Contract quality checker
Why email gateway matters
I built the UI first. Nobody used it. Opening an app to check if something's in scope has too much friction when you're already stressed about the client relationship.
Email made it instant. Forward request, get verdict, reply. No context switching.
Nothing fancy. Just wanted to ship fast.
Current state
MVP is live at scopeshield.cloud
Free tier has basic tools. Paid tier is $20/month with a 4-day trial (payment processing coming soon).
The email gateway is the hook. Everything else is just contract management tools that already exist.
What I'm learning
Reddit banned both my accounts for posting about it. Turns out .online domains get flagged as spam automatically.
Version 2 in about 2 weeks with features for agencies. Right now just focused on solo freelancers.
Happy to answer questions about the tech or the problem itself.
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