Non-compete and non-solicitation clauses for freelancers

A freelancer works for many clients, often in the same industry. A non-compete written for an employee can take away the work that pays your rent.

Updated 21 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.

Three different clauses

• Non-compete: you may not work for competitors of the client, or in its industry, during the contract and sometimes after it.
• Non-solicitation: you may not approach the client's customers or staff. Narrower and usually easier to accept.
• Exclusivity: you work only for this client during the contract. A full-time commitment that should be priced like one.

Why it matters more for freelancers

Your experience in an industry is what clients hire you for. A year-long ban on "any competing business" can rule out most of your market for a project that lasts a month.

Whether such a clause can be enforced depends on where you and the client are. Some places restrict non-competes heavily, especially for independent contractors (California, for example, generally voids them), while others accept them if they are limited in time, place and scope. Do not count on a clause being unenforceable: negotiating it is cheaper than finding out.

What to ask for

• Remove the non-compete, and keep confidentiality instead: that protects the client's information, which is usually the real concern.
• If the client insists, narrow it: named competitors only, the contract term only, the same type of work only.
• Accept non-solicitation of the client's staff and customers you met through the project, for a limited time.
• For exclusivity, ask for a retainer that pays for it.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ between countries and states, and a clause that is common in one place can be unenforceable in another. For a high-stakes contract, ask a lawyer where you or your client are based.