Ukrainian freelancers who use AI earn more — study

Freelancehunt reports that the top three in terms of work areas are as follows:

• «Design and art» — 27% of freelancers.
• «Programming» — 24%.
• «Working with texts» — 14,3%.

Compared to 2024, the share of designers has decreased significantly (it was 36,6%), while programmers and copywriters, on the contrary, have increased slightly. Researchers believe that one of the reasons may be increased competition due to generative visual tools. At the same time, the share of freelancers in the «Photo, audio and video» category has increased significantly — from 5,9% to 10,1%.

In 2025, the share of those who switched to freelance during the war, as well as those who were forced to leave, also increased. Compared to 2024, the share of those whose income fell decreased, and the share of those whose income remained stable increased. This indicates a certain stabilization of the market and client relationships, despite the war, Freelancehunt believes.

Among those who worked before the war and continue to work now, the distribution of income by category in 2025 looks like this:

• In «Working with texts» and «Photo, audio and video», the largest share of those earning up to $500 is 58,9% and 56,7%, respectively.
• In «Design and Art», almost half (48.5%) receive up to $500, another 37,1% in the range of $500–1,000, and 5,2% over $3,000.
• In «Programming», there is a noticeable share of freelancers with an income of $1,000–2,000 — 22,7% and above.
• In «Prosvaniya», the largest share of specialists with income of $3,000+ (11.5%) and a significant share with income of $1,000–2,000 (15.4%).

According to the study, in 2025, 78,7% of freelancers will already be using AI: 38,9% regularly, 39,8% occasionally. Another 10,9% plan to try it, and only 10,4% have no such intentions.

Those who do not use AI most often cite the following reasons:

• distrust in the quality and veracity of the results — 59,5%;
• unsatisfactory quality — 37,1%;
• lack of obvious benefit — 37,1%;
• concerns about the confidentiality of customer data — 20,7%.

AI is most often used for information retrieval and research (73%), idea generation and brainstorming (52.1%), drafts and prototypes (43.3%), testing and quality control (29.4%). Also in the top are performing some of the main tasks — 27,9%, preparing proposals — 23,4%, and communicating with clients — 21,8%.

Researchers note that currently AI is more of a smart assistant than a full-fledged freelancer replacement.

Over the past six months, freelancers using AI have reported the following benefits:

• increase in work speed — 76,7%;
• quality improvement — 47,6%;
• the opportunity to take on more projects — 30,7%;
• reduction in the number of errors — 29,2%;
• revenue growth — 19,6%.

Negative effects (increased errors, falling revenue, deteriorating quality) are noted by a much smaller proportion of respondents, according to the Freelancehunt study. This confirms that AI helps more than harms, especially for those who know how to integrate it into their processes.

How AI affects freelancers' income:

• 37% of respondents say that AI helps them earn more by speeding up work;
• 23.8% — makes it easier to find projects;
• 22.3% — allows offering new services;
• 21.2% — increases quality and rates.

At the same time, 18,6% say that income is falling due to lower prices, and 9% — due to increased competition.

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