How MOA helps interior designers win clients, commission-free

On MOA, a homeowner finds an interior designer by opening the Interior Designers directory, picking their city, reading a few profiles and projects, and pressing Get a quote on the one they like. The enquiry reaches you as a conversation on MOA, and MOA takes no commission on the work that follows. This guide walks through that journey screen by screen, and shows what you can do on the free plan at each step so that the homeowner picks you.

About this guide: every screen and feature described here was checked on memberofarchitecture.com on 18 Oct 2026. If the site changes, the site is right. The tips and the sample bio and reply are our guidance, not MOA rules, and MOA does not promise any number of views, enquiries or projects.

If you have not made a profile yet, our guides to creating a winning MOA profile and publishing your projects cover the sign-up and upload steps. This post looks at your profile from the homeowner's side.

The five steps from a homeowner's first visit to your reply, and what you control at each one on the free plan. Diagram: MOA

Step 1: the homeowner opens the directory

The Interior Designers page opens with the heading "Discover & Connect with Interior Designers" and one line under it: "Transparent, commission-free connections." Below that sit two boxes, Enter Location and Enter Budget.

A homeowner in Jaipur types the first letters of the city, picks it from the list, and the page narrows to designers who list Jaipur on their profile. Each designer appears as a card with a profile picture, name, studio name, the cities they work in and a View Profile button. A link at the bottom, "Browse more Interior Designers", leads to further pages.

Screenshot of the MOA Interior Designers page. The heading reads Discover and Connect with Interior Designers, with the line Work directly with interior designers who understand your vision. Transparent, commission-free connections. On the right, the Enter Location filter is open, Jaipu has been typed into the city search, and Jaipur, RJ is offered under Cities. An Enter Budget box sits beside it. — The Interior Designers directory with the location filter open. Picking a city narrows the list to designers who list that city on their profile. Screenshot: MOA

Some homeowners start from the work instead: on Explore Projects, each card shows a project's name, city and studio. Either way, they end up on a profile.

What you can do on the free plan

List only the cities you really take work in. The card shows them and the city filter uses them.
Use the studio name clients will look for, the same one as on Instagram, Google and your visiting card.
Choose a clear profile picture. A sharp headshot or a clean logo reads better at card size than a busy site photo.

Step 2: they read your profile

The top of a profile shows your name, studio, cities, a "Completed Projects" count and a badge (registered architects show "COA Verified"; interior designers show "Interior Designer"). Next to them are two buttons, Get a quote and Follow, and below are two tabs: All Projects and About.

The About tab shows, in this order:

About the Interior Designer: your bio.
Consultation fees (per/sq. feet): shown as, for example, "₹500 / sq.feet".
Office in: your cities.
Services Offered: the services you ticked.
Total Projects Completed.
Social: links to your website, LinkedIn, Behance, Medium, ArchDaily, Instagram or Twitter, if you added them.

Empty fields are not hidden. A missing bio shows "No bio provided", a missing fee shows "Not specified", and a profile with no projects shows "No projects yet". A homeowner comparing three studios notices which one left the boxes blank.

What you can do on the free plan

Write a bio a homeowner can act on. In three or four sentences, say who you design for, where, what kind of projects, and how you work.
Fill in the fee. The field takes a rate per sq ft. If you charge a percentage or a lump sum, give your usual starting rate and say in the bio what it covers. Our guide to per sq ft and percentage fees helps you set it.
Tick only the services you deliver, such as interior designing, furniture design, 3D rendering or design consultancy.
Use the right title. Only people registered with the Council of Architecture may call themselves architects, so write "interior designer". Our guide to starting an interior design business explains why.

A sample bio, written for this post and not taken from any member: "Studio of two in Pune designing 2BHK and 3BHK flats for young families, from layout and kitchens to loose furniture. We offer design only, or design with site supervision. The first meeting is at your flat, with the floor plan."

Step 3: they open your projects

Every project has its own page. At the top is a Project details grid: project name, studio, design style, client, built year, built-up and carpet area in sq ft, and location. Below it is a Project description, then a gallery where each image can carry a caption.

Screenshot of a project page on MOA. A Project details grid lists Project, Architect, Studio, Design (Contemporary), Client, Built Year (2023), Built-up (4500 sq ft), Carpet (2200 sq ft) and Location (Jaipur). Below it a Project description box holds a paragraph about the home, followed by a gallery of interior images captioned Informal Living and Bedroom. — How a project page is laid out: a details grid, a written description and a captioned gallery. The example is Sam's House on the profile of MOA's founder. Screenshot: MOA

The free plan allows up to 5 projects, enough if you choose them with care.

