Cost Per Article Calculator

Most content budgets are built on guesswork: a flat fee per article that ignores word count, editing time, and image sourcing. This cost per article calculator gives you the actual unit economics of your content production by combining writing rate, overhead costs per article and monthly volume. Use the calculator above to see cost per article, monthly content budget and annual content budget side by side.

How the cost per article is calculated

The formula has two components: writing cost and production overhead.

Cost per article = (Words per article x Writing rate per word) + Editing and images overhead per article
Monthly content budget = Cost per article x Articles per month
Annual content budget = Monthly budget x 12

Step-by-step example. You commission 1500-word articles at 0.10€ per word. Writing cost = 1500 x 0.10€ = 150€. Add 40€ for editing and stock images. Cost per article = 190€. At 8 articles per month: monthly budget = 190€ x 8 = 1520€/month, or 18240€/year. Adjust the inputs for longer or shorter articles, different rates, or higher overheads to model different production setups.

How to use the result to optimise your content budget

Compare freelance, agency and in-house costs side by side. Run the calculator three times with different inputs: a freelance writer at 0.07€/word, an agency brief at 0.15€/word, and an in-house team where the rate per word is total salary divided by annual word output. The honest comparison often surprises teams.
Separate commodity content from strategic content. Short 500-word service pages cost less per article but may need more SEO investment to rank. Long 2500-word evergreen guides cost more per article but can generate traffic for years. Model both before committing to a content mix.
Include all real overhead. Editing and image costs are easy to overlook when budgeting. Also consider brief creation time (30 minutes of an SEO manager's time has a cost), internal review rounds, and CMS publishing time. A missing 20€ per article across 8 articles per month is 1920€ per year.
Use cost per article alongside content ROI. The cost per article calculator answers the supply side. Pair it with a content marketing ROI calculation to see whether the investment is justified by projected traffic and conversions. A 190€ article generating 720€/month in extra revenue has a very different business case than a 190€ article with no measurable traffic.
Review rates annually. Freelance writing rates and agency prices shift. Running this calculation once a year keeps your budget realistic and flags when a supplier relationship has drifted out of market range.

Reference benchmark

SaaS B2B content programmes investing around 120000$/year in SEO and content report average ROI of 702% with a break-even point at 7 months (First Page Sage, 2026). The absolute figures depend on topic selection, conversion rates and distribution. A well-targeted article at 190€ can outperform a poorly targeted one at 60€.

If you want to track which articles drive organic and AI rankings and connect production costs to actual traffic, Sorank monitors visibility across search engines and AI assistants in one platform.

Frequently asked questions

Should I include VAT and platform fees in the rate per word?

Yes. Enter the all-in cost you pay, including any freelance platform fees or VAT you cannot reclaim. Using the net invoice cost understates your real production spend and makes budget comparisons less accurate.

How do I handle articles that require expert interviews or original research?

Add the interview time or research cost to the overhead field. For example, if a one-hour expert interview costs 80€ in staff time and the article also needs 40€ of editing, enter 120€ as the overhead per article for that content type.

What is a typical writing rate per word?

Rates vary widely. Generalist freelancers often charge between 0.05€ and 0.12€ per word. Specialist or technical writers can reach 0.20€ to 0.40€ per word. AI-assisted content with human editing typically costs 0.02€ to 0.06€ per word all-in, but quality and SEO performance vary.