How Much Does Proofreading Cost?

When finalising their dissertation, novel, letter or business document, many people don’t take into consideration the importance of proofreading. Submitting documents or projects that contain grammatical, spelling and general writing errors indicates a high degree of unprofessionalism.

As such, having an expert proofread your work can be highly beneficial. But how much does proofreading cost?

Proofreading is generally either charged per word, per hour or per number of words. Prices typically range between 0.01 – 0.10 cents per word or 20 – 60 dollars per hour. Proofreading services that offer ‘per number of words’ pricing tend to charge between 25 and 50 dollars per thousand words.

Of course, different proofreading services have their own pricing structures. But the majority use either the ‘per word’, ‘per hour’ or ‘per number of words’ pricing structure.

Some proofreading services have different pricing structures for different types of proofreading. For example, they may have different pricing in place for academic proofreading than they do for proofreading of books.

Proofreading services that charge per word tend to set their rates between 0.01 and 0.10 cents per word.

Let’s examine these prices in terms of word count.

A 1,000 word document priced at 0.01 cents per word would cost ten dollars.

A 1,000 word document priced at 0.02 cents per word would cost twenty dollars.

A 1,000 word document priced at 0.10 cents per word would cost one-hundred dollars.

Many people prefer to pay for proofreading per word because the pricing is very clear. Unlike hourly rates, you can see exactly what your money gets you on a word-for-word basis.

Hourly proofreading rates are generally between 20 and 60 dollars.

Many people are rightly wary of hourly rates when it comes to using proofreading services. You can’t be sure exactly how long it will take to proofread your work. As such, the price you’ll be required to pay may be unclear.

You can find proofreading services that charge much less per hour than the prices we have indicated here. Some services offer proofreading as low as 10 dollars.

But, as the old saying goes, you often get what you pay for.

Proofreading services that offer rates based on number of words generally charge between 25 and 50 dollars per thousand words.

This pricing structure is arguably the best option in most cases.

Unlike the hourly rate, you have a clear indication of the costs involved based on your word count. And the ‘per number of words’ pricing structure is usually cheaper than the ‘per word’ pricing structure.

So, which proofreading pricing structure is most cost effective? Is it cheaper to pay for proofreading per word, per hour or per number of words?

For larger projects, such as novels and books, it would make more sense to use a proofreading service that offers ‘per number of words’ pricing. Paying to have such a large amount of content proofread on a ‘per word’ or ‘per hour’ basis would likely cost much more.

Is this really true? Let’s look at an example.

A 100,000 word book, priced at 0.02 cents per word, would cost 2,000 dollars.

A 100,000 book priced at 40 dollars per hour – with an approximate reading/note-taking time of 20 hours – would cost 800 dollars.

A 100,000 word book, priced at 250 dollars for 75,000 - 100,000 words, would cost 250 dollars (based on CV Nation’s pricing structure)

So, in this example, the ‘per number of words’ rate is 1,750 cheaper than the ‘per word’ rate.

On the other hand, those looking for proofreading for smaller projects may be wise to go with a ‘per word’ or ‘per number of words’ pricing structure.

Here at CV Nation, we use ‘per number of words’ pricing. This is because we believe it provides a clear indication of the costs involved while ensuring value for money.

View our proofreading services.

As we mentioned earlier, some proofreading services have different rates and pricing structures for different types of proofreading.

For example, academic proofreading, novel proofreading, business writing proofreading and legal proofreading are often all priced at different rates.

When you need your work proofread, you’re often in a hurry. As deadlines are approaching, you may not have time to proofread your work yourself.

This is where proofreading services can be beneficial, as most offer very fast turnarounds at an additional cost.

How much do these fast turnarounds cost?

Typically, you can expect to pay an additional 50% - 100% of the original cost to have your document proofread and edited within 24 hours.

To have your work proofread and edited sooner than that, for example in six hours, you will likely have to be willing to pay much more.

Of course, some proofreading services likely charge much less to proofread your work against the clock. Some may not even charge additional costs at all.

It goes without saying that you should use a proofreader who has the skills to accurately and properly proofread your work.

It’s not enough that the person who proofreads your work is a native English speaker. They need to be writing experts who have an excellent command of English.

When engaging the services of proofreaders, ensure to do your research and study reviews to make sure they have the necessary skills.

Proofreading eliminates errors and ensures your document is ready for submission or completion. If your document contains errors, it can cause the reader to believe you’re an unprofessional individual.

This initial impression can have a highly negative impact on your submissions and applications. Writing errors on your document can be simply disastrous.

Whether you’re submitting a dissertation, a high school essay, a business document or a book manuscript, proofreading is an essential aspect of the writing process.

The fact is, no matter how many times you check your own work, errors can still find a way to remain on the page. Some first editions of published books that have been checked over and over again by editors still contain errors.

So, even if you’ve proofread your work yourself, you would still be wise to enlist the services of someone else.

Proofreading is, in most cases, priced ‘per word’, ‘per hour’ or ‘per number of words’. Rates for ‘per word’ proofreading range from 0.01 cent on the low end to 0.10 cents on the high end. ‘Per number of words’ proofreading rates tend to range from 25-50 dollars per thousand words, whereas ‘per hour’ proofreading is usually priced at 20-60 dollars.

In our opinion, ‘per number of words’ pricing tends to be the most cost effective option. It also provides you with a good deal of clarity in terms of what your money is getting you.

Hopefully you’ve found this guide helpful. Feel free to get in touch with us to learn more about our proofreading services.