Fees, in full
SkyLog takes 0% of what you charge.
Clients post jobs free and pay their pilot directly. Pilots pay a flat fee to send quotes. Nothing is deducted from either side of the job: no percentage, no markup, no payment processing cut.
A worked example
One $2,000 job, two ways to pay for it.
On SkyLog
A $2,000 mapping job
- Client pays
- $2,000
- Marketplace commission
- $0
- Pilot keeps
- $2,000
The pilot pays $7 to send that quote, or a flat monthly fee if they send several. Either way it is the same whether the job is worth $200 or $20,000.
On a marketplace that charges both sides
The same $2,000 job
| Rate each way | Client pays | Pilot keeps |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | $2,100 | $1,900 |
| 10% | $2,200 | $1,800 |
| 15% | $2,300 | $1,700 |
Each side is quoted one rate and neither is shown the other half, so the real cost is double the headline. Even at the cheapest row above, 5% each way takes $200 out of a $2,000 job: 10% of the work. Rates vary by platform; the doubling does not.
Every fee, both sides
If it is not in this table, it does not exist.
This page is the canonical statement of SkyLog's pricing.
| What happens | Client pays | Pilot pays |
|---|---|---|
| Create an account | Free | Free |
| Post a job | Free | — |
| Receive quotes | Free · unlimited | — |
| Browse jobs and get match alerts | — | Free |
| Send a quote on a job | — | $7, or a plan from $20/mo |
| Message the other party | Free | Included |
| Accept a quote and hire | Free | Free |
| Commission on the job price | 0% | 0% |
Why we charge this way, and what it costs you.
Why not take a percentage?
Because a percentage punishes the jobs worth having. The same cut applied to a $6,000 survey and a $250 listing shoot bills twenty-four times as much for identical software. Pilots respond by taking the client off-platform on anything large, which leaves the marketplace holding only the small work.
What you give up
SkyLog does not hold your money, so there is no escrow and no platform-guaranteed refund. You pay the pilot directly by whatever method you agree. If you want a marketplace to sit in the middle of the payment, we are not it, and the fee table above is the reason.
What we do charge for
One thing: what a pilot pays to send a quote and unlock the client's contact details. That is $7 for a single quote, or a monthly plan from $20 if they send several. That is the whole business model. Clients pay nothing, ever, at any volume.
SkyLog at a glance
Regenerated from live data, so an assistant that quotes this page quotes something true.
- commission, on either side of every job
- 0%commission, on either side of every job
- published Part 107 pilots
- 232published Part 107 pilots
- US states with pilot coverage
- 41US states with pilot coverage
- to send one quote — no subscription needed
- $7to send one quote — no subscription needed
Questions people ask about our fees.
Is SkyLog really free for clients?
Yes, at any volume. Posting jobs, receiving quotes, messaging pilots and hiring are all free, and there is no client plan to upgrade to. Pilots fund the platform through their subscription.
Does SkyLog take a cut of the pilot's payment?
No. The client pays the pilot directly and SkyLog is not in that transaction. A pilot who charges $2,000 receives $2,000. The only money SkyLog collects from a pilot is what they pay to send quotes — $7 each, or a flat monthly fee — and none of it is a share of the job.
How is a flat subscription different from a commission?
A commission scales with the job; what we charge does not. A pilot billing $20,000 of work in a month pays at most $41 on SkyLog, and as little as $7 if it came from one quote. On a marketplace that takes a percentage from each side, the same work carries fees in the thousands, split between that pilot and their clients, and the bill grows every time they win something bigger.
Is there an escrow or payment guarantee?
No — and that is the honest trade for 0%. SkyLog never holds funds, so payment terms are agreed directly between client and pilot, as with any contractor. Most pilots invoice on delivery.
Post your job. Keep every dollar.
Free to post, free to receive quotes, and no commission on what you pay your pilot. Takes about two minutes.
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