Developers
83%
Team Lead
8%
Other*
5%
Designers
4%
Freelancers are constantly re-assessing their business practices. Every decision that freelancers make—from client acquisition strategies to billing cadence to hourly rate—is a function of our best guess of what the rest of the market looks like. With the stakes so high (we are running our own businesses, after all), we're more apt to settle in to a status quo that may be leaving dollars on the table, rather than experimenting with new solutions that might win us more business. Sound familiar?
We set out to stop that cycle by asking your colleagues the questions you're too polite to ask.
Like, does spending 3+ hours per week on client acquisition really pay off? Or, how much do freelancers actually stand to make on a long-term engagement? Other annual surveys gave us excellent insight into either freelancer-specific OR developer-specific data, but without a focus group of specifically freelance developers, these reports left our questions unanswered. So, we surveyed freelance developers across every demographic we could reach to identify trends among highest earners, so freelancers can make data-backed decisions when it comes to growing their practice. - Team Gun.io |
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7. Level Up
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Paw is a full-featured tool that lets you test and describe web APIs. It has a lightning fast native macOS interface to compose requests, real-time team collaboration, client code generation and can import and export API definitions.
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![]() Freelance DC is leading a growing grassroots movement to ensure freelancing is accessible, sustainable, and equitable for anyone who wants to work independently. |
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![]() indi is the digital banking solution for smart freelancers. Save for taxes, track 1099 income, categorize expenses, and bank on the go - all in one app.
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The highest earners tend to fill their freelance pipelines on job boards and through organic leads.
Freelancers with the highest yearly income ($150,000+ per year) and the highest hourly rate tend to have client engagements that last over 6 months at a time.
The highest earners tend to charge clients a monthly retainer or an hourly rate.
Freelancers who charge the highest hourly rate ($100+ per hour) tend to have more than 5 years of experience in their field.
*Product managers, data scientists, etc.
How freelancers organize their practice:
Where freelancers are working:
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More than 75% of freelancers were already working out of a home office before COVID-19 began. |
How many years of experience freelancers have before
breaking out on their own:
How freelancers have been impacted by COVID-19:
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Freelancers the least impacted by COVID-19 tended to have at least 4 years of experience. |
What percent of freelancer's clients return for future work:
How freelancers fill their client pipeline:
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The majority of freelancers who fill their pipeline with freelance platforms like Gun.io have over half of their clients return for future work. |
How many hours freelancers spend on their client pipeline a week:
How long freelancers work with a single client:
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The majority of freelancers who earn more than $100,000 per year work on engagements that last longer than three months. |
How freelancers charge their clients:
Freelancers' top considerations when setting an hourly rate:
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On average freelancers reported charging between $42 to $79 per hour over the last five years, and earning an average of $153,821 per year all-in. |
How freelancers structure their business:
How freelancers describe their business:
Financial considerations freelancers are most concerned about:
Most common financial tools used by freelancers:
(e.g. Square, PayPal)
(e.g. Quickbooks, Freshbooks)
(e.g. Turbotax, H&R Block)
(e.g. Indi, lili)
(e.g. Betterment, Acorns)
(e.g. Stride Health)
(e.g. Qwil, Joust)
Financial topics freelancers don't have an adequate understanding of:
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The vast majority of freelancers who manage their own finances feel they have access to all the financial tools they need to be successful. |
Most common technologies freelancers use in their work:
Most common Web APIs freelancers use in their work:
How often freelancers work with web APIs:
Most common API tools freelancers use in their work:
Tools freelancers use to upskill:
How often freelancers proactively learn new skills:
How often clients default to freelancer's tooling recommendations:
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The majority of freelancers are trusted by their clients to make necessary tooling recommendations for their project. |
Get in touch with the team and tell us what you'd like to see on this report.