Glossary
Non-compete
A non-compete is a promise not to do similar work for a competitor, or in a named market, for a period after the job.
Last updated 26 October 2026
A non-compete restricts who you can work for, or what you can sell, after this deal — and sometimes during it. It is usually written with a time period, a place or market, and a description of the banned work. On freelance papers the line is often broader than the job.
A designer who did one campaign may be asked not to work for anyone in that industry for a year. People commonly narrow the market, shorten the time, or limit it to named competitors. “Any business that competes with the client anywhere in the world” is a sentence to read out loud before you sign.
A non-solicit is a related, usually narrower, promise: do not poach staff or customers. The two often appear in the same section. How far either one goes is a commercial point to read before you sign. This page does not say when a court will or will not enforce one. That differs by place, and we do not have a sourced rule for it here.
Confidentiality already stops you using the client’s secrets on the next job. A non-compete tries to stop the next job itself. If the client’s real worry is secrets, a tighter confidentiality clause is often the closer tool. If their real worry is you working for a named rival next month, say the rival and the month.
Agencies that hire freelancers and also sign a non-compete with a brand should check they can still staff other brands in the same sector. A wide non-compete on a small campaign can block a larger roster.
A worked example
A three-month freelance sprint includes a six-month non-compete on the client’s named rivals. The freelancer cuts it to those rivals, in that product line, for three months after the end date, and keeps the right to do unrelated work in the same industry. The confidentiality clause still covers the client’s unreleased plans.
How it shows up in a contract
Sample wording · our own drafting
For [3] months after this agreement ends, the Supplier will not provide services that are substantially the same as the Services to the Client's named competitors listed in the Schedule, in the product line described there. This clause does not stop the Supplier working for other clients in the same industry on different products.
In Plain English
For three months after this ends, the supplier will not do the same kind of work for the rivals named in the schedule, on that product. Other work in the same industry, on different products, is still allowed.
Common mistakes
- Signing “any competitor, worldwide, for two years” on a two-week job.
- Treating a non-compete as if it were only a confidentiality clause.
- Forgetting to list named rivals, so the banned market is the whole sector.
- Assuming the clause will or will not “hold up” without reading what it actually bans. This page does not predict that.
Related
The legal wording governsLast reviewed 26 October 2026Pending lawyer review