WriterAccess Review: Is Writing for WriterAccess Worth It in 2024?

As mentioned, WriterAccess is a content mill. In other words, it’s a third-party platform that connects freelance writers and editors to clients who need written content.

In exchange for providing this service (which also involves maintaining the software that writers use to submit their work, brokering deals between writers and clients, processing payments, etc.), WriterAccess takes a percentage of the money that writers earn.

As a writer, the upside of using WriterAccess is that it makes it straightforward to find jobs and get paid for them.

The downside is that you have to play by WriterAccess’s rules—you’re locked into the rates they offer (which may be lower than what you could earn working independently), and you’ll be competing for jobs with the 20,000 other writers on the platform.

What kinds of jobs can you find on WriterAccess?

There are many different kinds of jobs on WriterAccess. For instance, you can get paid to create:

• SEO blog posts
• Other types of articles
• Press releases
• Scripts
• Transcriptions
• Website copy
• White papers
• Manuals and guides
• E-books
• Ad copy
• Rewrites and edits
• Speeches
• Personal statements

That’s a non-exhaustive list—you can find other types of jobs on the app.

What are the most popular jobs on WriterAccess?

Presently (as of 2024), some of the most in-demand types of content on WriterAccess are long-form guides and blog posts.

Although many writing platforms have been disrupted by AI and work has grown scarcer since the rise of ChatGPT, there’s been a recent uptick in clients seeking this type of content, as AI seems to be falling short when generating it.

Pros and cons of working for WriterAccess

As with all content mills, there are pros and cons to be aware of when working for WriterAccess.

Pros

• Remote work: WriterAccess allows you to work remotely from any location you choose. They accept freelancers from the US, Australia, Canada, the UK, Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand, and if you travel or move abroad, you can take your work with you.
• Competitive pay: WriterAccess’s pay is relatively high compared to other, similar platforms (although it isn’t particularly high in absolute terms).
• Potential for advancement: Writers on the platform are sectioned off based on skill level and ranked from 3 to 6 stars. Writers earn higher rates and gain access to more projects as they advance through the tiers.
• Learning opportunities: WriterAccess offers various webinars, courses, and other resources to help you hone your craft and develop as a writer and freelancer.

Cons

• One-and-done assessment: When you sign up, WriterAccess requires you to take an assessment, which they’ll use to assign you to a tier. You can’t retake this, so if you perform poorly, you’ll be stuck on your initial level for some time.
• Job loss to AI: As with many other freelance writing platforms, AI has greatly disrupted WriterAccess. Jobs on the platform dried up for months in 2023 following the release of ChatGPT 3, and the volume of work has yet to recover.
• Stiff competition: Relatedly, although there used to be more than enough work to go around, there are now quite a few writers on the platform competing for relatively few jobs, leading to fierce competition.
• Lack of feedback: When you apply to jobs on WriterAccess, you usually won’t get a response unless you’re hired. This means you won’t receive any feedback on your pitches, which makes it hard to know what to improve.

Briefly, jobs on WriterAccess often pay between $0.028 and $0.07 per word.

However, that’s a simplification of a rather complicated payment system. The amount of money you can make on WriterAccess depends on several factors, including:

• Your writer tier
• How much work you land
• How quickly you write
• How the jobs you take are paid

Some well-established freelancers on WriterAccess earn thousands of dollars per month, whereas others struggle to earn any money at all.

How WriterAccess calculates payments

Freelancers on WriterAccess are often paid by the word. The rate you’re eligible for depends on what “tier” you are on the platform. As mentioned, tiers range from 3 to 6 stars. We’ve listed the corresponding rates below:

• 3 stars: 2.8 cents per word
• 4 stars: 4.2 cents per word
• 5 stars: 5.6 cents per word
• 6 stars: At least 7.0 cents, but up to $150+ per word (confirmed by WriterAccess’s FAQ, although it’s very unlikely you’ll land any projects that are paid at that rate)

How these rates measure up: Especially for lower-tier writers, these rates aren’t great. If you’re on the lowest tier (3 stars), you’ll make $28 per 1,000 words. Depending on how quickly you write, this could translate to an hourly rate of $5–$14 or less.

For context, the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), a professional association of writers and editors, maintains a list of the industry standard rates for freelancers. The lowest rate they recommend is $0.09 per word, or $51–$60 per hour.

