Freelance rate calculator
Drag the sliders. See the hourly rate that pays your target income and covers your business. No signup. No email required.
Inputs
What you want to pay yourself before taxes.
Vacation + holidays + any weeks you don't plan to work.
Total hours you're at your desk — before meetings and admin.
Realistically 50–70% for solo freelancers. Admin, sales, and email eat the rest.
Software, insurance, coworking, hardware. Everything not personal.
Your rate
To make $85,000 + cover $6,000 in expenses, working 1196 billable hours/year.
Day rate (8h)
$609
For per-day contracts
Week rate
$1,978
Full week of billable
Monthly target
$7,583
Revenue you need
Reality check
Add a 10–20% buffer for surprise slow months, undercharging on fixed-fee work, and clients who pay late. Your true target is closer to $87/hr.
The math
hourly rate = (target income + expenses) / billable hours per year
billable hours per year = (52 − weeks off) × hours per week × (billable % / 100)
The target income is what you want the business to pay you before personal tax. The billable percentage accounts for the reality that solo freelancers spend a lot of time on work you can’t bill for: sales calls, admin, email, invoicing, learning, and untangling problems. 60–70% is honest for most people. The reality-check card adds a 15% buffer to cover the slow months, the late-paying clients, and the fixed-fee jobs where you undercount.
Common questions
No. Enter your target income as gross freelance revenue — what you want the business to pay you before personal income tax, self-employment tax, or VAT. Talk to an accountant about the tax layer.
Because solo freelancers spend real time on things you can't invoice — sales calls, admin, email, invoicing, learning, deep-clean-inbox days. 60–70% is realistic. Under 50% and you're mostly running a business, not doing the work.
This calculator gives you an hourly floor. For fixed-fee, estimate hours honestly and multiply by the hourly rate — then add a 15–25% buffer for scope creep. For retainers, take the monthly hours you'll commit and multiply.
No. This is your break-even to sustain the target income. Charge higher for scarce skills, tight deadlines, or clients with bigger budgets. The 15% buffer in the reality-check card is the minimum lift.
Project management, time tracking and invoicing all in one place.
Free forever. No credit card required.