In our “Freelance Radar” survey conducted in October/November 2024, 809 members of our community shared their insights about their current project situation, rates, skills and business prospects.
📋 The results at a glance
| Aktuelle Projektsituation | About a third of respondents feel their project situation is better than it was three months ago. |
|---|---|
| Aktuelles Projekt | The majority of respondents, at 72%, are currently involved in a client project. |
| Aktueller Stundensatz | About a quarter of the respondents have an hourly rate between €80 and €89. |
| Aufgabenbereiche | 41% of respondents have worked in Backend, while 30% focused on API and 29% on Fullstack. |
| Arbeitsort | Approximately three-quarters of the respondents primarily work from home. |
| Projektakquise | 40% of the respondents have not acquired any new clients in the last three months. |
| Geschäftsausblick | A third of respondents expect their project situation to improve over the next six months, while another third indicates that they expect it to worsen. |
| KI Nutzung | About half of the respondents use AI tools every day. |
| KI Prognose | 43% of respondents believe that the establishment of AI tools will have mostly positive effects on their work. |
Aktuelle Projektsituation
Currently, 29% of respondents perceive their project situation as better compared to three months ago, while 26% report a decline in their situation.
Aktuelles Projekt
72% of the respondents are currently engaged in a client project, while 25% are looking for one.
Aktueller Stundensatz
The majority of respondents, 24%, report an hourly rate between €80 and €89, followed by 22% who bill between €90 and €99.
Aufgabenbereiche
The most frequently mentioned areas of work by respondents in the last three months are Backend development at 41%, followed by API work at 30% and Fullstack development at 29%.
Arbeitsort
About three-quarters of the respondents have been working predominantly from home over the past three months.
Projektakquise
A majority of the respondents (40%) have not acquired any new clients in the last three months. Additionally, 27% of the respondents mainly gained new clients through their own network.
Geschäftsausblick
The majority of respondents expect their project situation to remain the same over the next six months, with 30% assessing the situation as "about the same." There are also positive expectations, as 34% of survey participants anticipate a positive development (31% "slightly positive" and 3% "very positive"). Compared to the results from three months ago, the proportion of "very positive" responses remains stable, while the percentage of "slightly positive" responses has increased by 1 percentage point. At the same time, the share of "very negative" responses has slightly risen from 9% to 10%.
KI Nutzung
Nearly half of the respondents use AI tools every day, showing a significant increase of 20 percentage points compared to three months ago. The share of participants who use AI tools often has decreased slightly to 12%, while those using them from time to time has increased to 22%. Overall, the use of AI tools has risen, particularly the daily usage compared to previous survey results.
KI Prognose
The survey indicates that 43% of respondents believe that the further establishment of AI tools will have mostly positive effects on their work. This marks a 3 percentage point increase compared to three months ago. Additionally, 35% of survey participants express a neutral view regarding positive and negative effects, while only 9% feel that the effects will be mostly negative. These figures suggest that the respondents' perception of AI tools has generally become more optimistic over time.