Small RowsGuide · Any country · Rates and pricing
How to raise your freelance rates (with wording to copy)
Raising rates is how you keep the price of your work aligned with your costs, your skills and the demand for your time. Here's a practical way to do it: when a raise makes sense, how to work out the new number, how to treat new clients differently from existing ones, how to put the change in writing, what competition rules say about setting prices on your own, and emails you can copy. It works in any country; where an official page sets a rule, we quote it and link it.
General information, not legal advice. Whether you can change the price on work already agreed, and what notice you owe a client,
depend on what you already wrote down and the law where you and the client are. We have no affiliate links or deals with anyone mentioned here.
Short answer
- Work out a floor first with our hourly rate calculator (income target, expenses, time off, billable share). Raise to a number that covers that floor; we don't publish a "typical" percentage.
- New clients see the new rate on the next quote or proposal. Existing clients get clear written notice and an effective date; open fixed-price jobs usually stay at the old price until they finish.
- Set your rates yourself. US and UK competition pages say competitors must not agree prices together or swap future pricing plans (FTC; GOV.UK).
- Where a written freelance contract is required (for example New York City from $800 and Illinois from $500 in a 120-day window), put the new rate in writing the same way (NYC DCWP; Illinois DOL).
1. When a raise makes sense
These are common triggers. None of them is a legal rule; they are ours:
- Your costs went up (tools, insurance, workspace, subcontractors) or your expense log shows the old rate no longer covers them.
- You are booked solid and turning work away, or the work is more specialised than when you set the old rate.
- You have not reviewed the rate in a long time (many freelancers pick a yearly review date and put a note in their proposal — see the copy below).
- The calculator shows your current rate sits under the floor you need for your income target, time off and billable share.
A raise is a business decision. There is no official schedule that says when freelancers must raise rates.
2. Work out the new rate
We don't quote a percentage to raise by. Official tax and competition pages don't set one either. Use a number you can defend:
- Run the hourly rate calculator with your current income target, yearly expenses, weeks off and billable share. Treat that minimum (and the buffered "to quote" figure) as a floor, not a market sample from other freelancers.
- Decide whether the raise is for hourly work, day rates, project packages, or all of them. Keep optional extras outside the main price, as on a quote.
- Update your price list first, then build the next quote from it — our free quote generator, or a saved price list in the Quote & Proposal Kit below.
3. New clients vs existing clients
- New clients: put the new rate on the next quote, estimate or proposal. No special notice is needed beyond a clear price; see how to write a freelance quote and how to write a proposal.
- Existing clients on open fixed-price work: finish at the agreed price unless you both agree a change in writing (a change order if the scope is moving too).
- Existing clients on ongoing hourly or retainer work: give written notice and an effective date before you bill the new rate. How much notice is general practice (ours); pick a date you can stick to and say it plainly.
- Retainers and deposits: if a retainer period or prepaid hours were sold at the old rate, honour that period; start the new rate on the next period. See deposits and retainers.
4. Notice and putting it in writing
Before you send anything, decide the five things in this table (ours — not an official list):
| Decide | What to settle |
|---|---|
| New rate | The hourly, day or project price you will charge from the effective date, worked out from your costs and billable time (our calculator helps). |
| Who it applies to | New clients only, every existing client, or a named list. Fixed-price jobs already accepted usually stay at the old price until they finish. |
| Effective date | A clear calendar date. Give existing clients written notice before that date; how long is yours to choose and say. |
| What stays the same | Scope, payment terms, deposit rules and revision rounds, unless you are changing those too and write them down. |
| Where it is written | A short email, an updated rate card, a revised quote or proposal, or a change to the written agreement where the law requires one. |
In some places a written freelance contract is required once the work reaches a money threshold. If you and the client are covered, the new rate belongs in that written record (an email both sides agree can count in Illinois):
| Where | What the official page says |
|---|---|
| New York City | Contracts worth $800 or more, including all agreements with the same hiring party that add up to $800 in any 120-day period, must be in writing and spell out the work you will perform, the pay for the work and the date you get paid. "You and the hiring party must keep a copy of the written contract." (NYC DCWP: Freelance workers). |
| Illinois | Work worth $500 or more in a 120-day period, for contracts taking effect after July 1, 2024, needs a written contract that includes: name and contact information of both the hiring entity and freelance worker; itemization of products and services; rate and method of compensation; date of compensation due; dates of services to be provided. The FAQ says: "The contracting entity must provide a written contract to the freelance worker upon the freelance worker's request." and "A contract does not necessarily have to follow a certain format in order to be valid, and can include a paper document, an email, text message, or some other communication that describes goods or services that the freelance worker promises to provide in exchange for payment from the contracting entity, that both parties (freelance worker and contracting entity) have agreed to." (Illinois DOL; FAQ). |
We haven't checked other US states, Canadian provinces or other countries for a "must write down a rate change" rule on this page. If your agreement already has a price-review clause, follow that wording first.
