Ask ten Indian freelancers if they use contracts and nine will say some version of "I should, but." I should, but it feels too formal for a ₹40,000 project. I should, but the client is a friend of a friend. I should, but I do not have a template and writing one feels like a lawyer's job. I should, but by the time I find a Word file and fill it in, the project has already started.
So most projects run on a WhatsApp "yes, let's do it." And most of the time that is fine, until it is not. The scope quietly doubles. A payment slips past two months. A client reuses your work on three other pages you were never paid for. Every one of those is a conversation that a one-page contract would have settled before it started.
The problem was never that freelancers do not value contracts. It is that sending one has always been a hassle. That is the part I set out to fix.
Why "I'll send a contract" rarely happens
Walk through what sending a contract actually used to involve. Find a template you half-trust. Edit it in Word or Google Docs. Export a PDF. Email it. Wait. The client opens it on their phone, has no easy way to sign, says "I'll print and sign and send it back," and then never does. Or you both create DocuSign accounts for a single signature.
Five steps, two apps, and a follow-up, for a document the project cannot start without. So the contract becomes the thing you mean to do and never quite do. The friction wins.
Contracts now live inside Riffit
Riffit started as invoicing. Contracts are the natural other half: the document at the start of a project, the way invoices are the document at the end. Here is the whole flow now:
- Draft from one of four templates, built for India. On the dashboard, pick the Project Contract, the Freelance Service Agreement, the Retainer Agreement or the Mutual NDA, then fill in the client and the details of the job. The three work templates have IP assignment baked in, GST optional and a late fee you set. The governing state is yours to choose, so it reads like a contract written for an Indian freelancer, not a US SaaS form.
- Send it by email, or on WhatsApp on Pro. The client gets a link. No app to install, no account to create.
- Your client signs from the link. Typed or drawn signature, verified with a one-time code sent the same way the contract went, so the signature is actually tied to them, not just a name in a box.
- Your client gets the signed PDF; you keep the audit-trail certificate. The signed PDF carries both signatures and goes to both of you. The certificate is a separate file that only you can download.
You make it on the dashboard and your client signs it from their phone. Once it is signed, you can bill it from the same WhatsApp chat you send invoices from.
The audit trail is the part that matters
A signature is only as good as your ability to prove it later. That's the whole game. Every contract signed through Riffit produces an audit-trail certificate for you to keep (who signed, when, from where, and verified by OTP), structured to address the §65B (Indian Evidence Act) / §63 (BSA) requirements. That is the difference between "I have a signed PDF somewhere" and "I have a record I can point to if anyone ever asks," and it is the same paper trail that keeps an invoice dispute from turning into your word against theirs.
And if the client wants changes before they sign, you hit Revise & resend. The new version supersedes the old one, and the audit trail keeps the lineage, so there is never a question about which version is the real one.
Starting a new project this week? Send the contract before the work, not the regret after. Draft one on your Riffit dashboard.Try Riffit freeWhat it costs
Contracts are on the free plan too: every Riffit account gets 3 contracts free, for life, sent by email. That is enough to cover your next few projects and see whether a contract your client can sign from a link changes how often clients sign. On Pro, contracts are unlimited, and the link and the signing code can go to your client on WhatsApp.
You do not need a lawyer to send a clear project contract. You need a template that fits how you work and a way to get it signed before the project drifts. That is the whole point.
FAQ
The client signs by typing or drawing, then enters a one-time code sent to the email or WhatsApp number the contract went to. Riffit timestamps each step as it happens (sent, opened, code sent, code verified, signed), puts both signatures on the signed PDF, and keeps that record as a separate audit-trail certificate you can download. The Information Technology Act, 2000 is the Indian law on electronic signatures; whether a record like this is enough for a particular dispute is a question for a lawyer. The guide to electronic signatures in India on this blog covers the background.
For most standard freelance projects, no. A clear one-page agreement that states the scope, the amount, the timeline, payment terms, and who owns the final work covers the situations freelancers actually run into. Riffit offers four templates: the Project Contract, the Freelance Service Agreement, the Retainer Agreement and the Mutual NDA. The first three include IP assignment on payment and a late fee you set, and all four ask which state governs the agreement. For high-value or unusual engagements, a lawyer review is still worth it.
An audit trail is the record of how a document was signed: the signer identity, the timestamps, the code verification, and the version history. It is what you point to if a client later says they never agreed. For every signed contract, Riffit keeps that record as a separate audit-trail certificate (structured to address the Section 65B / Section 63 BSA requirements) that you download. Your client gets the signed PDF; you keep the certificate.
No account, no app. The client gets a link by email, or on WhatsApp if you are on Pro, opens the contract, fills in their details, and signs by typing or drawing their signature. A one-time code confirms it is really them. Both of you then get the signed PDF, and the audit-trail certificate stays with you.
Use Revise and resend. You edit the contract, send the new version, and it supersedes the earlier one. The audit trail tracks the lineage, so there is never confusion about which version is the signed one. The old version stays preserved for the record.
Every Riffit account includes 3 contracts free for life (not per month, lifetime), sent by email, so you can cover your next few projects at no cost. On Pro, contracts are unlimited, and the signing link and code can go to your client on WhatsApp.