NDA Template for Freelancers (UK 2025)

When You Need This Contract

Freelancers typically work with multiple clients simultaneously, making NDAs essential to prevent cross-contamination of confidential information between competing businesses. The NDA must address the freelancer's obligation to keep your information separate from other clients' work, restrictions on discussing your project publicly or in their portfolio, and the practical challenge that freelancers accumulate general knowledge and skills that they legitimately carry between engagements.

Key Clauses

• Clear definition of confidential information relevant to the freelance engagement
• Separation of your information from other clients' work
• Portfolio and public discussion restrictions with agreed exceptions
• Duration appropriate for the type of freelance work
• Return and deletion of all project materials on completion

What to Watch Out For

• Trying to prevent the freelancer from using general skills and knowledge gained during the engagement, which is unenforceable
• Not providing a mechanism for the freelancer to use the work in their portfolio after an appropriate period

Sample Clauses

• Sample multi-client clause: 'The Freelancer acknowledges that they may work with other clients, including potentially competing businesses. The Freelancer agrees to maintain strict separation between this engagement and other client work, not to use Confidential Information in connection with any other engagement, and to implement appropriate information barriers.'
• Sample portfolio clause: 'The Freelancer shall not include any Confidential Information or unpublished work in their portfolio without prior written consent. After [6] months from project completion, the Freelancer may reference the engagement in general terms and include published deliverables in their portfolio, provided no Confidential Information is disclosed.'