Cost per Word
Turn a project budget and word count into a per-word rate.
About Cost per Word
Dividing a flat project fee by the delivered word count reveals the effective per-word rate. The per-1,000 figure scales that to a standard industry quote. Per-word rates are the common currency for comparing freelance writers, but a good rate alone ignores quality, research and revision effort.
Formula
Cost per Word
Cost per word = budget / words; cost per 1,000 = per-word x 1,000
- per-word
- Rate metric commonly quoted by freelancers
Worked example
With the default values below, Cost per Word returns Cost per Word of $0.150. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Total wordsminimum 1
- 2,000
- Project budgetminimum 0
- 300
Results
- Cost per Word
- $0.150
- Cost per 1,000 Words
- $150.00
- Words per Dollar
- 6.7
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Cost per Word
- 3Cost per Word= 0.150
- 4Cost per 1,000 Words= 150.00
- 5Words per Dollar= 6.7
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 2 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Cost per Word calculated?
Cost per word = budget / words; cost per 1,000 = per-word x 1,000 Dividing a flat project fee by the delivered word count reveals the effective per-word rate. The per-1,000 figure scales that to a standard industry quote.
Why does Cost per Word matter?
Per-word rates are the common currency for comparing freelance writers, but a good rate alone ignores quality, research and revision effort.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 2 inputs: Total words, Project budget. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.