Women freelancers charge 19% less per hour than men worldwide: $31.33 on average, against $38.66, according to Remitly’s Global Freelancer Pay Gap Report, which analyzed hourly rates from more than 58,000 freelancers on Upwork.
That gap doesn’t prove clients are cheating anyone. It measures what freelancers list as their rate, and coverage of the report notes it could reflect experience, years on the platform, client types or the categories women work in. But a rate is the one part of a freelance business you control. So here’s how to set yours: what you need, what the market pays, which pricing model fits, and how to say the number without flinching.
Everything below is in US dollars. Swap in your own currency; the math doesn’t change.
Quick answer: how much women freelancers should charge
Women freelancers should charge enough to cover the take-home pay they want, their business expenses and their taxes, spread over the hours they can realistically bill. That’s far fewer than a full work week. Divide your total by those billable hours for a baseline rate, then check it against what your niche pays.
Why women freelancers charge less (and what the data can’t tell you)
The gap isn’t uniform, which is the interesting part. In finance and accounting it’s the widest of the ten industries Remitly looked at: women charge 26.1% less, $30.77 an hour against $41.61. Among real estate photographers it’s 21.9% ($21.98 against $28.14), but among wedding photographers it’s 9.8%. In the UK, the freelancer gap is 15.4%, against 4.5% for full-time employees. In South Africa it’s 3.9%.
A number that swings from under 4% to over 26% has more than one cause.
Money anxiety may be one of them. The same UK coverage found that 49% of self-employed women worry about their finances, against 37% of men. Worry pushes people toward the move that feels safe: a lower price nobody argues with.
There’s also the anecdotal evidence. A designer writing on UX Planet says the women freelancers she spoke with got more discount requests and more revision requests than men did. That’s a handful of conversations, not data. But if it sounds like your inbox, it’s a reason to settle discounts and revision limits in writing before any work starts.
What the numbers can’t tell you is what you should charge. For that, you need your own.
Step 1: Calculate the rate you actually need
Start with what you want to take home, then work backward. Three lines:
Pre-tax profit needed = take-home pay ÷ (1 − tax rate)
Revenue needed = pre-tax profit + business expenses
Baseline hourly rate = revenue needed ÷ billable hours
Business expenses means software and equipment, internet, phone and workspace, insurance and professional services, and marketing. Savings for holidays, emergencies and retirement belong in your take-home target, because nobody else is paying into them for you.
Here’s one worked example. The inputs are placeholders; swap in yours.
- Take-home goal: $50,000
- Tax set-aside: 25% (your real rate depends on your country and income, so ask an accountant. In the US, freelancers also pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare, 15.3% on top of income tax)
- Business expenses: $10,000
- Billable hours: 1,150
$50,000 ÷ 0.75 = $66,667 in pre-tax profit. Add $10,000 in expenses and you need about $76,667 in revenue. Divide by 1,150 hours and the baseline is roughly $67 an hour.
Where did 1,150 come from? Forty hours a week for 48 weeks is 1,920. Assume about 60% of that time is billable (also a placeholder) and you land near 1,150. The rest goes to outreach, invoices, scoping calls, email, and revisions nobody paid for. Track your time for a month and replace my 60% with your real figure.
If you’re freelancing around school pickups or a day job, your billable hours number is the one to be honest about. It’s usually lower than you want it to be, and it’s the number that moves your rate the most.
Step 2: Check your number against the market
Your baseline says what you need. The market says what clients will pay. You want both.
Upwork’s hourly rate data makes the point from both directions: a rate far below the range for your skill can make clients assume lower quality, and one far above it can read as unrealistic. Here’s some public data to anchor against.
| Benchmark | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US freelancers, all fields, average hourly rate | $47.71 (most between $24 and $62) | ZipRecruiter data via Clockify |
| Women freelancers worldwide, average hourly rate | $31.33 (men: $38.66) | Remitly |
| Finance and accounting | Women $30.77, men $41.61 | Accounting Today |
| Real estate photography | Women $21.98, men $28.14 | PetaPixel |
| Wedding photography | Women $26.94, men $29.85 | PetaPixel |
| Brand identity project, established designers | $1,500 to $10,000 per project | FemFounded |
Look at the men’s column too. Average rates already contain the gap, so if you price to the average, you price to the gap. Find five freelancers with your skill and a similar track record, and use the top half of their range as your reference.
Step 3: Choose a pricing model
| Model | Works best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly | Changing scope, ongoing support, consulting calls | You earn less as you get faster |
| Project fee | Defined deliverables | Scope creep |
| Monthly retainer | Recurring work like social media or reporting | One client becoming most of your income |
| Value-based | Work tied to a clear business result | Needs real knowledge of the client’s goals |
Hourly is where most freelancers start because it feels safest. Its flaw is built in: improve your craft and the same job takes fewer hours, so you earn less for better work.
Project fees fix that. The client gets one number up front, and your efficiency becomes your margin. The catch is scope. Write down exactly what’s included, or the project quietly grows while the fee stays put.
Retainers trade flexibility for predictability. You agree on a monthly set of services, a response window and extra-work rates. Revenue stops being a monthly scramble. Just don’t let one retainer become the floor under your whole business.
Value-based pricing starts from what the work is worth to the client, not how long it takes you. Say you’re rewriting a sales page for a business whose average sale is $2,000. Pricing against that is a different conversation from pricing against your six hours. (That’s a hypothetical, and you should never promise a specific result.) FemFounded notes that value-based pricing usually comes later in a freelance career, because you have to understand the client’s business well enough to argue your case.
Pick the model that matches how clearly you can define the work. Vague work leans hourly. Clear work leans project. Ongoing work leans retainer.
