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Day Rate Benchmarks

A number of helpful organisations publish regular data on day rates and pricing for freelancers in the UK. This is a list of those we've found, to help you establish your pricing baselines.

Source
Sector
Last updated
Major Players
Census 2026
Permanent and freelance salary rates from a major creative industries recruiting business.
Sector: Creative Industries
Last updated: 2026
YunoJuno
Freelancer Rates Report
Rate data from the UK's largest creative freelancing platform, though includes data from multiple countries.
Includes US and UK
Sector: Creative and Marketing (designers, developers, strategists, illustrators, copywriters)
Last updated: 2026
The Work Crowd
2026 Day Rate Guide
Marketing community's view on day rates across PR, comms and marketing disciplines.
Sector: PR, Comms, Marketing
Last updated: 2026
Robert Walters
Contractor Pay Guide / Salary Survey 2026
Regional contract day rates and salary ranges by discipline, covering accounting & finance, tech, legal, HR and more. Based on analysis of over 100,000 advertised UK roles over 12 months.
Really difficult to get in to the report, lots of questions, but once you're in - lots of data.
Sector: General / All Industries (incl. Finance, Legal, HR, Tech)
Last updated: 2026
IT Jobs Watch
UK Contract Rates
Median contractor day rates by job title derived from live job vacancies, with rolling 6-month and 2-year historical comparisons. Covers tech, management consulting, finance, UX and many professional contract roles.
Continuously updated. Rates reflect advertised vacancy data, which may differ from agreed rates. Free to use.
Sector: IT, Technology, Consulting, Finance, UX
Last updated: 2026
UX Gigs
UX / UI Freelance Day Rates
Average freelance day rates by UX/UI role, seniority, location and IR35 status, calculated from advertised contract roles. Updated monthly.
Rates derived from advertised vacancies; may differ from negotiated rates. Transparent methodology. Free to use.
Sector: UX / UI / Product Design
Last updated: 2026
BECTU
Rate Cards (Film, TV & Broadcast)
Recommended and negotiated daily/weekly freelance rates by craft grade and production budget band, across art department, camera, construction, lighting, SFX, costume and more. Includes PACT–BECTU agreements and an unscripted-TV weekly rate guide covering 40 roles, built from a survey of 3,000+ freelancers.
Various branch cards dated 2023–2027. Some rates are negotiated minimums via collective agreements. Regularly updated.
Sector: Film, TV, Broadcast, Theatre
Last updated: 2026
Musicians' Union
Rate Cards — Live, Session & Recording
Recommended minimum fees for live performance, session recording and broadcasting, including overtime, porterage and buyout rates. Includes the agreed BPI–MU session-rate framework.
Rates reviewed periodically. Recommended minimums, not binding on non-union engagements. Link the MU primary site for current figures.
Sector: Music — Live Performance, Session / Recording
Last updated: 2026
The GOODList
Day Rate Guide for Creative Roles Across Europe
A list of day rates for creative roles across Europe, published November 2024.
Covers Europe broadly, not UK-specific.
Sector: Creative Roles, Europe
Last updated: 2025
ProCopywriters
Suggested Rates for Hiring Copywriters
Well-referenced suggested rates for UK copywriters.
Sector: Copywriting
Last updated: 2025
Freelancing Females
Freelancing Rates 2025
Global day rates for freelancers across a wide range of industries.
Global data, not UK-specific.
Sector: All Industries
Last updated: 2025
Movemeon
Pay Insights
Day rate benchmarking by project type, region and seniority for strategy and management consultants. Includes freelance vs consultancy cost comparison and a freelance market index.
Focused on ex-consultancy and commercial professionals. Reports the freelance-vs-consultancy cost differential (approximately 82% in 2024).
Sector: Strategy / Management Consulting
Last updated: 2025
CIEP (Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading)
Suggested Minimum Rates
Suggested minimum hourly rates by editorial task: proofreading, copyediting, substantial editing/rewriting, development editing, project management and indexing. Historical rate archive also available.
