The Freelance Fee Recommendation

The recommendation is intended for members of the Swedish Union of Journalists who work regularly or temporarily as freelancers. In this context, “freelancers” includes all types of freelance journalists.

The Freelance Fee Recommendation consists of both recommended fees and an explanation of how those fees are calculated. It is not intended to represent a minimum rate, but rather a benchmark for fair remuneration.

The proposed fee levels are based on the average salary of employed reporters and photographers in Stockholm.

The recommendation includes two hourly rates: a standard rate and a higher rate for freelancers carrying out assignments that require additional skills or resources, such as producing both text and images, text and video, or similar combinations.

The recommendation also includes guidance on copyright, reuse fees, and a detailed price list for archive images.

The recommendation is based on fees for self-employed freelancers operating as businesses under the Swedish tax registration system (F-skatt), excluding VAT.

Equivalent rates are also provided for freelancers who are not registered as businesses. In those cases, the client is responsible for handling tax deductions and employer social security contributions under the Swedish payroll tax system (A-skatt).

In addition to the recommendation, the Swedish Union of Journalists provides another fee-setting tool: the Freelance Calculator (Frilanskalkylatorn). This can be particularly useful for freelancers and media organisations calculating reasonable fees, especially for longer assignments.

Arvodesguiden is a fee database that can also be used to compare fees paid by different clients.

The Freelance Fee Recommendation 2026

The board of the Swedish Union of Journalists has decided to increase the Freelance Fee Recommendation by 3.0 per cent for 2026. This increase follows the development of collective agreements in the sector.

A corresponding increase of 3.0 per cent is also recommended for fixed freelance fees.

The 2026 recommendation means:

• A recommended increase of 3.0 per cent for existing fees.  
• A recommended hourly rate of SEK 1,253, based on average salaries in journalism and adjusted in line with collective agreement levels.  

Freelancers whose fees have followed the recommended increases in recent years should therefore increase their fees by 3.0 per cent in 2026. Reducing fees would not be in line with the recommendation.

The 2025 recommendation was SEK 1,217, with an increase of 3.4 per cent that year.

Part 1 – Recommendations for assignments

The Swedish Union of Journalists’ Freelance Fee Recommendation is intended to help freelancers charge fair and reasonable fees when working for media organisations in Sweden, and may also serve as guidance in other contexts.

A freelancer sells both their time and the right to use their work. For that reason, the Freelance Fee Recommendation covers several different situations, whether you are carrying out commissioned assignments or selling material that has already been produced.

However, the Swedish Union of Journalists does not recommend producing articles or other material before an agreement has been reached, as this may result in unpaid work if the material is not ultimately purchased.

Hourly rates

In Sweden, the most common arrangement for freelancers is to operate as self-employed businesses under the Swedish tax registration system (F-skatt). In this case, the freelancer is responsible for their own taxes, social security contributions, pension costs, and other business expenses.

Standard hourly rate: SEK 1,253 
Higher hourly rate: SEK 1,402

The higher hourly rate is recommended for freelancers with increased costs, for example due to specialised equipment, or where the assignment requires multiple professional skills, such as photography combined with writing.

Some freelancers do not operate as registered businesses. In those cases, the media organisation is responsible for tax deductions and employer social security contributions under the Swedish payroll tax system (A-skatt).

The equivalent rates are therefore:

Standard hourly rate (A-skatt): SEK 960 
Higher hourly rate (A-skatt): SEK 1,061

Daily rates

An hourly rate provides a more neutral basis than a daily rate, since the definition of a working day may vary between freelancers.

Assuming an eight-hour working day, the equivalent daily rate is:

SEK 1,253 × 8 hours = SEK 10,024

How the rates are calculated

The hourly rates are based on the assumption that freelancers work for multiple clients, both regular and new, and are only able to charge for approximately half of their total working time.

The remaining time typically includes administration, business expenses, time between assignments, pitching and securing new work, and other non-billable tasks.

The Swedish Union of Journalists applies a system of differentiated and individual salary setting. Salaries for employed journalists therefore vary depending on the employer, role, responsibilities, and level of expertise.

In principle, higher demands, specialist expertise, and longer professional experience should result in higher pay. The same principle should apply to freelancers.

The following factors have been taken into account when converting salary levels into freelance rates:

• Social security contributions  
• Holiday pay  
• Average sick leave costs  
• The financial uncertainty associated with freelance work  
• Freelancer business expenses  
• Billable working time  

Fixed fees

For regularly recurring assignments, freelancers and clients may agree on fixed fees instead of hourly rates.

For 2026, the recommended increase is 3.0 per cent, which should also be used as the basis for adjusting fixed fees.

Individual rates

There are many reasons why the recommended hourly rates may not be suitable in every case. In some situations, it may be more appropriate to calculate an individual rate using the Freelance Calculator (Frilanskalkylatorn).

Examples include situations where you:

• Have long-term or ongoing assignments and can charge for a greater proportion of your working time  
• Carry out assignments or sell material with particularly high news value  
• Have specialist expertise or extensive professional experience  

In these situations, as with employed colleagues, higher qualifications should justify higher remuneration.

Security costs

If your assignment involves working in a high-risk area, for example a location to which the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Utrikesdepartementet) advises against travel, or any other assignment requiring special security arrangements, the recommendation is that the client reimburses all related costs.

