How to tell a client you're raising your rates (email wording that works)
The exact email for a rate increase - what to include, what to leave out, how much notice to give, and what to say when a client pushes back.
Most freelancers undercharge for years for one reason: the email is uncomfortable to write, so it never gets written. The work is worth more, everyone involved knows it, and the rate stays where it was in year one because nobody wants to be the one to bring it up.
Here is the wording. Use it directly or adapt it - the reasoning behind each choice is explained, so you can write your own version.
How to notify clients of a rate increase
Almost every version of this email that works has the same five parts, in this order:
1. The change, stated early. Not buried under three paragraphs of appreciation. Burying it reads as guilt, and guilt invites negotiation. 2. The new number and the date it starts. Specific. "A small increase" is not a number. 3. Notice long enough to be fair. Thirty days is the practical floor for ongoing work; sixty is generous and almost never argued with. 4. A brief reason - one sentence, not a defence. Long justifications signal that you are unsure the increase is warranted. 5. Continuity. Say what is not changing. Most client anxiety about a price email is not the money, it is "is this relationship changing?"
Put together:
Hi [name] - a quick note on pricing for next year. From [date], my rate for our ongoing work moves from [old] to [new]. That's the first change since we started working together in [year], and it brings me in line with what this kind of work costs now. > Everything else stays exactly as it is - same scope, same turnaround, same way of working. Your invoices before [date] are unaffected. > Happy to talk it through if it's useful. Otherwise no action needed from your side.
That last line does real work. "No action needed" gives the client permission to simply accept, which most of them want to do. An email ending in "let me know your thoughts" invites a negotiation you did not have to open.
How to announce a rate increase without apologising
The single most common mistake is apologising. "I'm so sorry to have to do this", "unfortunately I've had to", "I hate to be the bearer of bad news."
Every apology says the same thing: I do not think this is justified. And if you do not think it is justified, the client will not either.
Replace apology with straightforwardness:
- Not "I'm sorry, but I need to raise my rates" → "From March 1st, my rate moves to X."
- Not "Unfortunately costs have gone up" → "This is the first change in three years."
- Not "I hope this is okay" → "Happy to talk it through if useful."
You are not asking permission. You are giving notice, professionally and with time to plan - which is exactly what a supplier is supposed to do.
How to politely tell someone your rate for new work
For a new client, the mechanics are different: there is no relationship to protect and no history to justify. State it plainly, early, and attach it to what they get:
For a project of this scope, my rate is [X]. That covers [the two or three concrete things included]. If the budget you have in mind is different, tell me the number and I'll say honestly whether it's workable - I'd rather do that now than halfway through.
The offer to discuss budget openly is not weakness. It filters out mismatches early, which is precisely when it costs least.
What to say when a client pushes back
Some will. The reply that works acknowledges the constraint without reopening the price:
Completely understand - budgets are real. The rate from [date] reflects what the work involves now, so I'm not able to keep the old one going indefinitely. What I can do is look at the scope: if we adjust [X] or move to [less frequent arrangement], we can land closer to where you need to be. Would that be worth exploring?
The principle: hold the rate, flex the scope. Discounting the rate teaches the client that your prices are opening offers. Reducing scope keeps the value-per-hour intact and hands them a real choice.
When to send it
- Ongoing retainers: at least 30 days ahead, ideally at a natural boundary - year end, contract anniversary, quarter start.
- Project work: at the quote, never after starting.
- Never in the same message as bad news, a delay, or an apology for something else. A rate increase attached to an apology reads as compensation for a failure.
The uncomfortable arithmetic
If your rate has not moved in three years, you have not held steady - you have taken a real-terms pay cut every one of those years, quietly, while getting better at the job.
Our freelance rate calculator works out the minimum hourly rate that actually delivers your target income after tax, expenses and non-billable time. It is free and takes about twenty seconds. Most people find their current rate is below the floor, not just below the market.
The other renewal conversations
A rate increase is one of several moments where a retainer quietly loses money: the proactive check-in before renewal, the client who goes silent as the end date approaches, a shrinking budget, converting a one-off project into ongoing work, and ending a retainer gracefully without burning the relationship.
Those are in the Client Retainer Renewal Kit - eight scripts plus a tracker so no contract end date arrives unnoticed. The first script is readable in full on that page.
The wording above is complete and free to use. If it covers your situation, you are done.