Rates reviewed periodically. Described as suggested minimums, not binding. Verify current figures on the live CIEP page as these are updated annually.
Sector: Editorial — Proofreading, Copyediting, Development Editing, Indexing
Last updated: 2025
Lorien
Cyber Security Contractor Rates UK 2025
Cyber security contractor day rates by specialism and IR35 status. Part of a broader Digital & Tech Salary Survey.
Published by a technology recruiter. Directional data based on placement experience.
Sector: Technology — Cyber Security
Last updated: 2025
IPSE
Average Day Rates Guide
Day rate data from IPSE members across a wide range of sectors
This report is for IPSE members only
Sector: General / All Sectors
Last updated: 2024
Contractor UK
Market Rates
Day rates across a number of technology, developer and IT contract roles in the UK.
Sector: IT and Technology
Last updated: 2024
arc
Freelance Developer Rates
Global and European day rates for developer roles across a number of technologies.
Global/European data; not UK-specific.
Sector: Software Development
Last updated: 2024
ScreenSkills
What's My Rate? (Freelance Toolkit)
Guidance on rate-setting for film and TV freelancers, with signposting to BECTU and APA rate cards. Contextual companion to BECTU rather than a standalone dataset.
Guidance resource rather than primary rate data. Useful as an entry point for screen-industry freelancers.
Sector: Film / TV / Screen
Last updated: 2024
Association of Illustrators (AOI)
Pricing Survey 2024
Illustration licensing fees by usage type, drawn from data collected across 25 UK illustration agencies by Kudos Market Research.
Members-only access to full report.
Sector: Illustration
Last updated: 2024
Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI)
Freelance Translator Rates Research (2024)
Per-word, minimum-charge and per-hour rates for UK translators by client type, text type and experience band. Two 2024 reports: 'The Value of ITI Membership' and 'The Value of Experience', based on a survey of 692 ITI members.
Survey-based. ITI members charge 13–25% more per word than non-members. Data collected Feb–Mar 2023 as part of a wider survey of 2,803 translators.
Sector: Translation and Interpreting
Last updated: 2024
Association of Photographers (AOP)
Usage Fee Calculator
A licensing fee calculator based on a Base Usage Rate (BUR) with percentage uplifts for media type, territory and time period. Provides licensing methodology rather than fixed day rates.
Usage framework methodology dates to approximately 2003. Day rates negotiated individually by photographers. Tool is live and maintained.
Sector: Professional / Commercial Photography
Last updated: 2024
Intelligent People
Interim Day Rates Guide 2024
Interim and contract day-rate guidance by role and seniority for product management, product design/UX, marketing and eCommerce functions.
Published by a specialist digital/product recruiter. Directional guidance based on placement experience.
Sector: Product Management, UX/Design, Marketing, eCommerce (Interim)
Last updated: 2024
London Freelance (NUJ)
Fees Guide
Broad collection of journalism and publishing day rates submitted by NUJ freelancers.
Data submitted by NUJ members; may reflect union-floor rates rather than market averages.
Sector: Journalism, Writing, Design, Photography, Broadcast, Illustration, Digital
Last updated: 2023
Creators Rights Alliance
Freelance Day Rate Guide 2023 (8th edition)
Eighth edition of the CRA Day Rate Guide, widely used by industry support bodies as a benchmark for creative roles.
Sector: Creative Roles (broad)
Last updated: 2023
Consultancy.uk
Consulting Fees & Rates
Indicative hourly and daily fee ranges across consulting firm tiers and independent contractors, from operational interim through to senior strategy specialists.
Reference article rather than primary survey data. Useful for understanding fee-tier structure.
Sector: Management / Strategy / IT Consulting
Last updated: 2023
Tide
Freelance Day Rates Guide
Broad guide of average freelance rates by industry and region.
Stale — data is now several years old. Treat as historical reference only.
Sector: All Industries
Last updated: 2021