How to Price Your Smart Contract Audit — A Freelancer's Guide

# How to Price Your Smart Contract Audit

Pricing is one of the hardest parts of freelance auditing.

Pricing Models

Per Line of Code (nSLOC)

| Level | Price/nSLOC |

|-------|-------------|

| Junior (0-1 yr) | $3-8 |

| Mid (1-3 yr) | $8-20 |

| Senior (3+ yr) | $20-50 |

| Top firm | $50-100+ |

Example: 500 nSLOC DeFi protocol at $15/line = $7,500.

Fixed Price

• Simple token (200 nSLOC): $2,000-5,000

• NFT with staking (800 nSLOC): $5,000-15,000

• DeFi protocol (2000 nSLOC): $15,000-50,000

• Complex protocol (5000+): $50,000-200,000

Day Rate

• Junior: $500-1,000/day

• Senior: $1,500-3,000/day

• Expert: $3,000-5,000/day

Complexity Multipliers

• Standard ERC-20: 1x baseline

• DeFi with integrations: 1.5-2x

• Cross-chain / bridge: 2-3x

• Assembly / Yul: 2-3x

How to Quote

Read the code before quoting — never quote blind

Count nSLOC

Assess complexity

Estimate days: nSLOC / 200

Apply your rate

Add 20% buffer for unknowns

Building Reputation

Start with contest platforms (Code4rena, Sherlock)

Write public audit reports and blog posts

Specialize — DeFi auditors command higher rates

Build a track record of real findings

The market is growing. More protocols than auditors. If you are good, you will find work.