5. Set rates on your own
Raising your own prices for your own clients is normal. What competition authorities warn against is agreeing prices with other freelancers or businesses who compete with you, or swapping plans about future rates.
- The US Federal Trade Commission: "Price fixing is an agreement (written, verbal, or inferred from conduct) among competitors to raise, lower, maintain, or stabilize prices or price levels." And: "Generally, the antitrust laws require that each company establish prices and other competitive terms on its own, without agreeing with a competitor." (FTC: Price fixing).
- Matching a competitor's public price on your own is fine: "Matching competitors' pricing may be good business, and occurs often in highly competitive markets. Each company is free to set its own prices, and it may charge the same price as its competitors as long as the decision was not based on any agreement or coordination with a competitor." (FTC).
- GOV.UK (Competition and Markets Authority materials): "Competitively sensitive information covers any non-public strategic information about a business’s commercial policy. It includes, but is not limited to, future pricing and output plans." Don't: "discuss with competitors your business’s future: pricing intentions, including rebates or discounts or commercial strategy, such as what, and to whom, you plan on selling and/or on what terms" And: "remain in any situation, professional or social, in which any competitor discusses their future pricing plans or other competitively sensitive information. Leave and seek the advice of a lawyer." (GOV.UK: Managing competitively sensitive information).
- A CMA case study on freelance day rates: "sharing or exchanging competitively sensitive information with competitors, such as rates of pay, is illegal – companies must set their rates (including any increases) independently of each other" (GOV.UK: freelancer pay investigation). That case was about competing hirers sharing what they pay freelancers; the same independence idea applies when freelancers set their own prices.
Practical reading: work out your rate from your costs and capacity, look at public listings if you want, and don't join a group chat where freelancers agree "we'll all charge at least X from next month."
6. Wording to copy
Replace everything in [brackets]. These are ours — not from any agency.
Announce a raise to an existing client
Subject: Updated rates from [effective date] — [your business name]
Hi [name],
I'm writing to let you know that my rates are changing from [effective date].
From that date, my [hourly / day / project] rate for new work will be [new rate and currency] (was [old rate and currency]). Anything we've already agreed at the old rate — including open fixed-price jobs — stays as quoted.
What's behind it: [brief, honest reason — costs, demand, the kind of work, or the rate working out from your costs and billable time]. Scope, payment terms and how we work together otherwise stay the same unless we agree a change in writing.
If you have work planned after [effective date], I'm happy to send an updated quote. If the new rate doesn't fit this project, tell me and we can talk about scope or timing.
Thanks for working with me,
[your name]
[your business name and contact details]If they push back
Subject: Re: Updated rates from [effective date]
Hi [name],
Thanks for saying so. I understand the new rate is a jump from what you've been paying.
I can keep [this named project / the current retainer month] at the old rate through [end date], then move to the new one. Or we can trim the scope so the total stays closer to what you budgeted — happy to send options.
I can't leave the published rate where it was for new work after [effective date], because [one honest line about costs or capacity]. I'm glad to keep working together either way.
