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Copywriter rates in the UK centre on a day rate: freelance copywriters charge between 300 and 1,800 pounds a day, with a median of 440 pounds, according to the 2026 survey of 383 freelancers by ProCopywriters. In Belgium, where we work, a freelance copywriter charges around 50 euro an hour, experienced writers who price by the word ask 0.07 to 0.25 euro per word, and a finished text takes about four hours. A blog post or web page therefore usually costs 70 to 250 euro, and a ten-page website a few thousand.
Those numbers mean little without knowing what is included: research into your buyers, search terms, an interview, rounds of feedback. This guide sets out the three ways copywriters charge, works through a blog post, a web page and a full site, and shows where you can save without weakening the text. What good copywriting does is in its glossary entry.
Three ways copywriters charge
| Model | Typical rate | Upside | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per day | UK: 300 to 1,800 pounds, median 440 | matches how experienced writers work | agree the output per day up front |
| Per hour | Belgium: around 50 euro for a freelance copywriter; Belgian freelancers overall 71 to 90 euro median | you pay for the time it really takes | without an estimate you do not know where you end up |
| Per word | 0.07 to 0.25 euro for an experienced writer in Belgium | easy to compare | rewards length rather than a text that works |
| Per page or project | a fixed price per page, article or site | you know the cost up front | ask what is included: research, keywords, feedback rounds |
ProCopywriters notes that per-word pricing is common in content mills but rare among experienced writers, because it rewards length. Treat a per-word quote as a signal about the kind of work you are buying. The same holds in Belgium and the Netherlands: the more experienced the writer, the more often the price is per text or per day.
One 1,000-word text, three ways of charging
Per word, 0.07 to 0.25 euro70 to 250 euro
the widest range: from volume work to an experienced writer
Per hour, 4 hours at 50 euro200 euro
a Belgian freelance copywriter, with the average time per text
Per hour, 4 hours at 71 to 90 euro284 to 360 euro
the median hourly rate of Belgian freelancers overall
What copy costs per type of text
Our own worked example with the Belgian market rates above, before VAT. A finished text takes about four hours on average, more with interviews or heavy research. For a UK writer, divide a day rate by the texts they finish in a day.
| Text | Length | Per word, 0.07 to 0.25 euro | Per hour, at 50 euro | What is usually included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blog post | 1,000 words | 70 to 250 euro | 200 euro for 4 hours | topic, keywords, one feedback round |
| Service page | 500 words | 35 to 125 euro | 150 to 200 euro for 3 to 4 hours | knowing your buyer, finding proof, a call to action |
| Homepage | 400 to 700 words | 28 to 175 euro | 200 to 400 euro | positioning, main services, feedback rounds |
| Ten-page website | 5,000 words | 350 to 1,250 euro | 1,500 to 2,000 euro for 30 to 40 hours | structure, keywords per page, interviews |
The gap between the columns is not an error: a writer charging 0.07 euro per word rarely does keyword research or an interview. Compare what happens before writing starts, not just the price.
What drives copywriter rates
- ResearchCopy built on your buyers' search terms needs search work first.
- Your sectorLegal, medical or technical copy takes longer to get right.
- InterviewsCopy about your work is better when the writer talks to you, and that takes hours.
- LanguagesEach language is its own text with its own search terms, not a translation.
- Feedback roundsAsk how many are included.
- SeniorityProCopywriters' range from 300 to 1,800 pounds a day is mostly experience and specialism.
Copywriter, AI or write it yourself?
AI writes a first draft in seconds. That makes a poor text cheap, not a good one. What a copywriter adds is knowing what your buyer needs to hear, what sets you apart and which words they type into Google; the typing was never the expensive part. Use AI to work faster, not to skip the thinking. What makes copy strong for search engines and AI assistants is in how to get found in ChatGPT.
- Write it yourself ifyou explain your trade well, have time and mostly need short texts.
- Hire a freelance copywriter ifyou want a steady voice for blogs or newsletters and supply the topics yourself.
- Have copy written as part of your site ifpages must target search terms, in several languages, and work with the design; see SEO copywriting.
If you need more than copy, what a marketer or an agency costs is in hire a marketer and digital agency cost.
What to give a copywriter
A good brief is the cheapest part of a text: every hour the writer does not spend searching is an hour you do not pay for. One page is usually enough.
| What you supply | Why it saves money |
|---|---|
| Who the text is for, and what they want to know | the writer does not have to guess your buyer |
| What sets you apart from three competitors, with their sites | no copy that sounds like everyone else's |
| Your proof: numbers, projects, reviews you may use | finding proof takes the most hours |
| The search terms, if you already have them | otherwise the work starts with keyword research |
| What the reader should do next | call, request a quote, buy |
| Who approves the copy, and how many rounds | two rounds with one person beats five with three |
Agree on the format too: a document with headings and meta title, or straight into your site. The latter saves a step, but the writer then needs access to your CMS. Finally, ask who owns the copy after payment; with a freelancer or an agency, that should be you.
A good copywriter asks questions when something is missing from your brief. If they do not, and deliver copy that would fit any competitor, another feedback round will not fix it: the research is missing. On a first job, ask for one page first and decide on the rest of the site afterwards. That way you pay for a trial, not for ten pages you have to rewrite.
How to save without weakening the copy
- Supply the facts yourself: services, prices, proof, clients. Searching costs a writer the most time.
- Start with the pages that sell: services and homepage, not the about page.
- Ask for a fixed price per page with a clear brief and two feedback rounds.
- Reuse: a strong service page also becomes a newsletter, a post and an FAQ answer.
How we write copy
We do not charge by the hour or sell words. We write copy as part of a site or a growth project: first your buyers' search terms, then a page per question. That is how we wrote guides, pay-scale pages and city pages in four languages for Business Centrum, a payroll office in Ghent, whose site went from 220 to 10,200 impressions a day in Google in the first five weeks; see the Business Centrum case. From Ghent, Belgium, we work for businesses across Europe; how we work with search terms is on SEO.
Copywriter rates per hour, word and day
What are copywriter rates per hour?
In Belgium a freelance copywriter charges around 50 euro an hour. In the UK most freelancers quote a day rate instead, between 300 and 1,800 pounds with a median of 440 pounds in 2026.
What are copywriter rates in the UK?
According to ProCopywriters' 2026 survey of 383 freelancers, most charge 300 to 1,800 pounds a day, with a median of 440 pounds.
What are copywriter rates per word?
Experienced writers in Belgium charge 0.07 to 0.25 euro per word. Per-word pricing is common for volume content and rarer among senior writers.
What do freelance copywriter rates depend on?
Experience, sector, research, interviews, languages and the number of feedback rounds. Compare what is included, not just the rate.
Do I still need a copywriter with AI?
For a first draft, not always. For copy that persuades your buyers and targets their search terms, yes: AI does not do the thinking about what your buyer needs to hear.