What's the right hourly rate for a freelance copywriter?

I don't really know much about copywriting since I'm a taxi driver, but from what I hear from colleagues who work under the table or have friends in the creative sector, it really depends a lot on the experience and portfolio you've got. The good ones I know charge between 35 and 60 euros an hour, but beginners maybe start at 15-20. Honestly the advice is to build a decent portfolio and get paid what it's worth, without underselling your work just because you think you don't have experience.

Man, it really depends on a ton of factors. like they said above, experience counts for a lot, but i'd add that the type of client makes a big difference too. a large company with solid budget pays way differently than a startup that wants to do everything on a shoestring. i've seen the same mechanism for years in music and sound.

if you're starting out, maybe 15-25€ per hour could be realistic, but honestly it's pretty low. after a couple years of a decent portfolio, you're talking 30-50€ for standard work, then if you're specialized in particular niches (finance, tech, whatever) you easily jump to 50-80€. well-known names in the field get 100-150€ per hour but they're a minority and have years of reputation behind them. the trick is not to undersell yourself at the beginning just because you don't have much experience, because after that it's hard to raise your rates.

one thing i see people get wrong a lot is quoting per-project rates when you don't really know your work times yet. better to ask for hourly until you've figured out how much time you actually need to complete different types of assignments. serious clients won't complain, the ones that contest every cent will probably give you grief anyway.

Guys, so I don't know anything about specific copywriting, I work as a security guard, but in my job I deal with a lot of documentation and I've also learned to write well for reports. What I'm telling you is that I know people who do freelance work and the reality is exactly what they said: there's no fixed rate. I have a colleague who teaches online courses and she was telling me that at the beginning she was asking like 20-25 euros an hour because she had no portfolio, now after five years she's at 50-60 and every now and then she turns down work because it's too underpaid. The thing is, you can't start asking like someone with ten years of experience if you're just starting out, right?

What time has taught me is that it really matters what you're writing and for who. Something for a local startup isn't worth as much as something for a company that exports all over Europe. Then there's the question of time: some texts require research, others are faster. I do macramé projects in my free time and literally the price changes if I have to make something simple in an hour or if I need to think about it for two days for a custom design, it's the same concept. If you're just starting out I'd begin with 25-35 euros an hour, maybe even less if it's to build yourself a solid portfolio. With experience you can easily get to 40-60 euros an hour, and the top tier even more. But the real advice is don't let yourself get underpaid just because you're nervous about losing clients: in the end you just attract ones who don't respect your work.