This may include extended insurance coverage, on-the-ground security arrangements, costs for local fixers, or other security-related expenses that make the assignment more costly than standard work.

Where possible, these costs should be agreed in advance before travelling.

However, clients should be aware that circumstances may change rapidly when freelancers are working in countries or locations with unstable security conditions, and additional measures may become necessary during the assignment.

VAT

VAT should be added to the recommended fees where applicable.

Lost material

If physical material such as film, original images, or drawings is lost by the client, compensation should be determined in accordance with general principles of tort law.

Cancellation of assignments

If a client cancels an assignment for reasons not attributable to the freelancer, the freelancer is entitled to reasonable compensation based on the agreed fee and any costs already incurred.

Part 2 – Copyright and compensation

The following section reflects Swedish law and established industry practice.

Who owns the material?

As a freelancer, you retain ownership of the material you create and are generally free to license it for further use.

This means you may sell usage rights to the same material multiple times, unless otherwise agreed.

A client who has purchased rights for one or more specific uses does not have the right to transfer, sublicense, or otherwise make the material available to third parties without a separate agreement.

If a client wishes to use the material in ways beyond what was originally agreed, a new agreement must be reached.

Different contractual arrangements may of course apply where explicitly agreed.

Publishing agreements

This principle of freelance ownership does not generally apply to freelance authors working under publishing agreements for books or similar works.

Such agreements often involve exclusive rights arrangements, meaning the author may not be free to resell the material to another publisher or media organisation.

Newspapers and magazines (print)

In print publications, one use means publication of the material in a specific issue of a newspaper or magazine.

Additional uses within the same issue — for example on the cover, in promotional material, or in the table of contents — are not included in the original fee unless specifically agreed.

If a publication has multiple editions under the same title and published by the same company, the material may be used across those editions without additional payment.

The fee for one use is not affected by circulation size, whether the circulation increases or decreases.

A publication may not be artificially divided between issues in order to treat continued publication as part of the original agreement. Any such additional publication constitutes a new use.

Online publication

For online use, one use means the right to publish the material in a single form of digital publication.

As digital publishing takes many forms — including websites, apps, mobile platforms, and other formats — each distinct form of publication constitutes a separate use unless otherwise agreed.

A media company that purchases rights for online publication may keep the material available online for up to 36 months in accordance with Section 30 of the Swedish Copyright Act.

Broadcast media

Broadcast media may have rights to use material beyond the original transmission, depending on the agreed terms and applicable legal provisions.

Reuse and resale

Full fee for resale

The Swedish Union of Journalists recommends that freelancers charge 100 per cent of the original fee when reselling material to a new client.

The same principle applies if the original client wishes to reuse the material beyond the agreed scope.

Reuse by the same client in anthologies and yearbooks

For republication of unedited material in yearbooks, anthologies, or similar formats by the same client, the Swedish Union of Journalists recommends a fee of at least 50 per cent of the original fee.

Secondary use

In cases of simultaneous sale, a client may purchase rights for a secondary use at 20 per cent of the original first-use fee.

Secondary use is therefore a discounted form of reuse.

For this discount to apply:

• the second use must relate to the same newspaper or magazine title as the original publication, or to a website clearly connected to that title;  
• both uses must be operated by the same company; and  
• the uses must take place within the same general publication timeframe.

For example, publication online beginning at the same time as publication in print would qualify.

Where the secondary use relates to online publication, the fee for that use is calculated as 20 per cent of the original fee, based on a publication period of up to six months.

This means that even if the material remains online for only a shorter period, such as two months, the full 20 per cent fee still applies.

Under Section 30 of the Swedish Copyright Act, lawful online publication may continue for up to 36 months.

If the parties have agreed to online publication without specifying a time limit, the material may therefore remain available for a further 30 months beyond the initial six-month period covered by the 20 per cent fee.

No additional remuneration is recommended for this extended availability.

Examples of separate uses

Examples of separate uses include:

• One use in radio and one on a website  
• One use in an online newspaper and one in a magazine  
• One use in a newspaper and one on a website  
• One use in a tablet app and one on a mobile website  

Moral rights

A client may not alter a work without the creator’s consent, except where changes constitute normal editorial processing.

The creator also has the right to be clearly credited whenever the work is published or otherwise used.

Archives

A client who purchases freelance material may retain it in an internal archive for research purposes, provided the freelancer has given consent.

If images are archived by the client, they must be stored with metadata indicating the photographer’s name and any applicable usage restrictions.

Publication deadline

Commissioned material should be published as soon as reasonably possible after delivery.

Unless otherwise agreed, the client has the right to publish the material within six months of delivery.

Part 3 – Archive images

Archive images are images that have previously been published and are licensed for reuse.

Archive images in print media 2026

Pricing is determined by several factors, including how the image is used, the size of the print run, and the size of the image.

If the print run falls between the listed ranges, the fee should be adjusted accordingly.

Time spent on editing, file handling, file preparation, scanning, or similar work in connection with licensing archive images shall be charged according to time spent at the higher hourly rate.

Archive images online 2026

For online publication, two image sizes are used: standard and thumbnail.

Pricing also depends on how long the image remains published online.

Comment: A thumbnail is a very small image, typically used online as an icon that enlarges when clicked, or as a small accompanying image linked to a short news item.