Freelance Rates

It’s difficult to know how much to expect when freelancing, especially when starting out. And when you don’t know how much to expect, you usually end up worse off.

For the past five years, we’ve been compiling rates, sent to us anonymously by lovely people like you. And now we’ve got thousands of them, so you know what to ask for or where to pitch. Please let us know what you’ve got paid in the past here – it really helps the rest of us out.

We’d also recommend taking a look at the NUJ freelance fees guide, to give you a measure of what’s acceptable and what isn’t. To give you a quick summary they advise:

  • £160 a day for online news shifts or £170 a day at newspapers
  • £150 a day for subbing shifts
  • £90 for a commissioned online blog post
  • £310 per 1,000 words broadsheet print newspaper
  • £1000+ page lead in tabloid print newspaper

Have you worked somewhere freelance? Give us an anonymous tip-off on how much you got paid and help everyone get a better deal.

Last updated November 6, 2022.