If you want a broader look at building income around a freelance business, our guide to freelancing tips for doubling your income picks up where this leaves off.
Step 4: Price the project, not the hour
A project can look profitable until you count every hour it took.
Say you quote $1,000. Direct expenses are $100. Delivery takes 15 hours. That’s $900 for 15 hours, or $60 an hour, which sounds fine next to a $67 target.
Now count the hours you didn’t plan for: the scoping call, the back-and-forth emails, one extra revision round, and two reminders about the unpaid invoice. Call it six more. Same $900, but 21 hours.
| Quote A | Quote B | |
|---|---|---|
| Project fee | $1,000 | $1,500 |
| Direct expenses | $100 | $100 |
| Total hours, including unbilled | 21 | 21 |
| Effective hourly rate | $42.86 | $66.67 |
Quote A pays you $43 an hour for work you priced at $67. Quote B, $1,500, hits the target. Same work, same client, a $500 difference that came entirely from counting the right hours.
Track your time on your next three projects, then compare your estimate to the real total. Most people find the gap on the first one.
Set clear project boundaries
Before you quote, put four things in the proposal or contract:
- Deliverables and deadlines
- How many revision rounds are included
- Client responsibilities, approval timelines and the payment schedule
- What extra work costs
That last line is your scope creep defense. Scope creep is when a project grows past the agreement without the fee growing with it.
Step 5: Say the number out loud
You don’t owe anyone an apology or a line-by-line justification for your fee. State it, attach it to what the client gets, and stop talking.
“The fee for this project is $1,500. That covers the agreed deliverables, two rounds of revisions, and delivery by [date]. If the budget is tighter, I can suggest a smaller scope.”
When the client says it’s too high, ask what’s driving the budget before you respond. Then cut scope, not price:
“I can’t do the full scope at that number. For $1,000 I can do [reduced scope]. Would that work?”
When they ask for a discount, the same rule applies. Fewer deliverables, a longer timeline or no optional extras can all work. The same work for less money teaches the client what your price really is.
When the work is large, ask for a deposit before you start, and put the due dates and late-payment terms in the contract. Chasing invoices is unbilled labor, and Step 4 showed what that costs.
Set a floor. Decide the lowest number you’d accept for a project before the call, not during it. Having a rate floor turns “should I say yes?” into a quick check against a number you already chose.
Keep a file of finished projects, kind feedback and measurable results. It’s your proof when someone asks why you cost what you cost.
Step 6: Raise your rates
Your first rate isn’t your permanent rate. Review it every six to twelve months, and any time your skills, expenses or demand change a lot.
Track these numbers so the review is about facts, not feelings:
- Total revenue and business expenses
- Hours spent on each project
- Your effective hourly rate
- The share of income that comes from repeat clients
If a service keeps running over its estimate, raise the fee or tighten the process. If one client keeps asking for extras, revisit the scope.
For new clients, just quote the new rate. For existing ones, check what your agreement says, then give notice well before the change (a month or more is a reasonable courtesy):
“Starting [month], my rate for new projects is [new rate]. Our current agreement stays as is through [date], and I’d love to keep working together.”
Set aside money for taxes and a business reserve while you’re at it. Slow months happen, and a reserve is the difference between a slow month and a crisis. Our guides on financial planning for women and becoming financially free go deeper on that side.
Mistakes women freelancers make when pricing
Billing every working hour in the formula. Forty hours a week is not forty billable hours. Using 1,920 instead of about 1,150 makes your rate look comfortable and your income fall short.
Skipping the tax line. The rate that feels fine before taxes is the one that leaves you short in April.
Pricing to the average. Average rates carry the gap inside them. Use the top half of your niche’s range as the reference.
Cutting price instead of scope. A discount on the same work resets what the client thinks the work is worth. A smaller package keeps the rate intact.
Apologizing in the quote. “Sorry, my rate is…” hands the client the negotiation before it starts.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a beginner freelancer charge?
Run the Step 1 formula with your real expenses and a conservative billable-hours estimate, then check the result against your niche’s range. If the number feels too high for your experience, shrink the scope or offer a starter package. Don’t shrink the rate below what keeps the business running.
What is a good hourly rate for women freelancers?
There’s no single number. US freelancers across all fields average about $47.71 an hour, with most between $24 and $62, according to ZipRecruiter figures reported by Clockify. Women freelancers on Upwork averaged $31.33 globally in Remitly’s data. Your own Step 1 baseline matters more than either figure.
Is it better to charge hourly or per project?
Hourly suits work with unclear or shifting scope. Project fees suit defined deliverables and reward you for working faster. If you can describe the finished work in one paragraph, quote a project fee. If you can’t, bill hourly until you can.
How do I tell a client I’m raising my rates?
Give notice well ahead, state the new rate and the date it starts, and say what happens to current work. Keep it to a few sentences, as in the script in Step 6. You don’t need to justify the increase at length.
What should I do if a client says my price is too high?
Ask about their budget and priorities, then offer a smaller scope, a longer timeline or fewer extras. If the project can’t meet your rate floor, declining is a valid answer. A client who needs the full scope for a lower price is asking you to work for less.
Should I charge for revisions?
Include a set number of revision rounds in the fee, and say in the proposal what an extra round costs. Settle that before work starts, not after the third round of changes.
Next steps
Run Step 1 with your own numbers this week and write down the rate. Then check it against five freelancers in your niche. If it’s lower than the market, you now have a specific gap to close, not a vague feeling.
For related reading, see our guide to pricing strategies for women in business. If you’re building a freelance business alongside family, see side hustles for moms, virtual assistant jobs for moms and remote jobs for moms.
