How Much Do Freelance Writers Make?

We’ll jump right into it and tell you that many freelance writers earn $20–$30 per hour. According to Indeed, the average hourly rate for freelance writers is $25.02, whereas ZipRecruiter reports a slightly lower figure of $23 per hour (data current as of March 2024).

However, those figures come with a couple of caveats:

• The rates on employment websites like Indeed aren’t always accurate, especially for freelancers. In our experience, the figures we just listed are reasonable—but in general, you should take rates that you read online with a grain of salt.
• Those numbers mask a wide range of rates and salaries. Freelancers who are just starting out often earn under $20 per hour, whereas many experienced and specialized writers are able to earn $100+ per hour.

What’s more, many freelance writers prefer not to charge by the hour, something that we’ll elaborate on below.

Average per-word rates

It’s common for freelance writers to charge by the word rather than per hour. Here’s how much writers often make with a per-word model, broken down by experience level:

• Beginning writers: Freelancers who are new to the industry often charge around $0.08 to $0.13 per word. Rates below that are quite poor and you should think very carefully before accepting them.
• Intermediate writers: Writers with several years of experience typically charge higher rates, often between $0.14 to $0.20 per word.
• Advanced or specialized writers: Veteran writers often charge between $0.20 and $0.50 per word or even more. It’s easier to command rates like this if you can specialize in a technical field that not all freelancers have the expertise to write about, such as law or medicine.

Do your own rates have to match the industry-wide averages?

You don’t necessarily need to set your own rates in line with the averages we just listed. We collaborated on this article with Alina Bradford, a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience, who told us that skilled and motivated writers can often start by charging higher rates.

“New writers don’t really need to worry about charging less because they’re new, in my opinion,” she said. “Nobody needs to know that you’re new. Plus, good ideas and skill can often trump experience. … I can’t tell you not to take on jobs that pay a measly $0.08 to $0.13 per word, but if your work is good and you hustle, you can get paid more than that, even as a beginner.”

We’ll elaborate on how to set fair and realistic rates (with more advice from Bradford) further down in this article.

Standard rates according to the Editorial Freelancers Association

The Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), a professional organization for writers and editors, maintains a page that lists the industry standard rates for both freelance editors and writers, broken down on both a per-word and per-hour basis.

Bradford weighed in on their figures, saying, “I think in some areas, the rates are a good representation of what you could earn, but it varies wildly depending on your location and the client.”

You may be able to use the EFA’s page as a tool to negotiate with clients—but don’t rely on that. Bradford told us that personally, she doesn’t find lists like that particularly helpful, adding that “No matter what type of writing you do, there are going to be clients that want to pay pennies and those that want to pay the big bucks. It all depends on how much the client values the writing.”

Can you really make a living as a freelance writer?

Yes, it’s possible to make a living as a freelance writer, and many people do. Established writers often make between $50,000 and $70,000 per year, assuming a full-time schedule.

That said, virtually no freelance writers start out at that level. You need to give yourself time to establish your reputation and land regular, high-paying clients.

As Bradford put it, “A lot of people get discouraged if they aren’t full-time within a few months. It’s not going to happen that quickly.”

She noted that in the beginning, even if writing is your main focus, you’ll need to have other side hustles to support yourself. “While I was coming up, I worked part-time at a call center, designed logos for small businesses, babysat … the list goes on,” she said. “The main thing was that writing was my career and I did what I needed to support that goal.”

Check out our list of remote jobs that you can do with no experience if you’re looking for work that you can do from your home office and can easily juggle with your writing career.

As mentioned, freelance writers can choose to charge their clients in a few different ways, each of which has its pros and cons. Here are the most common payment structures:

Per word

Many freelance writers prefer to charge on a per-word basis. This is a transparent pricing model with several clear advantages.

As a freelancer, it means you’ll earn more as you get faster at writing. It also makes it easy to calculate your total fee once you’re done with each assignment, and once your client accepts your work and you complete any revisions they ask for, there’s very little room for disagreement over how much it will all cost.

However, with this model, your research and writing time won’t be accounted for. You won’t get paid for the extra hours you put into researching each piece—or, for that matter, for the time you spend proofreading.

This method also isn’t suitable for smaller projects, such as posts for social media, which usually aren’t very long but still take time to produce because each word has to be carefully considered.

Per page

This is similar to a per-word pricing model. It isn’t as common, but some writers prefer it for certain types of projects, such as white papers.

If you opt for this payment structure, be sure to clarify exactly what counts as a “page” (i.e., how many words one is). In the publishing industry, for instance, one manuscript page is generally assumed to be about 250 words.

