Blog writing service or AI: what a post really costs
Hire a blog writing service when a post needs interviews, original reporting or an expert's name on it. For steady SEO posts in your brand voice, an AI blog writer costs a fraction as much per post. Freelance writers in the EFA's 2026 rate survey charge $375 to $675 for a 1,500-word post. Draftly's first post is free, and paid plans start at $29 a month.
Written October 15, 2026 by Preston Vawdrey at Draftly.
I built Draftly, so read this knowing I have a horse in the race. The freelance rates come from a survey I had nothing to do with.
What a blog post costs from each option
The freelance range is the Editorial Freelancers Association 2026 rate chart, built from a survey of its members' 2025 rates. It lists blog posts at 25 to 45 cents a word. I left agencies without a number on purpose: there's no independent survey of agency per-post prices I trust, and most agencies sell retainers anyway.
Price per post
- Freelance writer
- $250 to $450 for 1,000 words, $375 to $675 for 1,500 words
- Content agency
- Usually bundled into a monthly retainer. Ask for the per-post price in writing.
- Draftly
- First post free. Solopreneur is $29 a month for about 66 posts a month, about 44 cents a post.
How you pay
- Freelance writer
- Per word, per hour or per post
- Content agency
- Retainer or project fee
- Draftly
- Flat monthly plan, no per-seat charge, cancel from Settings
Who writes it
- Freelance writer
- One writer
- Content agency
- A writer, usually with an editor and an account manager
- Draftly
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 by default, checked against your writing rules
Time to a first draft
- Freelance writer
- Set by the writer's schedule
- Content agency
- Set by the agency's calendar
- Draftly
- One to two minutes
Brand voice
- Freelance writer
- Learned from your brief and edits over time
- Content agency
- Learned from your brief and a style guide
- Draftly
- Built from your website on day one, with sliders you can adjust
Publishing
- Freelance writer
- Usually a Google Doc you paste in
- Content agency
- Often included, depends on the contract
- Draftly
- One click to WordPress, Shopify, Ghost, Webflow, HubSpot or Squarespace
Original interviews and reporting
- Freelance writer
- Yes, if you pay for the time
- Content agency
- Yes, on most retainers
- Draftly
- No. Draftly writes from your site and your industry's news.
| Compared on | Freelance writer | Content agency | Draftly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per post | $250 to $450 for 1,000 words, $375 to $675 for 1,500 words | Usually bundled into a monthly retainer. Ask for the per-post price in writing. | First post free. Solopreneur is $29 a month for about 66 posts a month, about 44 cents a post. |
| How you pay | Per word, per hour or per post | Retainer or project fee | Flat monthly plan, no per-seat charge, cancel from Settings |
| Who writes it | One writer | A writer, usually with an editor and an account manager | Claude Sonnet 5.5 by default, checked against your writing rules |
| Time to a first draft | Set by the writer's schedule | Set by the agency's calendar | One to two minutes |
| Brand voice | Learned from your brief and edits over time | Learned from your brief and a style guide | Built from your website on day one, with sliders you can adjust |
| Publishing | Usually a Google Doc you paste in | Often included, depends on the contract | One click to WordPress, Shopify, Ghost, Webflow, HubSpot or Squarespace |
| Original interviews and reporting | Yes, if you pay for the time | Yes, on most retainers | No. Draftly writes from your site and your industry's news. |
Freelance prices: Editorial Freelancers Association 2026 rate chart, blog posts at 25 to 45 cents a word. Draftly's per-post figure divides the plan price by its estimated posts on the default model.
What you get for the money
A good freelancer gives you judgment. They push back on a weak topic, call a customer for a quote and notice when your pricing page contradicts the post. That costs real hours, which is why the rate looks the way it does.
An agency adds an editor, a content calendar and someone to chase. You pay for the coordination as much as the writing.
Draftly gives you volume and consistency. It reads your site, picks topics from your industry's news and writes in your voice. Every post is checked against your SEO copywriting rules and gets an automatic fix pass when it misses one. In a 20-brief test, Claude Sonnet 5.5 posts passed every hard rule 95% of the time after that pass.
When to hire a human writer instead
Pay a person when the post depends on something only a person can get.
- Interviews and original reporting. Case studies, customer stories and anything quoting a real person. Draftly can't make the call.
- Expert bylines in medicine, law or finance. If readers need a licensed professional behind the advice, hire one to write or review it.
- Founder stories. A post about why you started the company should come from you. A ghostwriter who interviews you does this well.
- Nobody on your team can review posts. Draftly drafts fast, and someone who knows the business still needs to read each post. If that person doesn't exist, a full-service agency covers the gap.
You can also use both. The writer handles the two big pieces a month, and Draftly covers the weekly SEO posts in between. If you're weighing a full SEO agency, the AI SEO agency vs tool comparison covers strategy and links too.
How Draftly writes a post in three steps
- Paste your website URL. Draftly reads your site and sets your brand voice sliders from it. Change any slider and every new post follows.
- Pick a topic. Take one of the ideas Draftly pulls from your industry's news each day, or type your own.
- Review and publish. Read the draft, edit what you want and send it to your CMS in one click. Each draft comes with a URL slug, meta title and meta description.
Want to know which AI model writes best before you trust one with your blog? We tested 14 of them in the best AI for writing benchmark. Every plan and what it includes is on the pricing page.
Keep reading
ComparisonAI SEO agency or AI SEO tool?What each one does, what it costs, and when a small business needs both.
GuideThe AI copywriter for small-business blogsHow Draftly goes from your URL to a published post in your brand voice.
Blog postWhy Draftly went from agency tool to self-serve blog writerIn December 2025 I narrowed Draftly from an agency tool to a blog writer for one business and one website. Here's why…
Frequently asked questions
How much does a blog writing service cost?
Freelance writers in the Editorial Freelancers Association 2026 rate chart charge 25 to 45 cents a word for blog posts, so a 1,500-word post runs $375 to $675. Agencies usually bill a monthly retainer, and quotes vary with scope. Draftly's first post is free, and paid plans cost $29, $69 and $100 a month.
Is AI-written blog content bad for SEO?
Google's published guidance says it rewards helpful content however it was made, and that using AI to manipulate rankings breaks its spam policies. A post ranks on whether it answers the search well, so have someone who knows your business read every post before it goes live.
Can I outsource blog writing and keep my brand voice?
Yes. With a writer or agency, send a style guide and a few posts you like. Draftly reads your website and sets your voice sliders from it, so the first post already uses your words, and you can adjust the sliders at any time.
Do I still need to edit AI blog posts?
Yes. Draftly checks every post against writing rules and scores how human it sounds, but it doesn't know your prices this week or the story a customer told you. Plan a few minutes to read and adjust each post.
Can a freelance writer or agency use Draftly?
Yes. Paid plans include 2, 5 or unlimited team members at no per-seat charge, and each additional client website is $29 a month with its own brand voice and credits.
What is the most affordable way to get SEO blog posts?
Write them yourself, which costs time. After that, an AI blog writer is the cheapest option per post: Draftly's first post is free and its $29 plan covers about 66 posts a month. Pay a writer for posts that need interviews or expert credentials.
Read one post before you hire anyone
Paste your website URL and Draftly writes a full post in your brand's voice for free. Compare it with what a writer would send you.