In short
Rinse is project time estimation software for freelancers and small agencies that repeat the same kinds of project. It compares planned against actual for every task and phase. Its calibrated task lengths then base new task lengths on your own past projects, with client waiting and agreed extra scope taken out, and the task editor shows an estimate range with a confidence level. Rinse isn't live yet, so join the waitlist to hear first.
What Rinse's project time estimation software does
Estimates tend to come from memory. You picture the last similar project, remember roughly how long it took and add a bit. Memory keeps the work and forgets the waiting, so the same phases overrun on project after project.
Rinse uses the projects you've already finished instead. Every project shows planned against actual for each task and phase, and the variance between them. When you plan the next one, calibrated task lengths suggest how long each task should take, based on your own past projects. The preview below shows the kind of gap it helps you spot: an illustrative brand project where the feedback round took twice as long as planned.
Planned against actual: brand identity project
On trackWhy estimating from past projects matters
Memory forgets the waiting
A feedback round might take two hours of work and eight days on the calendar. Rinse tracks the calendar time, with client waiting shown separately.
Overruns come out of your margin
On a fixed fee, every extra week is unpaid. Estimates based on what really happened protect the price you quoted.
One project isn't a pattern
Using the median across similar past projects stops one smooth or painful job from setting every future estimate.
Clients trust dates that hold
A realistic plan with an honest range is one you can actually keep.
How it works in Rinse
- 1Start from your template: Start a new project from a template you've built. The template sets the phases and tasks, and calibrated task lengths, on by default, suggest how long each task should take.
- 2Check the estimate range: The task editor shows an estimate range with a confidence level, so you can see how firm each estimate is before you commit to dates.
- 3Deliver and compare: As the work happens, Rinse compares planned against actual. On the Gantt chart, ghost bars show the original plan and overrun tails show where tasks ran long.
- 4See why things moved: Rinse shows time net of client waiting, and scope added by change requests compared with slippage, so you can tell a slow client from a slow task.
- 5Plan the next one from your own past projects: Next time, calibrated task lengths blend in the median for each task type from your past projects, with client waiting and agreed extra scope taken out.
Estimates from your own work, templates that keep the structure
This is what we call repeat project intelligence. Rinse bases task lengths on how long each kind of task has really taken you, with client waiting and agreed extra scope taken out, so estimates get closer to reality as your history grows. The history lives in the estimates, not the template. Your template keeps the phases, task names and checklists you built, and on each new project, every task starts from an even share of its phase's weeks. Tasks that match one of your task types then blend in your own finished tasks of that type.
Every finished project keeps its planned against actual, task by task. So before you quote the next website or brand project, you can look back at how similar projects went.
Use cases
Quoting a fixed-fee project
Check how long similar projects really took before you commit to a price and a date.
Planning feedback rounds
See whether past rounds overran because of client waiting or the work itself, and plan the next round around it.
Handling scope changes
Approving a change request extends the plan, and Rinse keeps added scope separate from slippage in the numbers.
Reviewing a finished project
Look at the variance task by task and phase by phase, and see exactly which stages ran over.
Setting client expectations
Use the estimate range to quote a range rather than a single date that's hard to keep.
The client side of every estimate
Client waiting can be where estimates break, which is why Rinse tracks it separately. It's also why the client side matters. Each project has a client page, reached through a share link with no login, where clients approve work, request changes, comment, upload the files you ask for and tick off their own tasks. If a client task is late, the plan moves with it, so the timeline stays honest and the waiting shows up in the numbers rather than being hidden in your estimate.
Features that help
- Gantt charts for agenciesPlan each client project on a drag-and-drop Gantt chart with dependencies, date locks and baseline bars, then share a read-only version with your client.
- Client portalA share-link client page for every project, with your logo, a read-only timeline, approvals, comments and the files you ask for. No client logins.
Templates to start from
- Website project templateA seven-phase website project plan you can follow or copy, with tasks, deliverables, example timings and the client sign-offs that keep it on track.
Frequently asked questions
How does Rinse estimate how long a task will take?
Calibrated task lengths, which are on by default, look at how long that type of task actually took on your own past projects and use the median, the middle value, so one unusually smooth or painful project doesn't skew it. Time spent waiting on the client and agreed extra scope are taken out first. The task editor then shows an estimate range with a confidence level.
Why take client waiting and extra scope out of an estimate?
Because neither tells you how long the work itself takes. If a client took two weeks to send copy, or you agreed an extra page halfway through, counting that time would stretch every future estimate for the wrong reason. Rinse shows time net of client waiting, and scope added by change requests compared with slippage, so you can see why a project overran, not just that it did.
Can I change an estimate Rinse suggests?
Yes. Calibrated task lengths give you a starting point, not a rule. You can drag any task on the Gantt chart on desktop to move it or change its length, so the plan stays yours. The estimate range in the task editor helps you judge how much room to leave.
Does Rinse use industry benchmarks for estimates?
Not today. Estimates are based on your own past projects. Rinse is designed to blend in an anonymised benchmark from other workspaces only once at least five opted-in workspaces contribute, so there's no benchmark data yet. With no history yet, Rinse uses a default. Your own history is what counts.
Is Rinse available yet?
Not yet. Rinse is still in development and nobody can use it yet. Join the waitlist at rinseapp.io/waitlist to hear when it opens.