That said, the hard truth is that, especially when you’re starting out, it’s hard to qualify for rates like that. The EFA’s rates are a bit optimistic for beginners and haven’t been adjusted to account for the impact of AI on the freelance writing industry.

WriterAccess’s rates are comparable to those offered by other content mills, such as Draft, and above what you’ll find on many jobs on popular platforms, such as Upwork.

Other payment structures on WriterAccess

Not all projects are paid on a per-word basis. You’ll also find projects that:

• Pay a flat rate: Some WriterAccess clients prefer to pay by the project. When you evaluate those jobs, it’s up to you to decide whether the work is worthwhile for the price. You’ll receive the same amount no matter how little or how much you write.
• Let you set your own rate: You can also set your own rates on WriterAccess, but only on certain projects: ”casting calls,” which are open offers that anyone can apply to, and “solos,” which are offers meant for you, specifically. If you’re not sure what rates to set, ask your fellow writers, reach out to WriterAccess’s support team, or do some research to find out how much those types of jobs are worth on other platforms.

Can you receive tips on WriterAccess?

Clients who are especially impressed with your writing can send tips on top of your regular earnings. However, tipping is optional, and not all clients will do it.

On per-word projects, clients can also opt to pay you for the maximum word count even if you’ve written less than that. This is also done at their discretion.

What commission does WriterAccess take?

No matter how much you earn, WriterAccess will take 30% of the proceeds.

Virtually all content mills take a cut of your profits, but WriterAccess’s commission is relatively large (Upwork, for instance, takes just 10%).

How you’ll get paid on WriterAccess

WriterAccess offers a fast, reliable payment system. When a client places an order, the funds are held in escrow (i.e., WriterAccess holds them, pending competition of the project).

Clients have a specified timeframe during which time they can request revisions on a project; once it expires, they must approve the order. Once they do, the funds will be added to your balance.

WriterAccess is a reputable company, and this process is generally quick and goes off without any hitches.

Payment method: You’ll be paid via PayPal. This means you’ll need a PayPal account (and you must be willing to provide it to WriterAccess).

How often you’ll get paid: By default, you’ll be paid twice a month, between the 4th and 7th and then again between the 22nd and 26th. There are no fees associated with these regular payments.

However, WriterAccess also created an on-demand payment system a few years ago that allows you to withdraw cash at will for a small fee (currently $7).

Does WriterAccess offer any bonuses?

One perk of writing for WriterAccess is that they have a reward system based on how many words you complete.

You can choose to cash the rewards in for credit in WriterAccess’s store, where they sell themed merchandise to their writers, or cash. (This is an either-or choice—you can’t receive both.)

The tiers for the rewards are as follows:

You can see how the reward tiers look in the platform in the screenshot below:

Finding jobs on WriterAccess is simple. The only complicated part is sifting through the types of jobs on the platform; WriterAccess features several different “order styles,” which have colorful (but somewhat uninformative) names.

Order styles on WriterAccess

WriterAccess features four types of jobs, which are listed in the table below.

When you review a job of any type, you’ll see its word count, time commitment, and pay before you apply or claim it.

Viewing jobs on the platform

In the WriterAccess dashboard, you can view how many jobs of each type are currently available to you.

When there are open jobs, you can click into the next screen to review them. You can see how this looks in the screenshot below, which shows four open casting calls (we’ve anonymized the image for the clients’ privacy).

In the beginning, you’ll land most of your jobs by pitching to clients who sent out casting calls or crowd orders.

Once you’ve spent a while on the platform and have forged relationships with a few clients, you’ll hopefully transition to getting most of your work from love lists and solos. This is the key to succeeding on WriterAccess—it lets you cut through the usual competition and land jobs without having to fight for them.

Note that clients can also discover your profile on WriterAccess’s marketplace and reach out to chat with you and offer you projects directly, although with 20,000 writers on the platform, this probably won’t happen very often.

How completing jobs works

Once you’ve accepted a job, you’ll typically have anywhere from a couple of days to a week to complete it.

It’s up to you to ask any questions required to complete the order promptly. You’ll submit your work through WriterAccess’s content management system, and if all goes well, the client will approve it and you’ll get paid.

However, if the client isn’t satisfied with your first draft, they may ask for a revision. Again, it’s up to you to complete any revisions within the specified time period, which varies from job to job but is 10 days by default.

