Freelance Rate Calculator — Find Your Hourly Rate

Setting the right freelance rate is one of the most important decisions you'll make as a solo professional. Charge too little and you'll struggle to cover expenses and save for retirement. Charge too much and you might lose clients to competitors. The key is finding a sustainable rate that reflects your skills, covers your costs, and leaves room for growth.

Hourly freelance pricing works well when project scope is unclear or changes often. Clients pay for the time you actually spend. The downside: you're capped by the number of hours in a day. Many experienced freelancers move to daily or project rates once they can accurately estimate delivery time.

Expenses are often overlooked. Software subscriptions, insurance, equipment, accounting, and marketing add up. Our calculator uses your monthly business expenses to ensure your rate covers these costs before you take home your target income. If you don't factor in expenses, you're effectively discounting your rate.

Taxes reduce your take-home pay significantly. Depending on your country and structure, you might pay 20–45% in income and self-employment tax. The calculator adjusts your required income by dividing by (1 − tax rate), so the rate you charge clients produces enough gross revenue to cover tax and leave you with your desired net income.

Sustainable rates also account for non-billable time: admin, proposals, learning, and sick days. Use vacation days and working hours per week to model a realistic year. A 6‑hour billable day with 20 vacation days gives you roughly 1,440 billable hours per year—far below the 2,080 hours in a 40‑hour workweek.

The calculator uses the following logic:

1. Annual expenses = Monthly expenses × 12 2. Total required (before tax) = Desired income + Annual expenses 3. Adjusted income = Total required ÷ (1 - Tax rate/100) 4. Working days/year = 52 × Days/week - Vacation days 5. Working hours/year = Working days × Hours per day 6. Hourly rate = Adjusted income ÷ Working hours/year 7. Daily rate = Hourly rate × Hours per day 8. Project estimate (10 days) = Daily rate × 10

Use these rates as a starting point. Adjust for your niche, experience, and market. Once you have your rate, create professional invoices with Invoicey.