Money / Freelance
Freelance Rate Calculator
Work out the hourly and day rate you need as a freelancer to reach your target income, after business costs, tax, time off, and the hours you cannot bill.
Freelance Rate Calculator: The calculator grosses your target income up for tax, adds your business costs to get the revenue you need, and divides it by the hours you can actually bill: working weeks, after holidays and sick days, times your weekly hours, times the billable share. The day rate is that hourly rate times your hours in a working day. Runs 100% locally in your browser with zero server file uploads.
- Category
- Business & admin tools
- Runs
- In your browser
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up
- Availability
- Ready to use
Runs entirely in your browser
Count holidays, public holidays, sick days, and training as weeks off. Billable share is the part of your working time you can charge for; the rest goes on sales, admin, and learning. Many freelancers bill 50% to 70%.
$81.44 an hour
$651.52 a dayThis is the least you need to charge to reach your target. Check it against what clients pay for similar work, and remember that tax rates rise with income in most countries, so ask an accountant for your own figure.
Where the hours go
A year has 52 weeks, but a freelancer rarely bills in all of them. Holidays, public holidays, a week or two of illness, and training often take 6 to 10 weeks, and within the weeks that remain, quoting, invoicing, marketing, and the gaps between projects take a large share of the time. That is why the billable share matters as much as the target income: at 50% you need twice the hourly rate you would at 100%.
To compare the result with a salary, turn it round with the hourly to salary calculator; remember that a salary comes with paid holidays and an employer's contributions the freelance figure has to cover itself.
What the client pays
If clients pay through PayPal, Stripe, or a marketplace, a share of each invoice goes on fees; the payment fee calculator shows how much, and what to invoice to receive a set amount. Where you charge sales tax or VAT on top, the sales tax calculator adds it.
How to use it
- Enter the income you want to keep after tax, and your yearly business costs.
- Set aside a share for tax, then enter your weeks off, working hours, and the share of hours you can bill.
- Read the hourly and day rate you need, and the revenue it adds up to.
Privacy & limitations
Everything is calculated in your browser. Your figures are kept only in this browser, for next time.
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Frequently asked questions
Why is my freelance rate so much higher than my old hourly wage?
An employee's wage is paid for every working hour, holidays included, and the employer pays for equipment, software, insurance, and often pension contributions. A freelancer pays all of those and is only paid for billable hours, which are often 50% to 70% of working time once sales, admin, and gaps between projects are counted.
What billable share should I use?
If you do not know yet, 60% is a common starting point. Track your time for a month: hours you invoiced divided by hours you worked gives your own figure. Long contracts with one client push it up; many small projects push it down.
What tax rate should I enter?
The share of your profit that goes on income tax and social or self-employment contributions, averaged over the year. It depends on your country and income; your accountant or last year's tax return gives the best figure. The calculator applies it to profit after costs.
Should I quote this rate to clients?
It is the least you need to charge to meet your target, not necessarily the market rate. If clients pay more for similar work, charge more; if the figure is above what the market pays, look at costs, hours, or the target itself.
Free tool · runs in your browser · no account required