Exclusivity · Web development
Exclusivity in web development: what is normal
Exclusivity is rare in project web dev; on retainers or competitor-sensitive builds, keep it narrow, time-boxed, and paid.
Typical range
None on one-off builds. On retainers or where a direct-competitor conflict is real, a narrow named-competitor restriction for the engagement term plus a short tail, reflected in the rate.
Off-market
A clause barring the developer from building for any company in a broad sector for a year after a single project, with no compensation.
One-line fix
"For the engagement plus [60 days], Developer will not build competing products for [named competitors]. This is reflected in the rate."
What we see
Developers build for many clients across many sectors, and a broad exclusivity clause on a one-off build removes a large part of their addressable work for a single fee. Most project contracts need no exclusivity at all.
Where it makes sense, usually an ongoing retainer or a genuinely competitor-sensitive product, the healthy version names specific competitors, runs for the engagement plus a short tail, and is priced into the rate, because the developer is declining a defined slice of work.
The clause to challenge is a broad, sector-wide, long, unpaid lockout attached to one project. Narrowing it to named competitors and a short window, or attaching a retainer, turns a hidden cost into a deliberate, priced commitment.
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