What does this actually mean for your business? The Swiss service space is diverse, and pricing models vary accordingly. This article explains the most common pricing structures, how they work, for whom they’re suitable, and what clients should watch out for.

The Five Common Pricing Models

1. Hourly Rate (Time & Materials)

How it works: Client pays for actually spent hours multiplied by hourly rate.

Typical industries:

  • Consulting
  • IT services
  • Legal advice
  • Trades (when scope unclear)

Price examples Switzerland:

  • Tradesmen: CHF 80–120 per hour
  • IT support: CHF 120–180 per hour
  • Business consulting: CHF 180–350 per hour
  • Lawyers: CHF 250–600 per hour

Advantages:

  • Flexible for projects with unclear scope
  • You only pay for actual work
  • Changes are simple

Disadvantages:

  • No budget security
  • Inefficiency is paid for
  • Effort documentation needed

When sensible:

  • Scope is unclear or explorative
  • Flexibility more important than budget security
  • Trust with provider exists

What to watch:

  • Is hourly rate appropriate for qualification?
  • Is there an effort cap?
  • How is effort documented?
  • Are travel times fully charged?

2. Fixed Price

How it works: A defined project is implemented for a fixed price.

Typical industries:

  • Website development
  • Branding projects
  • Construction and remediation
  • Translations

Advantages:

  • Budget security
  • Calculability
  • Provider bears risk for additional effort

Disadvantages:

  • Changes cost extra
  • Scope must be clearly defined
  • Less flexibility

When sensible:

  • Scope is clearly defined
  • Budget is fixed
  • No major changes expected

What to watch:

  • What exactly is included in price?
  • What is expressly excluded?
  • How are changes billed?
  • Are there partial payments after milestones?

Example: Website relaunch for CHF 28,000:

  • Included: Concept, design (3 page types), development (15 pages), 2 revision rounds
  • Excluded: Content creation, additional pages, extended features, hosting
  • Changes after approval: CHF 150 per hour

3. Retainer / Subscription

How it works: Client pays monthly fixed amount for defined service package.

Typical industries:

  • Garden maintenance
  • IT support
  • Marketing/social media
  • Maintenance and updates

Price examples:

  • Garden maintenance: CHF 200–500 per month
  • SME IT support: CHF 500–2,000 per month
  • Social media management: CHF 800–3,000 per month

Advantages:

  • Plannable costs
  • Long-term relationship
  • Prioritisation during bottlenecks
  • Often cheaper than individual calls

Disadvantages:

  • Paid even in quiet months
  • Contractual commitment
  • Not all services included

When sensible:

  • Ongoing support needed
  • Plannable, recurring tasks
  • Long-term collaboration desired

What to watch:

  • Which services are included?
  • How many hours/deployments per month?
  • What happens to unused hours?
  • Notice period?

Example garden maintenance subscription: CHF 350 per month:

  • 8 deployments of 2 hours each (March–October)
  • Lawn mowing, weeding, hedge trimming
  • Materials (fertilizer, soil) included
  • Not included: New installations, tree felling, special work

4. Value-Based Pricing

How it works: Price is based on value client receives, not effort.

Typical industries:

  • Strategy consulting
  • Marketing/sales consulting
  • Financial advice
  • Specialised expertise

Example: SEO consulting brings CHF 200,000 additional annual revenue. Consulting costs CHF 20,000, even if time expenditure was only 40 hours.

Advantages:

  • Focus on outcome, not effort
  • Provider motivated to deliver maximum value
  • Fair when value is measurable

Disadvantages:

  • Difficult to compare
  • Value must be measurable
  • Trust basis needed

When sensible:

  • Value is clearly measurable (revenue, savings)
  • Expertise is highly specialised
  • Outcome more important than effort

What to watch:

  • How is value measured?
  • What happens if value isn’t achieved?
  • Is success component included?

5. Project Package with Phases

How it works: Project is divided into phases, each phase has fixed price.

