Freelance Rate Calculator
Start from what you need to earn and work back to the rate — accounting for the large share of your week that nobody pays for.
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How it works
The mistake almost every new freelancer makes is dividing target income by 40 hours a week. Selling, admin, invoicing, proposals and learning are all real work that no client pays for, and they typically consume 30–40% of the week.
Business costs and tax come off before anything reaches you, and holidays and sick days reduce the weeks you can bill at all. Once those are accounted for, the rate needed to reach a given income is usually far higher than the equivalent salary suggests — which is why comparing a freelance rate against a salaried hourly rate is meaningless.
Rate = (target income + costs) ÷ (1 − tax rate) ÷ billable hours per year
- Billable share — the proportion of working hours you can actually invoice
- Business costs — software, equipment, insurance, accounting, workspace
- Billable hours — weeks worked × hours per week × billable share
Worked example
Targeting 2,400,000 net, working 45 hours over 46 weeks at 65% billable, with 300,000 of costs and 25% tax
Inputs
Results
Dividing the target by 46 × 45 hours would suggest 1,159 an hour — less than half what is actually needed.
Frequently asked questions
What billable percentage is realistic?
Between 60% and 75% for an established freelancer with steady work. Below 50% in the first year is common and normal. If you are assuming 90%, you have almost certainly forgotten sales, admin and invoicing.
How does this compare to a salary?
It should be substantially higher. A salaried role includes paid leave, sick pay, employer retirement contributions, equipment and training — all of which a freelance rate has to fund on top of the same take-home.
Should I charge hourly or by the day?
The day rate here is simply the hourly rate multiplied by a standard day, offered because many clients prefer to buy in days. Value-based project pricing usually beats both, but you need this figure as your floor.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is transmitted to us or stored.
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