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Freelancing in the European Union
This page collects published freelance rates for Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, for people who sell to clients at home or abroad. Each figure keeps its own currency and unit, and each is labelled with the kind of number it is.
What the data says about rates in the EU
Published figures from sources dated within the last two years, copied in the currency and unit each source uses. Nothing is converted. The kinds of number differ: day rates are platform averages of what freelancers list, hourly figures come from a survey of freelancers or from what clients offer, and the Polish figures are per completed project.
| Software development, day rate | Malt platform average, trailing three months to 24 September 2026: France 575 EUR per day, Germany 691 EUR per day, Netherlands 658 EUR per day, Spain 313 EUR per day. |
|---|---|
| Software development, hourly | Germany: 94 EUR per hour average, survey of 3,210 freelancers fielded January to February 2025 (development, tech and data group). Netherlands: 96.09 EUR per hour average offered by clients, 2025 (IT architecture field, approximate match). |
| Design, day rate | Malt platform average: France 430 EUR per day (the category also holds photographers), Germany 585 EUR per day, Netherlands 529 EUR per day, Spain 231 EUR per day. Germany, survey hourly average for the graphics, content and media group: 82 EUR per hour. |
| Marketing consultant, day rate | Malt platform average: France 578 EUR per day, Germany 810 EUR per day, Netherlands 708 EUR per day, Spain 285 EUR per day. Germany, survey hourly average for marketing and communication: 92 EUR per hour. |
| Data analyst, day rate | Malt platform average: France 666 EUR per day, Germany 745 EUR per day, Netherlands 718 EUR per day, Spain 354 EUR per day. |
| Writing, day rate | Malt platform average: France 439 EUR per day (the category also holds community managers), Germany 612 EUR per day, Spain 226 EUR per day. The Netherlands has no writing category on the index. |
| Management consulting, hourly | Germany: 120 EUR per hour survey average for the consulting and management group. Netherlands: 97.78 EUR per hour offered by clients in strategic management, approximate match. |
| All fields combined, hourly | Germany: 104 EUR per hour survey average. Netherlands: 86.36 EUR per hour average offered by clients, 2025. |
| Poland, per project | Average per completed project on one platform, in PLN: programming over 5,000, app development 3,974, IT services 3,995, UX and UI design 3,656, marketing activities 2,426, video production 2,522, photography 2,266, graphic design 2,004, SEO 2,050, social media 1,610, copywriting 1,576. A project can take any number of hours, so these do not convert to an hourly rate. |
How much to trust these
Confidence is medium for France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, because Malt publishes the same kind of average in each country, and the German and Dutch surveys point the same way. Within that group, Germany's day rates run above France's in every category shown, and Spain's run well below both. Confidence for Poland is low: one platform, one snapshot, reached through a press article that reproduces the platform's own index. No national statistics office figure by occupation was found for any of the five countries.
Some narrower Malt pages rest on fewer than ten active freelancers, so they are left out of the table: French copywriters (411 EUR per day), Dutch translators (437), illustrators (484) and photographers (577), and Spanish WordPress developers (243) and copywriters (189). Treat them as a hint at most.
Agencies are a separate market. One agency survey puts software agencies at USD 100 to 250 an hour in Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK, and USD 50 to 100 in Spain, Portugal and the Czech Republic, with no split by country. That is what a company bills a client, not what an individual freelancer takes home.
Selling to clients abroad or at home
Freelancers in these five countries sell both ways. Local clients pay in euros, or in zloty in Poland. Clients in other countries often pay in dollars or pounds. Check what you actually receive after platform and exchange fees with the payment fee comparison before you set a price. Rules on registration, VAT and social contributions differ by country, so confirm them with the official authority or an accountant where you live. This page does not cover them.
Use the calculators
Start with the freelance rate calculator, which works from the income you want, your costs and the hours you can bill, in any currency. The figures above are a reference point for what others charge or get offered, and your own numbers should set the result. Profession pages with their own notes: web developer, graphic designer, marketing consultant, data analyst, translator, copywriter.
- Invoice generator: a clean PDF invoice with your bank details, no signup.
- Payment fee comparison: what each payment route leaves in your account.
- Timezone meeting planner: working-hour overlap with clients in other regions.
Other countries: India, Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Indonesia, United Kingdom, United States, Latin America.
Frequently asked questions
Which EU country pays freelancers the most?
On the Malt day-rate averages, Germany is highest in software development (691 EUR), marketing consulting (810 EUR) and data analysis (745 EUR), with the Netherlands next. Spain is lowest in every category shown. These are platform averages, not a guarantee of what a client will pay you.
Can I convert the Polish per-project figures to an hourly rate?
No. The Index Useme figures are averages per completed project, and the number of hours in a project is not recorded. Use them to see how project prices compare across categories, and use the rate calculator for your own hourly or day rate.
Why are some professions missing?
A figure only appears here when a dated source reports it for that country. Where there is none, the profession page uses a global default and says so.