Copywriting Rates Calculator: Per Word, Per Hour and Per Project

What this tells you

Copywriting priced per word undercharges for short, high-stakes copy and overcharges for long, easy copy. Price the project from the hours it takes: research and briefing, drafting at your real words-per-hour speed, and revision rounds, multiplied by your hourly rate. The calculator then shows what that works out to per word, so you can quote either way.

Pricing · free tool

Copywriting rates calculator

1200

Landing page ~800, sales page ~3,000

400

Finished, edited words

4 h

Calls, customer research, competitor review

2

Put this number in the proposal

1.5 h

Feedback, edits, re-checks

$90

From the freelance rate calculator

15%

On top of your hourly pay

At those numbers

Total hours
10 h
Charge for the project
$1,059
Works out per word
$1

This is arithmetic on the numbers you entered, nothing here is a forecast or a promise about results.

The formula

writing hours = words ÷ words per hour · total hours = research + writing + rounds × hours per round · price = total hours × hourly rate ÷ (1 − margin) · per word = price ÷ words

How to read the result

  • Short copy like a landing page or ad set comes out at a high per-word rate, and that is correct: the thinking, not the typing, is the work.
  • If your per-word figure is under $0.10, you are pricing like a content mill. Raise the rate or cut the research and revision scope.
  • Cap revision rounds in the proposal. Unlimited revisions is how a $1,500 project turns into a $20 hourly rate.
  • Use the freelance rate calculator first if you do not know your hourly rate.

Frequently asked questions

Price from hours: research, drafting at your real speed, and capped revision rounds, multiplied by your hourly rate plus a margin. Freelance copywriters commonly charge $50-$150 an hour, or $500-$5,000 per project depending on the piece.

Per project for most commercial copy, because the research and strategy do not scale with word count. Per word only makes sense for long, simple content like blog posts.

It depends on the piece. Blog content often sits at $0.10-$0.30 a word, while sales and landing page copy works out far higher per word because the words are few and the stakes are high.

Founders and marketers ask for copywriters on Reddit and X every week. Our guide on how to get clients as a copywriter lists where they post and what to reply.

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