The invention relates to a drilling tool, especially for percussion drilling, which comprises a cutting element (3) that is configured as a plate (3) or head and that has at least one cutting edge (11) defined by a cutting face (6) and a free face (10). The cutting edge (11) is associated with a first free face section (10a) which is limited in a cutting plane at a right angle to the cutting edge (11) and parallel to the longitudinal axis (L) of the drilling tool (1) by a convex bulge (13) or a convex polygon outline. The vertical height of a rib (14) defined by the first free face section (10a) and an associated first cutting face section (6a) ranges from 0.1 mm to 1.0 mm.