Thanks,
[your name]New-client rate lines (quote, proposal or rate card)
Rates (from [effective date]): [hourly / day / project price and currency]. Fixed-price quotes are based on this rate and the scope we agree.
A quote or proposal locks the price for that job until its valid-until date. After that, ask me to confirm.
Payment terms: [your terms]. Deposit: [deposit, if any].Optional yearly-review note
I review rates about once a year and will give you written notice before any change applies to new work. Open fixed-price jobs stay at the price we already agreed. Questions: [your contact].7. If they say no
- Offer a short bridge at the old rate for one named project or one retainer period, then move to the new rate — only if you can afford it.
- Offer a smaller scope at a total they can pay, with the new rate still visible on the line items.
- Be willing to end the engagement politely if the old rate no longer works. Keep the tone factual; don't invent scarcity or fake deadlines.
8. Checklist
- Run the rate calculator and pick a new rate you can explain.
- Update your price list, quote template and any public rate card.
- List who gets notice and the effective date; leave open fixed-price jobs at the old price.
- Send written notice; keep the thread with the agreement.
- Where NYC or Illinois written-contract rules may apply, make sure the new rate is in the written record (NYC; Illinois).
- Set the new rate yourself — don't agree future prices with competitors (FTC; GOV.UK).
Free tools and kits
- Freelance hourly rate calculator: the floor behind the new number.
- Free quote and estimate generator and how to write a freelance quote: put the new rate on the next quote.
- How to write a freelance proposal and invoice payment terms: price and terms on the page the client accepts.
- How to track freelance expenses and free timesheet: costs and billable share that feed the calculator.
- Free invoice generator / how to write an invoice: bill at the new rate after the effective date.
- Our paid Quote & Proposal Kit by Small Rows (US$12, one-time) keeps a price list you can update, then builds the next quote and proposal from it so new work goes out at the new rate. It doesn't decide what to charge or send the raise email for you.
- Our paid Freelance Billing Kit by Small Rows (US$12, one-time) logs hours at the rate you set per client or project and builds the invoice from them.
- All three kits together, with the Client & Project Tracker: the All-Kits Bundle by Small Rows (US$24, one-time).
Where the sources differ
- No official "how much to raise" figure. FTC and CMA pages are about not fixing prices with competitors; they don't tell you a percentage. NYC and Illinois pages list what a written contract must spell out, not how to pick a rate.
- US vs UK framing. The FTC talks about agreements among competitors to raise, lower or stabilize prices. The CMA materials talk about competitively sensitive information (including future pricing) and a case where hirers shared freelance day rates. Both point the same way for you: set your own rates.
- What we did not check: Canadian competition guidance; other US states beyond New York City and Illinois; EU member-state guides beyond the CMA pages linked here; consumer mid-contract price-increase rights in full (see the consumer notes on our quote guide for UK and Ontario pointers only).
- Notice length and raise emails are ours. Your contract may already set a review process — follow that first.
When to get advice
- a large client relationship or multi-year contract depends on the change;
- the client's own contract limits price changes, or you work mainly for consumers rather than businesses;
- you are unsure whether a written freelance law where you work applies to the new rate.
Ask a lawyer in your jurisdiction. This page is general information only.
Related
- Freelance hourly rate calculator
- How to write a freelance quote or estimate
- How to write a freelance proposal
- Scope creep and change requests
- Freelance client onboarding checklist
- Freelance deposits and retainers
- Invoice payment terms explained
Sources
- US: FTC: Price fixing · FTC: Dealings with competitors
- UK: GOV.UK: Managing competitively sensitive information (page date 2014-09-25) · GOV.UK: freelancer pay investigation case study (page date 2025-09-09)
- New York City: NYC DCWP: Freelance workers · NYC model contract (PDF)
- Illinois: Illinois DOL: Freelance Worker Protection Act · Illinois DOL: FAQ
Checked 2026-10-15. Found a mistake? Tell us via Support.