// FAQ
Questions, answered.
The things people ask before signing up, grouped by what they're really about.
// Getting started
Setup & onboarding
How long does setup take? +
Most people are bidding within ten minutes. The onboarding wizard walks you through name, rate, skills, two writing samples, and a few portfolio pieces — then you're done.
What kind of writing samples should I add? +
Anything you've written that sounds like you — past proposals, client emails, even Slack messages to peers. Three samples covering different tones (formal, conversational, technical) give Landbid the most range without confusing it.
How many portfolio items do I need? +
Three is the minimum for useful results, five-to-ten is the sweet spot. Landbid picks the most relevant ones for each job based on tech stack and topic, so adding more isn't always better — just add the ones with real outcomes you'd want a client to know about.
// The writing
How Landbid writes
Will clients know I used AI? +
Landbid writes the way an experienced freelancer would — short, specific, no "I am the perfect fit" filler. Every bid opens with the client's actual problem and references real projects you've shipped. The output reads like a careful human wrote it because it follows the same rules a careful human would.
Will every bid sound the same? +
No. Landbid reads each job post fresh and writes from scratch. The voice stays consistent (yours), but the angle, the portfolio piece referenced, the length, and the tone all shift to match the brief.
Can I edit the generated bid? +
Always. Every field is editable directly, and you can refine through chat ("make it shorter", "lead with the dashboard project", "drop the React mention") without losing your previous version.
Does it work for non-technical jobs? +
Yes. Landbid handles design, writing, marketing, and consulting briefs the same way as engineering ones — by reading the brief carefully and matching your voice. The writing principles (hook first, no filler, end on a question) apply across categories.
What if the price estimate is off? +
Edit the hours directly — the total recalculates instantly. You can also tell Landbid in chat ("this is closer to 40 hours" or "double the estimate, this brief is vague") and it'll adjust.
// Pricing & billing
Plans, limits, and money
What counts as a bid? +
Each first-pass generation counts as one bid against your monthly quota. Refinements through chat don't count against the monthly quota, but each plan has a separate per-bid refinement cap so one bid can't run away with costs — see the next question.
What happens if I hit my monthly limit? +
Generation pauses until the first of the next month. Your existing bids, templates, and analytics stay accessible. Upgrade your plan and the new quota takes effect immediately — no waiting for the billing cycle.
What's the refinement limit per bid? +
Starter includes 10 refinements per bid, Pro includes 30, Studio is unlimited (fair use). Most bids only need 2–4 refinements in practice. Once you hit the cap on a given bid, you can keep editing fields manually or save what you have and move on.
Do you offer annual billing? +
Annual plans are coming alongside Pro. Annual billing saves about 17% versus monthly.
Can I cancel anytime? Do you offer refunds? +
Cancel from your account settings — no emails, no friction. Your access continues through the end of the current billing period. The Starter plan's 7-day trial: cancel inside the window and you won't be charged at all. Pro and Studio bill immediately, but we don't pro-rate partial months on any plan — you can cancel anytime to stop future charges.
// Privacy & data
Your data, your control
Does Landbid keep my job descriptions and proposals? +
They're stored in your account so you can review history, save winning bids as templates, and run analytics. Nobody at Landbid reads them. You can delete any bid (and all its chat history) from the bid detail page at any time.
Is my data shared with LLM providers? +
Generating and refining bids means sending the relevant context — your profile, tone samples, the job description — to our LLM provider so the model can do its work. Hosted Landbid runs on Anthropic's Claude with prompt caching enabled to keep latency and cost down. Self-hosted installs send to whichever provider you've configured. Landbid doesn't share your data with anyone else.
Is my data encrypted? +
At rest in Postgres and in transit over HTTPS. Sessions are HTTP-only cookies, never exposed to JavaScript. Passwords are bcrypt-hashed; API keys are scoped per account and revocable from your profile page.
Can I delete my account? +
Yes, from your profile page. Full account deletion wipes profile, bids, chat history, templates, and analytics within 24 hours.
// Integrations
LLMs, extensions, and the API
Which LLM providers does Landbid support? +
Hosted Landbid runs on Anthropic's Claude — chosen for writing quality. Self-hosted installs can use Anthropic, OpenAI (GPT), DeepSeek, Ollama, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint by changing one environment variable.
How does the Chrome extension work? +
Install it, paste your Landbid API key into the extension popup, and navigate to a Freelancer.com project page. A "Generate Bid" button appears in the corner — click it, the extension scrapes the project details and streams the cover letter back into a side panel. Copy or auto-fill into the bid form.
Is there a JSON API? +
Yes, at /api/v1. Bearer-token auth using your account's API key. Same endpoints as the web UI: register, generate bids, refine, list templates, get analytics. Included on Pro and Studio plans.
Can I self-host Landbid? +
The Go binary, templates, and migrations are open source. Run it against your own Postgres and LLM keys. Self-hosting puts infra and LLM costs entirely on you — it suits technical users who'd rather manage their own stack than pay for the hosted version.
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