Per project

You can also charge by the project (i.e., by setting a flat rate for an article with a predetermined scope).

This is the pricing model that Alina Bradford prefers. “I use per project because I can bake my time writing and researching all into one price,” she told us.

With this system, you and your client will both have clarity on what the final price will be from the very beginning. You can factor the extra legwork (research time, etc.) into it, and you won’t be penalized for writing concisely. (With a per-word or per-page rate, that can be an issue with projects that require a no-frills writing style, since the more effort you put into cutting down your word count, the less you’ll get paid.)

The downside of this model is that if your project runs unexpectedly long, either in terms of word count or the time you spend on it, you’ll be locked into the initial price you settled on.

Note that charging per project doesn’t necessarily mean haggling over one project at a time. You can also offer a package deal or a retainer rate, which is a good option for clients you expect to work with on a longer-term basis. (Some writers offer discounts to clients who hire them for more than one project at a time.)

Per hour

The advantage of setting an hourly rate is that you won’t lose out if your final product ends up being relatively short but still takes a lot of time and effort to produce.

However, charging by the hour can be challenging, particularly for new writers who are still finding their feet. Most clients will want at least an idea of what the final price will end up being, which can be hard to estimate if you don’t have much experience calculating how long writing projects will take.

Bradford said she wasn’t a fan of charging this way.

“I think setting rates by ‘per hour’ doesn’t work for the freelance writer,” she told us bluntly. She said that per-hour rates usually aren’t as lucrative as per-project rates and that there are downsides to “cluing your client into just how long it takes you to write an article.”

“You only take an hour to write this article? Then I shouldn’t have to pay you much because it was obviously easy for you,” she said. “At least that’s what clients think. They don’t take into consideration the experience and talent it takes to write an article in an hour, or two, or however long it takes you.”

What should you do if your client prefers a different pricing model?

Regardless of what you decide your own preference is, you’ll probably sometimes encounter clients who prefer a different pricing structure.

That’s “no problem,” Bradford said, because it’s easy to convert rates from one model to another. She gave us a few examples to show how this works:

• If your per-project rate for a 1,200 article is $400, coming up with a per-word rate is as simple as dividing $400 by 1,200. That yields a rate of $0.33 per word.
• To get a per-hour rate for the same project, estimate roughly how long it will take. For instance, if it typically takes you about 3 hours to write a 1,200-word article, just divide $400 by 3, yielding a rate of $133 per hour.

To do this, you need to be cognizant of how long particular types of projects usually take you. Your sense of that will develop naturally as you gain experience.

As a freelance writer, there are a few different things to consider when setting your rates:

Your experience level

For many writers, this is the main factor that determines how much they’re able to ask for from their clients. The longer you’ve been working, the more you’ll usually be able to charge.

That said, as Bradford noted, you shouldn’t lowball yourself just because you’re a beginner. Your clients don’t necessarily have to know that you’re new—if you create an impressive portfolio with plenty of work that showcases your skills, clients who value great writing will be willing to pay you well, even if your actual track record as a freelancer isn’t that long.

It’s also worth noting that your experience as a writer isn’t the only factor. If you’re a well-known name in your industry—for instance, if you’re an established attorney and you mainly want to write legal content—you’ll also be able to charge more for your services.

Your niche and area of expertise

Some industries and specializations pay more than others. As a rule, the more challenging and technical the industry, the more you can earn for writing about it. For instance, you can generally set high rates if you’re able to write about:

• Engineering and technology
• Law
• Medicine

Your level of education is a factor here, too. You don’t have to have a degree (or any formal qualifications at all) to become a freelance writer, but if you want to produce work for a medical journal, they might expect you to actually have a medical degree, and so on.

The research the project requires

Not all projects are created equal. Some are simple and can be written with relatively little thought, but others will require hours of research and planning before you can even start writing.

If a project is research-intensive, make sure to factor that into your rates, whatever pricing model you choose.

How easy you are to work with

Your actual work isn’t the only thing that matters. Bradford told us that in her experience, clients are willing to pay a premium for “easy writers”—in other words, for ones who are easy to work with.

Bradford shared several tips on how to be an “easy writer”:

• Do: Always turn in your copy on time.
• Do: Turn in your copy with very few spelling or grammar errors (i.e., proofread your work).
• Don’t: Get offended if your copy is heavily edited or your client sends it back for revisions.
• Don’t: Expect clients to hold your hand through the writing process.