Typical industries:

  • Software development
  • Large construction projects
  • Rebranding projects
  • Organisational development

Example website project:

  • Phase 1: Analysis & Concept - CHF 5,000
  • Phase 2: Design - CHF 8,000
  • Phase 3: Development - CHF 12,000
  • Phase 4: Testing & Go-Live - CHF 3,000
  • Total: CHF 28,000

Advantages:

  • Transparency through phases
  • Exit option after each phase
  • Partial payments after milestones
  • Budget control

Disadvantages:

  • Requires good planning
  • Changes between phases can be expensive

When sensible:

  • Large projects with clear milestones
  • Budget constraints
  • Risk minimization desired

Additional Costs and Surcharges

Material Costs

How charged:

  • Purchase price + markup (typical 10–30%)
  • Flat rate (e.g., CHF 500 for materials)
  • Actual costs (with receipts)

Example landscaping:

  • Plants: Purchase + 20%
  • Soil/fertilizer: Purchase + 15%
  • Stones: Purchase + 25% (transport, storage)

Travel Costs and Expenses

Common models:

  • Flat rate: CHF 0.70–1.00 per km
  • Public transport costs: Actual costs
  • Travel time: 50–100% of hourly rate
  • Accommodation: Actual costs or flat rate

Example: Consultant drives from Zurich to Bern (120 km):

  • Travel costs: 240 km @ CHF 0.80 = CHF 192
  • Travel time: 2h @ CHF 90 (50% of hourly rate) = CHF 180
  • Total travel costs: CHF 372

Express Surcharges

Typical surcharges:

  • Urgent (< 1 week): +20–30%
  • Very urgent (< 3 days): +50–100%
  • Weekend/nights: +100%

Licenses and Third-Party Costs

How charged:

  • Software licenses: Actual costs
  • Stock photos: Actual costs
  • Printing costs: Actual costs + handling (5–10%)

Regional Price Differences

Major Cities (Zurich, Geneva, Basel)

Hourly rates typically:

  • +20–30% above national average
  • Reason: Higher cost of living, demand, rents

Example: Web designer Zurich: CHF 150–180 per hour Web designer Lucerne: CHF 120–150 per hour

Rural Cantons

Hourly rates typically:

  • -15–25% below major cities
  • Reason: Lower costs, less demand

Border Regions

Peculiarity:

  • Competitive pressure from nearby foreign providers
  • Often lower prices than Swiss average

How Prices Are Calculated

Hourly Rate Calculation

Rule of thumb:

Annual costs (salary + social + overhead)
÷ billable hours
× factor (1.3–1.5 for profit + risk)
= hourly rate

Example:

  • Gross salary: CHF 90,000
  • Social costs (25%): CHF 22,500
  • Overhead (40%): CHF 36,000
  • Total annual costs: CHF 148,500
  • Working days: 220 (after vacation, holidays)
  • Billable days: 150 (rest: acquisition, admin, illness)
  • Billable hours: 1,200 (150 days @ 8h)
  • Cost-covering hourly rate: CHF 148,500 ÷ 1,200 = CHF 124
  • Commercial hourly rate (factor 1.4): CHF 174

Fixed Price Calculation

Rule of thumb:

Estimated effort (hours)
× hourly rate
× risk buffer (1.1–1.2)
= fixed price

Example website:

  • Estimated effort: 100 hours
  • Hourly rate: CHF 150
  • Base: CHF 15,000
  • Risk buffer (+15%): CHF 2,250
  • Fixed price offer: CHF 17,000

Transparency in Pricing

What Serious Providers Disclose

  • Hourly rate: For time-and-materials billing
  • Effort estimate: For fixed prices
  • Included services: What’s included
  • Excluded services: What costs extra
  • Additional costs: Materials, travel, licenses
  • Payment terms: When is what due

Warning Signs of Intransparent Pricing

  • “All-inclusive” without details
  • No breakdown possible
  • Flat rate without explanation
  • Subsequent additional costs without warning

Payment Terms

Typical Models

For fixed prices:

  • Down payment: 30–50%
  • After milestone: 30–40%
  • After completion: 20–30%

For time-and-materials:

  • Monthly billing
  • Payment term: 10–30 days

For subscription:

  • Monthly advance payment
  • Automatic bank debit

Industry-Specific Pricing Structures

IT and Cybersecurity

Typical:

  • Hourly rates CHF 120–350
  • Fixed prices for defined projects (e.g., pentest)
  • Retainer for ongoing support

Construction and Remediation

Typical:

  • Fixed price per m² or per object
  • Detailed offer with line items
  • Progress payments after construction progress

Design and Marketing

Typical:

  • Fixed prices for projects (branding, website)
  • Retainer for ongoing support
  • Value-based for strategic consulting

Medicine

Typical:

  • Tarmed/tariff-based
  • Fixed prices for check-ups
  • Hourly rates for private treatment

Pricing structure should fit project and situation:

  • Clear scope: Fixed price
  • Unclear scope: Hourly rate
  • Ongoing support: Retainer
  • Measurable results: Value-based
  • Large project: Phase model

Transparency is key to fair prices. Serious providers explain how their price comes about, what’s included and what isn’t.

Compare not just prices but also pricing models. A higher fixed price can be cheaper than a low hourly rate with open end.