I spent the last week talking to freelance developers about their worst client experiences.
The pattern is always the same:
- Client disappeared after final delivery
- 6 rounds of revisions then ghosted
- Signed contract, never heard back
- Paid first milestone, vanished on the second
Every platform invests heavily in vetting freelancers for clients — ratings, portfolios, skill tests. But clients get almost zero scrutiny.
You receive a project proposal and have: a name, maybe a company. That's it.
That information exists. It just never surfaces where you need it — before you say yes.
I'm building a tool to fix this:
- Search a client's name or email before accepting a project
- See red flags reported by other freelancers
- AI analysis of their project brief (unrealistic budgets, scope creep signals)
- Simple score: ✅ Clean / ⚠️ Caution / 🚨 Avoid
Still in validation phase — no product yet, just talking to people.
If you freelance: what's the worst red flag you've seen from a client before OR after it was too late?
Be brutally honest — if this is a bad idea I'd rather know now.
