In our “Freelance Radar” survey conducted in October/November 2024, 810 members of our community shared their insights about their current project situation, rates, skills and business prospects.
📋 The results at a glance
| Current project situation | About a third of respondents feel their project situation is better than it was three months ago. |
|---|---|
| Current project | The majority of respondents, at 72%, are currently involved in a client project. |
| Current hourly rate | About a quarter of the respondents have an hourly rate between €80 and €89. |
| Areas of expertise | 41% of respondents have worked in Backend, while 30% focused on API and 29% on Fullstack. |
| Work location | Approximately three-quarters of the respondents primarily work from home. |
| Project acquisition | 40% of the respondents have not acquired any new clients in the last three months. |
| Business outlook | 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. |
| AI usage | About half of the respondents use AI tools every day. |
| AI outlook | 43% of respondents believe that the establishment of AI tools will have mostly positive effects on their work. |
Current project situation
Currently, 29% of respondents perceive their project situation as better compared to three months ago, while 26% report a decline in their situation.
Current project
72% of the respondents are currently engaged in a client project, while 25% are looking for one.
Current hourly rate
The majority of respondents, 24%, report an hourly rate between €80 and €89, followed by 22% who bill between €90 and €99.
Areas of expertise
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%.
Work location
About three-quarters of the respondents have been working predominantly from home over the past three months.
Project acquisition
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.
Business outlook
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%.
AI usage
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.
AI outlook
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.