In our “Freelance Radar” survey conducted in August 2025, 741 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 | 36% assess their project situation as the same, while 26% see a slight improvement and 8% a significant improvement. |
|---|---|
| Current project | Three-quarters of the respondents are in a client project. |
| Current hourly rate | One-quarter of the respondents report an hourly rate of 90€ to 99€. |
| Areas of expertise | 40% of respondents primarily worked in Backend Development. |
| Work location | Over three-quarters of respondents worked mostly from home in the last three months. |
| Project acquisition | 38% of the respondents have not acquired any new clients in the last three months. |
| Business outlook | 42% of respondents expect their project situation to remain about the same in the next six months. |
| AI usage | Half of the respondents use AI tools daily, consistent with three months ago. |
| AI outlook | Roughly one-third of respondents see equal positive and negative AI effects, while 30% perceive mostly positive impacts. |
Current project situation
Current survey results indicate that 36% of respondents perceive their project situation as unchanged compared to three months ago. While 26% see a slight improvement, 8% rate their situation as much better, illustrating an upward trend in positive assessments, with a 4 percentage point increase in those seeing slight improvements compared to three months ago. Meanwhile, the proportion of respondents experiencing a decline has decreased, with 14% slightly worse and 11% much worse, both marking declines from the previous survey results. These findings suggest that the project situation has slightly improved for many respondents, continuing a positive trend seen over the past nine months.
Current project
Three-quarters of the respondents are currently engaged in a client project, while 21% are actively looking for one. Only 3% are neither in a project nor seeking one at the moment.
Current hourly rate
The majority of survey participants have an hourly rate in the range of 90€ to 99€, with one-quarter of respondents falling in this category. A higher portion falls in the 80€ to 89€ range, indicated by 19% of participants. Compared to previous surveys, the 90€ to 99€ range appears to be an increasingly popular price bracket. The percentage of respondents charging below 70€ remains relatively low at just 7%.
Areas of expertise
Over the past three months, 40% of respondents primarily worked in Backend Development, making it the most frequently mentioned area. Notably, Fullstack Development (26%) and API Development (23%) were also relatively popular. Other areas such as Consulting/Coaching and DevOps/Cloud saw significant engagement with 17% and 15% of respondents respectively. IT Architecture and Frontend Development were identified as main areas by 20% of participants each, while Project Management played a crucial role for 13%.
Work location
The results indicate that over three-quarters of the respondents have worked mostly from home over the last three months. Only 11% opted mainly for coworking spaces or their own offices, while 3% primarily worked onsite at the client's office. A small minority of 7% reported using a mix of work locations. Compared to previous surveys, the home office option remains the predominant choice.
Project acquisition
About a quarter of the respondents primarily acquired new clients via online platforms, and an additional 17% used their own network. However, 38% reported not acquiring any new clients in the last three months. This highlights a significant reliance on online platforms, with other methods such as direct outreach by recruiters (7%) or outreach efforts (5%) being less commonly chosen.
Business outlook
Most respondents expect their project situation to remain about the same over the next six months, with 42% expressing this view, which remained nearly unchanged from three months ago. The percentage of those anticipating a very positive development remained stable at 6%. However, there is a slight increase from 7% to 8% in those expecting a very negative trend. Overall, there is a slight improvement over the past nine months in those expecting a positive development, with those anticipating very positive outcomes rising from 3% to 6%. Meanwhile, slightly positive expectations have decreased from 31% nine months ago to the current 27%.
AI usage
52% of respondents use AI tools daily, maintaining the same level as three months ago. Those using them often have slightly increased by 1 percentage point to 19%, while 17% use them occasionally. There is an improvement in rare usage, which decreased by 2 percentage points to 5%. The number of participants not using AI tools has risen by 1 percentage point to 7%. Compared to nine months ago, there has been a steady increase in daily users by 4 percentage points, while occasional usage has declined.
AI outlook
The latest survey results indicate that 38% of respondents view both positive and negative effects of AI on their work, while 30% notice mostly positive impacts. Additionally, 13% perceive almost exclusively positive effects, marking a slight increase of 1 percentage point from three months ago. The perception of mostly positive effects has declined by 13 percentage points over the past nine months, while the share recognizing equal positive and negative effects has risen by 3 to 8 percentage points. Negative perspectives remain minimal, with only 1% seeing almost exclusively negative effects.