Product Designer Career (UX/UI): The difference between Freelance and Permanent design roles

Do you know what are the key differences between Freelance and Permanent design roles? Find out all you need to know about the difference between Freelance and Permanent design roles with this Product Design Career (UX/UI) review based on my senior experience.

Let's start by defining what we mean by Freelance and Permanent design roles. Freelancers are people that are either self-employed or own their own company and pick up jobs via contracts. Permanent designers are people hired by a company to work for that company.

So the first difference between Freelance and Permanent design roles is about how you get paid. Not how much (we will see that later!).

As a permanent designer, you will be paid by the company that hires you, and you will have a monthly salary. Your compensation is paid every month until you leave the company or (hopefully not!) you get fired. 

The salary is agreed when you get hired and is usually a yearly gross figure (which means it doesn't include taxes) so for example, if you are working in the UK, and your salary has been agreed at £45k per year, you will not bring home 45/12 but instead 45k minus taxes divided by 12 so about £2800 a month.

As a freelancer, by having your own company or working as self-employed, you need to pay yourself a salary. You choose what monthly wage will be, and the money will come from your own business bank account and be moved by yourself (or whoever does it for you) into your account each month. Your earnings will come from clients paying your business bank account directly. And, of course, you need to pay taxes on both incomes and outgoings.

Let's see now the work-style differences between between Freelance and Permanent design roles .

There are few different cases. In the first case, there is absolutely no difference.

In a Permanent role, most of the times, you go to work every day (or less if you are in a part-time position), work office hours and earn your monthly salary.

In the case of a freelance designer, you may do precisely the same thing: commute to the office every day on a 9-5 job but earn a set amount of money daily, weekly or monthly agreed in your contract. The only difference is usually that you already know how long your engagement with the company will last (weeks, months,...)

But there are few other ways a freelance designer may work as well. As freelancers work on a contract basis, the contract may be as short as a couple of days. This means that if you are contracting, you will need to constantly look for your next engagement, which some people find frustrating. But at the same time, it means that you may not work every day of the week, which some else may find interesting.

There is finally another option for freelancers, which is also becoming more popular among people employed by a company, especially after COVID. And it is working remotely. Now, this may seem everyone's dream, but as we have learned during covid, it's more complicated than it looks. It requires discipline and the right environment, which can be hard to achieve.

Working remotely as a freelancer also allows you to work as a digital nomad. While some roles allow you to be employed full time and permanently by a company and move around freely, they are still relatively rare. Hopefully, we will see a surge in this type of roles now that remote work is becoming more popular. 

Let's talk now about the difference in working hours for Freelance and Permanent design roles.

These are similar for both permanent roles and "freelance on-location" roles and are more flexible if you freelance remotely. Let's see why this is. 

Made exception for some companies, in most cases when you work permanently, you will stick to set hours where you have to be physically present in an office space and available for meetings.

Working as a freelancer remotely allows you to pick up jobs anywhere on the planet (mostly), and so you may end up working with people that are in a different time zone than you are.

Most times, this allows you to set your own working hours and decide when and where to work. I have experienced this myself many times. And as long as you deliver on time, all is good. I personally prefer to have daily meetings with my clients to make sure we are on track, but other than these 30 minutes of the day, the rest of the time, I decide how to manage it.

So far, everything points to how much better it is to be a freelance. And personally, I believe so too. But let's see maybe some of the negative sides as well of being freelance.

The main problem is the irregularity of work influx. Being your own boss means you have to be able to find work for yourself. This can put stress and insecurity on some people. Not to mention that it also means that you may not have work for quite a long time. Sometimes it can be months between contracts.

It could be a problem for some if you have a family to look after or a mortgage to pay.

However is good to remember that, usually, freelance work is paid much more than permanent roles.

Which leads us to the last difference.

And finally, what do you get paid. What are the differences in salary between Freelance and Permanent design roles?

Obviously, many factors influence your salary. What is the level of your seniority? Junior, mid-weight, senior. What are the responsibilities for the role? Generic designer, leadership, creative direction. Then there is a difference between UX, UX and UI, just UI, Product Design... Usually, Product design roles are better paid, and UX roles are better paid than UI. And more senior positions are paid more than junior designers.

And finally, the geography. Some countries pay higher salaries than others, and some regions within the same country can also see differences in wages. For example, a designer in London may be more paid than someone else working in different UK areas.

Now let's talk numbers. A senior Freelance UX/UI Designer role ranges from £300 per day to £450 per day in the UK. There are exceptions where it will depend on the type of clients you have worked for. If you have a portfolio from Apple, Google, Facebook, or any other design giant, rates could go up to £800 per day. But keeping it realistic, they average at around £350.

For a permanent UX and UI designer position, the salary range is 25K for more junior roles and £75k for more senior roles. For leadership roles, it could be all the way to £120k or £150k. Remember these numbers are gross salaries, so before tax.

As you can see, it will all depend a lot on your situation, location and your career position. 

If you have any suggestions to make or if you would like to share what the salary differences are in your own country, it will be interesting for everyone to hear, so feel free to leave a note below.

If you believe I have missed out something or have any question, do let me know in the comments.