@straight-continent-34777 I would second @abundant-jackal-54634 If you are not used to it, avoid by the hour. It is a sure way to get burnt fast. Either try and get a fixed cost or atleast by the day or week. Hour is too much of a hassle. (Fixed cost = estimate the hours it will take you and then multiply by 1.5 or 2) because your estimates will tend to be that off. In the end, charge what you think will make you happy.

I will have to side with @tall-postman-9284 on the estimates part.... I have been burnt quite a bit when starting out by agreeing to a specific budget only to realize I had no clue on how to realistically estimate timelines.... but some clients will not go for the time based payment if you aren't working full time with them, in such scenarios I would suggest you start with understanding and documenting the problem well enough that you actually get a viable solution in mind, and then break the solution into smaller chunks (apps or websites or backend processes) they show the client how much time each part will take and then charge them for the cumulative time estimated for each chunk. And if this is the first time you are doing this, as @loud-glass-33663 said it will be better if you pitch your client 1.5x your estimate timeline.... but still I would't suggest project based pricing unless you are somewhat familiar with it

Also clents tend to move the goalpost. Have good requirements documentation before agreeing to project level billing