Freelance Writing Rates: Per Word, Per Project, Per Hour (2026)

The short answer

Freelance writing commonly runs $0.10 to $0.30 a word for solid commercial work, rising to $1.00+ a word for specialized, expert, or high-conversion copy. A typical blog post lands somewhere between $150 and $800, and experienced writers bill $50 to $150+ an hour when they bill by time.

The three ways writers price

• Per word: the industry shorthand, easy to quote, $0.10 to $1.00+.
• Per project: a flat fee for the whole piece, the most profitable model.
• Per hour: simplest for edits and open-ended work, $50 to $150+.

Why per-project beats per-word

Per-word pricing quietly punishes you for getting better and faster. A sales page that converts is worth far more than its word count, but a per-word rate caps it at the words on the page. Quote the project as a flat fee tied to the value it creates, and your speed becomes profit instead of a pay cut.

What moves your rate up

• Topic complexity and the research or expertise required.
• Content type: a blog post and a whitepaper are not the same job.
• Whether the writing has to convert (sales copy is a premium tier).
• Strategy, interviews, SEO, and revisions bundled in.

Set your rate with the calculator

If you are guessing, you are almost certainly low. Use the free calculator to turn your per-word number into a defensible per-project quote, then anchor every proposal to that flat fee instead of the word count.