Once you’ve finished each revision, the client has a specified number of days to approve the order. If they do not respond or request a revision, their money will be released from escrow and you’ll be paid once this timeframe ends.

Advancing through WriterAccess’s tier system

As you complete orders, WriterAccess will advance you through its tier system based on your performance. Your tier is very important—it determines what orders you’re eligible to claim, and climbing to the next tier makes it possible to earn more for less work.

When evaluating whether or not to bump you up to the next tier, WriterAccess will look at:

• How many orders you complete
• Your reviews and ratings
• How often clients request revisions of your work
• How often you request extensions

Your evaluations will largely be automated, performed by WriterAccess’s algorithm. However, you can also request a manual review if you think you deserve to be bumped up to the next tier.

How hard is it to climb the ranks on WriterAccess?

Climbing from one tier to the next often takes months, and can take over a year. Because it’s such a time-consuming process, it’s very important to take your initial evaluation seriously; it will affect your earnings for a long time to come.

That said, how hard or easy it is to advance depends heavily on your skill level, as well as how lucky you are with the clients you land. If you receive negative ratings, rarely use the platform, or regularly request extensions on your assignments, your advancement on WriterAccess will be slower.

WriterAccess also has an extensive penalty system that doles out penalties based on the severity and frequency of the infraction.

If you receive too many “Did Not Meet Requirements” ratings, fail to submit assignments, or request too many extensions in a short period of time, you may also be dropped to a lower rating or even suspended from the platform.

Landing work on WriterAccess can be easy or difficult, depending on how established you are. As you’re probably gathering, the key is to reach a high tier and build strong relationships with as many clients as possible.

If you manage to get added to several love lists or receive a lot of solo orders, you’ll get plenty of offers for work.

On the other hand, if you rely solely on crowd orders, you’ll have a much harder time. These orders tend to go extremely quickly, as many people claim multiple at a time and word about them travels fast.

The impact of AI on WriterAccess

Unfortunately, with the rise of AI-generated content, work on WriterAccess is a lot scarcer than it used to be, and writers are forced to cater to clients who may question their work and integrity based on flawed AI detectors.

Despite this, WriterAccess still has more pitch-free work available than other platforms, such as Draft, and often offers better-paying jobs than Upwork and CrowdContent. Depending on your niches and ability to pivot as needed, you may still be able to earn a decent living on the platform.

Signing up for WriterAccess is a relatively simple process. You sign up with an email of your choice, submit a writing sample, and take a written assessment. This is a relatively short quiz (around 15–20 minutes) that includes questions on grammar, spelling, stylistic issues, and SEO.

From there, your submission will be reviewed and you’ll either be accepted or rejected. Again, you only have one shot at this, so it’s a good idea to start your application when you’re at your best and have time to concentrate. There are no do-overs.

If you’re accepted, you’ll be assigned a star rating based on your performance and granted access to the platform.

Once you are, you must fill out your profile. You’ll need to add:

• A headshot
• Links to writing samples
• Any credentials you have (degrees, certifications, etc.)
• Your areas of expertise (so that clients know which projects you’ll be a good fit for)

You’ll also need to add your PayPal email so that you can get paid. This doesn’t have to be the same email that you used to sign up.

Where to sign up

Sign Up with WriterAccess

Whether or not this platform is worth your time and effort depends on your work preferences, skill level, and circumstances.

WriterAccess is a reputable platform that’s been in existence for over a decade. The pay on the platform isn’t amazing, but it’s competitive with other content mills.

Once you’re established and have built relationships with several clients on WriterAccess, you can earn a decent income from your work, although it might take some time to get to that point.

Who is WriterAccess best for?

WriterAccess is a solid platform for writers of all skill levels who are looking to supplement their income and gain writing skills and experience.

However, it’s best not to put all your eggs in one basket. Thanks to the rise of AI, content mills are more volatile than ever; there’s no telling whether the work on WriterAccess will remain constant or dry up.

You can go from thriving and making thousands of dollars per month to earning little to nothing very quickly.

In other words, this platform is best for those looking to make a little extra money from their writing—but if you’re hoping to use WriterAccess as your sole source of work and income, be careful. That’s a risky proposition, and it’s better to spread your work across multiple websites to protect yourself.