Freelance writer rate calculator
Find your hourly floor first, then turn it into a per-word or per-project price that actually pays.
Your numbers
Annual figures. Be honest about billable hours.
"Billable hours" should exclude admin, sales, and downtime — most full-timers bill far fewer hours than they work.
Track billable hours and turn them into invoices automatically with FreshBooks.
What writers should factor in
Writers are often quoted per word or per article, but those only make sense once you know your hourly floor. A '$0.10 per word' rate sounds fine until a 1,000-word piece eats a day of research and edits.
Track how long pieces really take — research, interviews, and revisions included — and back into a per-word or per-project price from the hourly rate below. Don't forget expenses like research tools, a portfolio site, and subscriptions.
Frequently asked
Estimate how many finished words you produce per hour for a given type of piece (including research and edits), then divide your hourly floor by that number. Familiar topics justify a lower per-word rate; heavy-research pieces need a higher one.
Most full-time freelancers bill 20–30 hours a week once admin, sales, and downtime are removed — not 40. Be conservative here or you'll underprice.
Commonly cited figures put the U.S. average around $48 an hour, but it varies hugely by field, experience, and location. Treat it as a sanity check, not a target.