ScopeGuard

About ScopeGuard

ScopeGuard is a specialized AI-powered software tool designed to protect freelancers and independent contractors from the financial drain of scope creep. Scope creep, the gradual expansion of a project's requirements beyond the original agreement, costs the average freelancer over $5,000 annually in unbilled work. ScopeGuard directly addresses this problem by providing a systematic solution to define, monitor, and bill for out-of-scope requests. Its core value proposition is ensuring freelancers get paid for every hour of work they perform. The tool acts as a digital contract guardian, allowing users to import their Statement of Work (SOW) or contract. Through a convenient Chrome extension, freelancers can then right-click on any client request within web-based tools like Gmail, Slack, or project management platforms to receive an instant AI analysis classifying the task as in-scope, out-of-scope, or borderline. This empowers professionals to confidently log additional work, track time and rates, send formal approval requests to clients via a dedicated portal, and generate invoices for the extra scope—all from a centralized dashboard. By transforming ambiguous requests into billable items, ScopeGuard turns potential revenue loss into recovered income.

Features of ScopeGuard

AI-Powered Scope Analysis

This core feature provides instant, intelligent analysis of any client communication. By right-clicking on text within emails, Slack messages, or project tools, the integrated AI compares the request against your imported contract. It delivers a clear verdict—in-scope, out-of-scope, or borderline—along with an explanation based on the contractual terms. This removes guesswork and provides a data-backed foundation for conversations about additional work, significantly increasing accuracy and confidence in identifying billable changes.

Universal Web-Based Scope Checking

ScopeGuard operates seamlessly across your entire digital workflow via its Chrome extension. This feature allows you to check scope directly from the web applications you and your clients already use, such as Gmail, Asana, Trello, Basecamp, and Slack. There is no need to copy-paste text between windows; a simple right-click on the relevant message or task initiates the scope analysis, making the protection against creep immediate and frictionless within your existing processes.

Integrated Client Approval & Invoicing

The tool streamlines the entire billing workflow for out-of-scope work. Once a request is logged, you can send a secure, professional approval link directly to your client from within ScopeGuard. Clients can review the details and approve with one click. Following approval, the system facilitates easy invoice generation for the logged hours and agreed-upon rates, creating a formal paper trail and ensuring you get paid for the additional work without switching between disparate apps.

Centralized Scope & Revenue Dashboard

ScopeGuard provides a real-time command center that offers a holistic view of all your projects. The dashboard clearly displays unbilled out-of-scope work across every client engagement, highlighting potential revenue that is at risk. This visual oversight ensures no billable change is forgotten or slips through the cracks, enabling proactive management of scope and protecting your overall revenue stream from unnoticed creep.

Use Cases of ScopeGuard

Managing Incremental Feature Requests

A freelance web developer agrees to build a five-page website. Mid-project, the client emails asking to add a complex contact form with custom fields and integrations. The developer right-clicks the email, and ScopeGuard's AI flags this as out-of-scope based on the original contract. The developer logs the request with an estimated time, sends an approval link via ScopeGuard, and upon client approval, seamlessly integrates the new task into the project timeline and final invoice.

Clarifying Ambiguous Revision Rounds

A graphic designer's contract includes "two rounds of revisions." The client continues to request tweaks after the second round is complete. The designer uses the Chrome extension on the Slack message containing the new requests. ScopeGuard analyzes the text against the contract, identifies it as out-of-scope work, and provides the justification. This gives the designer clear grounds to politely communicate the need for an additional fee before proceeding.

Billing for Unplanned Consultations

A marketing consultant's scope covers strategy and report delivery. The client frequently schedules impromptu calls to discuss new ideas not covered in the plan. The consultant logs these "extra consultation" sessions in ScopeGuard as they occur, tagging them to the specific project. At the end of the month, they use the dashboard to compile all logged time, generate a single invoice for the additional advisory hours, and send it for client approval with all requests documented.

Protecting Against "Quick Question" Creep

A freelance writer completes a series of blog posts. The client later messages via Asana with "a few quick questions" about updating old posts, which turns into a significant content audit. The writer highlights the Asana task, uses the right-click scope check, and confirms the work is outside the original agreement. They then use ScopeGuard's screenshot capture to document the request visually before logging the time spent, ensuring every minute of the unplanned audit is accounted for and billable.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the AI scope checking work?

The AI is trained to analyze natural language within your imported contract or Statement of Work to understand the defined project scope, deliverables, and exclusions. When you check a client's request, it compares the language and intent of that request against the learned scope parameters. It doesn't just keyword-match; it understands context to determine if a task is a logical extension of agreed work (in-scope), a clear addition (out-of-scope), or requires human judgment (borderline), providing an explanation for its verdict.

How does the Chrome extension work?

After installing the free ScopeGuard Chrome extension and logging into your account, you can navigate to any webpage. Simply highlight and right-click on any text from a client email, message, or task description. The extension's menu will include an option to "Check Scope with ScopeGuard." Selecting this sends the text to be analyzed against your active project's contract, with the result displayed in a small overlay, allowing for instant, in-context scope verification without leaving your workflow.

How does client approval work?

When you log an out-of-scope request in ScopeGuard, you can generate a secure, shareable approval link. This link directs your client to a professional, branded portal where they can see the details of the scope change, the associated hours, and the proposed rate or fee. The client can then approve or decline the request with a single click. Their action is recorded in your ScopeGuard dashboard, providing a clear audit trail and formal agreement before you do the extra work.

Is my contract data secure?

Yes. ScopeGuard employs enterprise-grade security measures. Your sensitive contract documents and client communication data are encrypted both in transit and at rest. The company states that your contracts never leave their secure servers, and they do not use your data to train public AI models. You maintain full control over your data and can manage or delete it at any time from within your account dashboard.

Pricing of ScopeGuard

ScopeGuard offers simple, transparent pricing focused on individual freelancers. All plans start with a full-featured 14-day free trial that does not require a credit card. The primary plan is the Solo plan, priced at $29 per month. This plan is designed for freelancers and independent contractors and includes unlimited projects, AI-powered scope analysis, the client approval portal, PDF and screenshot import capabilities, the Chrome extension, automatic invoice generation, a real-time dashboard, and priority support. The company highlights that the average scope change value is over $300, meaning recovering just one such change typically provides a 10x return on investment, covering the cost of the tool for the entire year.