Rates are up. So is the worry.
What UK commercial writers charged, how they worked and what they thought about AI in 2026.
Download the 2026 report Or jump to the headline findings ↓What 573 copywriters told us
Headline findings from the 2026 survey.
Use and concern rise together
Almost three-quarters of copywriters now use generative AI. The share rating their concern at 7 out of 10 or higher has nearly doubled in two years.
Still climbing
The median freelance day rate is £440, up 10% in two years. Clients are paying more for strategy, not less.
Most would switch it off
Given a button that erased generative AI from the world, 64% would press it. A year earlier it was 54%.
The widest we've recorded
Men earn a median 31% more than women, the biggest like-for-like gap in the survey’s history. Only copywriters who mix freelance and employed work closed it.
Ten years of copywriting, in numbers
Because we ask many of the same questions every year, the survey shows how the job is changing, not just how it looks today.
Freelance day rate, 2016–2026
Copywriters using generative AI, 2024–2026
Gender pay gap, 2016–2026
From 2026 we report the median gap (31%), as the ONS does. Earlier years are means.
Until 2025 we reported averages (means). From 2026 we lead with the median, which is less skewed by a few high earners. Both are shown where available.
No survey was run in 2022, so that year is left blank.
Every report, free to read
All our past survey reports are free to download.
Median day rate reaches £440 as AI concern nearly doubles.
Read the 2026 findings →59% of copywriters now use generative AI, and concern is rising.
Read the 2024 findings →The biggest jump in day rates we've recorded: up £46 to £433.
Read the 2023 findings →Rates reach £387 while the freelance gender gap reopens to 35%.
Read the 2021 findings →Day rates jump to £379, recorded just before the pandemic.
Read the 2020 findings →Day rates edge up to £342 while Brexit leaves most copywriters unmoved.
Read the 2018 findings →Day rates hold at £339 and just 0.5% want to leave copywriting.
Read the 2017 findings →Our first survey: an average day rate of £337 and a 28% gender pay gap.
Read the 2016 findings →How the survey works
The ProCopywriters Copywriter Survey is an annual, anonymous survey of commercial writers, run since 2016. It’s open to anyone who writes for a living, whether or not they’re a member. We keep a core set of questions the same each year so the results can be compared over time, and add new questions on whatever’s changing in the industry. Full methodology notes are in each report.
Using our data
You’re welcome to quote the survey in articles, pitches and research. Please credit it as:
ProCopywriters Copywriter Survey 2026, www.procopywriters.co.uk/survey
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The survey is free to take and free to read because sponsors pay for it. Your logo goes in the report, on this page and in every email we send about it.