Rates

Copywriting rates in Singapore

How copywriters charge in Singapore, what moves a quote up or down, and how I price. Written so you can judge any quote you receive, not just mine.

Most Singapore copywriters will not discuss money until you are on a call. That is a sales tactic, not a necessity. You should be able to work out roughly where your project sits before you speak to anyone, so this page explains the whole picture rather than just my own number.

The three ways copywriters charge

Fixed rate, per project

Priced to the work involved, usually premium. It looks more expensive, but it tends to return more: these writers dig into your market and the exact words your customers use, then build a message that converts. Best when you need direct response materials that must bring in sales.

By the hour

Common on outsourcing platforms. It can work, but it contains a quiet contradiction: experienced writers get faster, so the better the writer, the less the hourly model pays them. You end up watching the clock rather than the result.

Per word

The weakest model of the three. Persuasive copy should be as long as it needs to be to convert, no shorter and no padded. Paying per word pays for length, which is the one thing you did not actually want to buy.

Where the Singapore market sits

Rather than quote figures that go stale, it is more useful to understand the three tiers you will be quoted from. Any quote you receive sits in one of them.

• Marketplace and per-word writers. Cheapest by a distance, usually priced per word or per article, often offshore. Fine for volume content where nobody is being asked to buy. Rarely suitable for a page that has to convert.
• Generalist freelancers and small agencies. The broad middle. You are buying competent writing, and the variable is how much research is included before anyone writes.
• Specialist direct response writers. Priced per project, selective about the work, and judged on a measurable outcome rather than a word count. This is the tier I work in.

The tiers are not better and worse, they are different purchases. Buying tier one for a sales page is how a content budget disappears without producing a single enquiry. Buying tier three for forty blog posts a month is how you overpay for something a cheaper writer would have done well.

If you are weighing a writer against doing it with AI, that comparison is set out here.

How I price

I am a premium copywriter: not the most expensive in Singapore, and not the cheapest. I charge per project and quote only after I understand the requirements. As a guide, projects start in the four figures, and I take on work selectively. If your project is interesting and has room to scale, send me a note.

Why there is no price list on this page

Because a price list would be misleading. The same deliverable, a landing page, can be a straightforward rewrite of a clear offer or three weeks of research into a market nobody has mapped. Quoting one number for both would mean overcharging the first client to subsidise the second.

What I can do is tell you the floor, tell you exactly what moves the number, and quote quickly once I have seen the brief. You will get a figure rather than an invitation to a call.

What goes into a copywriting quote

Four things move the number, and knowing them helps you compare quotes fairly:

• Length and number of assets. One ad is not the same as a full sales funnel. A sales page plus an email sequence plus ads is three projects that happen to share research.
• Research depth. A considered, high-value offer needs more digging than a simple one. This is usually the largest single factor and the one cheap quotes leave out.
• Complexity of the offer. How much has to be explained, and how many objections have to be handled before someone will act.
• Turnaround. Expedited work carries a premium, because it displaces other work rather than being added to it.

Compare copywriters on the value of the result, not the price of the words. The cheapest quote is rarely the one that returns the most, and the most expensive is not automatically the best. Ask each writer what they would measure, and notice who has an answer.

What every project includes

• Deposit and terms: a deposit before research begins, with the balance due on completion, when copyright in the work passes to you. Full terms are in the proposal.
• Turnaround: most standard projects take about two weeks; larger projects take longer. Expedited work is sometimes available for a 20 to 50% fee.
• Two major revisions: including a rework of the angle after a live test, where I help analyse why the result happened and sharpen the copy accordingly.
• The reasoning, documented. Every project runs through the CULTIVATE method, so you get why each decision was made, not just the file.

The revision-after-testing clause is the one worth reading twice. Most copywriters hand over a draft and consider the job finished. Direct response is judged on a number, and the number only exists after the copy goes live, so the work is not really done until someone has looked at it.

To get a sharper quote, how to brief a copywriter sets out what to include. If you are looking at this from the career side rather than the buying side, see what copywriters earn in Singapore.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a copywriter cost in Singapore?

It depends on the project and the result it has to drive. Marketplace writers charge per word and sit at the bottom of the market. Generalist freelancers and small agencies occupy the middle. Specialist direct response writers price per project. I am in the third group: I quote after scoping, and projects start in the four figures.

Why will no copywriter give me a price upfront?

Some of it is genuine: the same deliverable can involve very different amounts of research. Some of it is a sales tactic designed to get you onto a call before you know the number. You can tell the difference by asking what moves the price. A writer who can answer that clearly is pricing the work. One who cannot is pricing you.

What affects the price?

Length and number of assets, research depth, complexity of the offer, and turnaround. Research depth is usually the largest factor, and it is the thing cheap quotes quietly leave out. A single ad costs less than a fully researched sales page for the same reason a sketch costs less than a survey.

Is hiring a copywriter worth it for a small business?

It depends on what the page is worth to you. If a landing page brings in enquiries that are worth hundreds or thousands each, improving its conversion rate pays for the copy quickly. If the page gets almost no traffic, you have a visibility problem first, and I will tell you that in the audit rather than sell you copy you do not need yet.

What are your payment terms?

A deposit before work begins and the balance on completion. Copyright in the work passes to you once the balance is paid. Full terms are set out in the proposal.

Do you offer packages or retainers?

Common projects can be scoped as packages, and ongoing work can run as a retainer where there is a steady flow of assets. Tell me your goal and I will recommend the fit rather than the largest option.

Can I see results before committing?

Yes. The portfolio carries three results with figures attached, and the free copy audit gives you a written teardown of one of your pages before you pay anything.