What you can do on the free plan

Pick five that match the clients you want. If most of your enquiries should be 2BHK and 3BHK flats, show two or three flats, then one larger home and one kitchen or commercial space for range.
Fill every detail field. Carpet area lets a homeowner compare the project with their own flat. Location tells them you have worked near them.
Write the description as a short story: the brief, the constraint, what you changed and the main materials.
Caption each image with the room ("Living", "Kitchen", "Master bedroom"), so the gallery reads like a walk through the home.
Say when an image is a render. MOA's terms ask members not to post false or misleading information.
Get the client's agreement first. Ask before you show their home, and before you put their name in the Client field. "Private residence" works when they would rather not be named.

Step 4: they press Get a quote

When the homeowner presses Get a quote, MOA asks them to sign in with Google if they have not already. Then a short form opens with your photo, name and studio at the top and three questions:

Please Explain Your Project. The box prompts them to describe their requirements, the area, what they want designed, the number of storeys and the interiors of each space.
Select the services. They choose up to two.
What is your budget for the whole project, in rupees.

After they send it, they see "Your query has been sent" and a View Conversation button. If they come back to your profile and press Get a quote again, MOA tells them a quote has already been sent and points them to the conversation. So the first exchange is the one that counts.

How the enquiry reaches you

MOA notifies you of the new enquiry with the homeowner's name, the services they chose, their budget and their project description, plus a link to the conversation. On your Inquiries page, each conversation opens with the description, the "Services Required" and the "Budget", and you reply right there.

There is nothing to pay for this. MOA's Pro page lists "Commission-free client inquiries" in the free column, and there is no charge per enquiry. You agree the fee and the contract with the homeowner directly, and MOA takes no share of it.

Step 5: your reply decides the rest

A good first reply has five parts (our guidance):

Restate the brief in one line: "A 3BHK in Baner, about 1,250 sq ft carpet, kitchen and wardrobes first, budget ₹12 lakh."
Ask two or three questions the form did not cover: possession date, whether they want design only or design with execution, and the locality.
Say how you charge in one sentence, matching the fee on your profile.
Point to one project on your profile that is closest to what they described.
Propose the next step: a call or a site visit, with two time slots.

If the budget cannot cover the scope, say so kindly and suggest what it can cover.

Treat the homeowner's details with care. Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, personal data someone gives you voluntarily for a purpose may be used for that purpose; the Act's own example is a broker who must stop using a client's details once she says she no longer needs help (Section 7). Our reading, not legal advice: reply about their project, and do not add their number to broadcast lists.

If a conversation moves to WhatsApp, the WhatsApp Business app can store up to 50 quick replies for answers you send often.

Bring homeowners to your profile yourself

The directory is one way in. Your profile also has its own address, memberofarchitecture.com/user/your-name, which you can share wherever people already find you:

Instagram: Instagram lets you add up to five links to your profile, from Edit profile, then Links.
Google Business Profile: add the link in the website field. Google advises making your business information "as complete as possible" and says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.
Proposals, quotations and your email signature.

Our guide to how interior designers get clients in India shows how referrals, Instagram, Google and portfolio platforms fit together.

What MOA Pro adds

The journey above works the same on both plans, and enquiries are commission-free on both. MOA Pro (₹99 + GST for the first month, then ₹399 + GST a month, cancel anytime) adds reach and insight:

Featured in your region: shown on the home page of people browsing MOA from your state, rotated fairly every day.
City promotion: 60 credits a month to promote your profile or a project in up to three chosen cities. One credit is one city for one day.
In-depth analytics: which cities your profile is viewed from, how many people open each project and how long visitors stay. The free plan has no analytics.
Unlimited projects, the video-led Aveno theme, job posts, a team of up to 20, AI credits when MOA's AI tools launch and a monthly article about your studio.

Our post "MOA Pro explained: everything in the ₹399 plan, and who it is for" covers each feature in detail.

FAQ

Does MOA take a commission from interior designers?

No. Client enquiries on MOA are commission-free on the free plan and on Pro. You agree your fee with the homeowner directly, and there is no charge per enquiry.

How do clients contact an interior designer on MOA?

They press Get a quote on your profile, sign in, describe the project, choose up to two services and give a budget. You are notified, and you reply in the conversation on your Inquiries page.

Is MOA free for interior designers?

Yes. The free plan includes a professional profile and portfolio, commission-free client enquiries and up to 5 project uploads. MOA Pro is optional, at ₹99 + GST for the first month and ₹399 + GST a month after that.

How do I show up when someone looks for designers in my city on MOA?

Add that city to your profile. The city filter on the Interior Designers page lists designers who name the city on their profile. Pro adds regional featuring and city promotion on top.

Put your portfolio on MOA, free: create your profile, or see how other studios present their work in the interior designers directory.

Sources

MOA: Interior Designers directory, city filter and profile pages (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
MOA: MOA Pro, features and Free vs Pro table (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
MOA: Terms and Conditions (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology: The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (Section 7) (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
Instagram Help Centre: Add a website to your Instagram profile (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
WhatsApp Help Center: How to use quick replies (accessed 18 Oct 2026)