Bradford elaborated on the last point by saying, “If you don’t know how to add a photo to WordPress, don’t ask your client. Google it.” She also advised not getting emotionally invested in your projects: “As long as you get paid, let it go. Your words aren’t precious babies.”

These tips might seem simple, but not all writers manage to clear this bar. If you do your best to make working with you pleasant instead of frustrating, you’ll be able to charge more.

Your expenses

If there are any added expenses associated with a project, account for those as well. For instance, if your client expects you to meet them in person to discuss the work, consider the time that will take and the cost of transportation to and from that meeting.

Realistically, you also need to consider your everyday financial situation when you set your rates. Even if freelance writing is something that you’re pursuing out of passion for the work rather than purely for the money, you need to make sure your operation is financially viable so that you’ll be able to sustain it in the long term.

Bradford noted that the cost of living in your area will heavily affect this. “Say you charge $100 for a blog post,” she said. If that post takes you 5 hours to write, you’re making $20 per hour. “That’s pretty good in some areas of the country, and in some areas that’s not a livable wage.”

There’s no one right way to charge for your work as a freelancer. That said, when you’re just entering the business, you’ll probably have an easier time if you follow the guidelines below.

1. Start by charging by the word or by the project

As mentioned, each freelance writing pricing model has its pros and cons. That said, charging on a per-word or per-project basis is quite popular, and for good reason—it’s extremely simple. What you see is exactly what you (and your client) will get.

As a newcomer to the field, simple is good. It makes it easy to negotiate with your clients, which leaves you with more time to focus on what matters most: your actual writing.

Most major freelance writing platforms also make it fairly easy to adopt a per-word or per-project pricing model, which isn’t the case for every option we’ve mentioned. In particular, charging by the hour can sometimes be logistically difficult (and some platforms will require you to download time-tracking software to do it).

2. Research what other writers in your niche are charging

Different kinds of projects command different rates. The ranges we listed above hold true for most types of content, but if you end up specializing in a particular niche, it’s worth doing some additional research to find out whether there are any special conventions that govern pricing for it.

Popular freelance writing niches include:

• Content marketing and SEO
• Email marketing
• White papers
• SEO blog posts
• Advertising copy
• E-books
• Press releases
• Technical writing or instruction manuals
• Ghostwriting
• Journalism / newspaper articles
• Magazine articles
• Social media content
• Speeches
• Academic papers
• Research reports

Before applying for jobs in any given niche, spend an hour or two snooping around on various freelance writing websites to see how much other writers charge for them. This will give you an idea of whether or not your intended pricing is realistic.

3. Don’t undervalue yourself

Although you may be tempted to charge low rates in the beginning, make sure you’re valuing your time and labor appropriately.

There are clients and employers out there who hire writers to produce content extremely cheaply (paying $0.01–$0.03 per word or even less), but these rates are low enough that most reputable writers refuse to even consider them.

When a client isn’t willing to go any higher than this, it’s a sign that they don’t particularly care about the quality of the work they receive and that they aren’t interested in building long-term relationships with their freelancers. The upshot is that their assignments won’t do much to benefit your freelance writing career. Working for these clients won’t look great on your resume, and they won’t be interested in paying you more once you gain more experience.

To reiterate, Bradford said that even newcomers may be able to get away with charging decent rates, as long as they find the right clients.

“Some clients think writing is easy and that anyone can do it, so they pay very little,” she said. “The clients who know that good writing can elevate their brand pay well.”

4. Don’t forget to raise your rates over time

Regardless of the rates you set in the beginning, remember that you aren’t locked into them.

As you gain more experience and forge more industry connections (making it easier to find clients and land jobs), you’ll want to gradually boost your prices. There’s no right or wrong time to do this, but many writers revisit how much they charge around once per year. Bradford told us she does it “every year or two.”

If you’ve never negotiated your pay with an employer or client before, this might be intimidating the first time you have to do it. However, it’s very common in the freelance writing industry, and reputable clients generally won’t be shocked or put off by it.

Bradford said that she recommends charging your revised rates to completely new clients. After you build up a base of clients that are comfortable with your new rates, you can notify your old ones. “If they don’t like that, you can drop them as a client without too much damage to your income,” she said.

Losing clients because you hiked your prices might seem scary, but it’s a possibility you’ll need to get comfortable with if you want to be compensated fairly for your work. Bradford pointed out that if you try to churn out a large volume of content for poor or mediocre pay—a tactic favored by many novice freelancers—it’s easy to burn out.

“Looking for clients that valued good writing was key to taking my earnings to the next level,” she said.