Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Find the rate that covers your income goal, tax, expenses and time off
This freelance hourly rate calculator works backwards from the money you want to keep. Enter your take-home goal, tax rate, business expenses, billable hours and time off, and it shows the hourly rate, day rate and project fee you need to charge.
- Hourly, day and project rates
- Tax and time off included
- Six currencies
- No sign-up
Calculate your freelance hourly rate
What you want left after tax and business costs.
Enter a rate you charge or were offered to see what you would keep.
Results update as you type. Nothing is sent or stored.
Your minimum hourly rate
$107.77per hour
Quote it as $110 per hour
- Day rate$539
- Weekly revenue$2,694
- Monthly revenue$10,328
- Annual revenue$123,933
Where a year of invoices goes
- Your take-home$80,000
- Tax set aside$26,667
- Business expenses$6,000
- Profit buffer$11,267
Dividing your goal by 2,080 salaried hours gives $38.46. You need 2.8x that, because you bill 1,150 hours a year and pay your own tax, costs and time off.
Your rate at different billable hours
Billable hours move your rate more than any other input. See what happens if you bill more or less each week.
| Billable hours per week | Hours per year | Hourly rate needed | Against your plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 hours | 690 | $179.61 | +67% |
| 20 hours | 920 | $134.71 | +25% |
| 25 hoursYour plan | 1,150 | $107.77 | Baseline |
| 30 hours | 1,380 | $89.81 | −17% |
| 35 hours | 1,610 | $76.98 | −29% |
| 40 hours | 1,840 | $67.36 | −38% |
Price a project
Turn your hourly rate into a fixed quote.
Why this freelance rate calculator is different
Most rate calculators divide a salary by the hours in a year and stop. That number looks fine until tax, unpaid admin and two weeks of flu arrive. This one counts the things that make a freelance rate higher than a wage.
Starts from what you want to keep
You enter take-home pay, per year or per month. The calculator grosses it up for tax first, then adds costs, so the rate it gives really does leave you with your goal.
Counts only billable hours
Set the hours clients actually pay for and the weeks you take off. Proposals, invoicing and holidays are no longer hidden inside a 40 hour week.
Tax, costs and a buffer built in
See exactly how much of a year of invoices goes to you, to tax, to expenses and to a safety margin for quiet months.
Hourly, day and project rates together
The same numbers give you a day rate for on-site work and a fixed fee for any project length. Quote in whichever format the client prefers without redoing the sums.
Works backwards too
Already have a rate, or a client has named one? Switch to Check a rate and see the yearly and monthly take-home it produces after tax and expenses.
Six currencies, private by design
Work in dollars, euros, pounds or rupees. Everything runs in your browser, and a shareable link carries your numbers only if you choose to copy it.
How to use the freelance hourly rate calculator
Set your take-home goal
Choose your currency and enter the income you want to keep after tax, per year or per month. A good starting point is your last salary after deductions.
Add tax and expenses
Enter your effective tax rate and what the business costs each month: software, equipment, insurance, accounting and workspace.
Be honest about your time
Enter the hours you can bill in a normal week and the weeks you will not work. Use your calendar from the last few months, not your best week.
Read and stress-test the rate
Your hourly and day rates appear at once. Check the table to see how fewer billable hours change the rate, then price a project with it.
The freelance hourly rate formula
The calculation is a short chain. Each step adds something an employer would normally pay for you. If you are moving from a job, the salary to hourly calculator shows what your old pay worked out to per hour, which makes a useful comparison.
The formula
Hourly rate = (take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate) + yearly expenses) × (1 + buffer) ÷ billable hours per yearBillable hours per year = billable hours per week × (52 − weeks off)Tax is applied before expenses are added, because expenses are paid from revenue before your profit is taxed. The buffer is a margin on top of the total, kept in the business for slow months, late payers and new equipment.
Worked example
- A take-home goal of $80,000 at a 25% tax rate needs $106,667 before tax (80,000 ÷ 0.75).
- Expenses of $500 a month add $6,000, which makes $112,667.
- A 10% buffer brings the yearly revenue target to $123,933.
- Billing 25 hours a week for 46 weeks gives 1,150 billable hours.
- 123,933 ÷ 1,150 = $107.77 per hour, or about $539 for each of five working days.
What to charge for common income goals
This table uses the calculator's starting assumptions: 25% tax, $500 a month in expenses, a 10% buffer, 25 billable hours a week and 46 working weeks. The middle column shows what you get by treating a freelance year like a salaried one.
| Take-home goal per year | Goal ÷ 2,080 hours | Hourly rate you need | Day rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $19.23 | $56.75 | $284 |
| $60,000 | $28.85 | $82.26 | $411 |
| $80,000 | $38.46 | $107.77 | $539 |
| $100,000 | $48.08 | $133.28 | $666 |
| $150,000 | $72.12 | $197.04 | $985 |
Hourly rate, day rate or project fee?
Your hourly rate is the floor under every pricing model. How you present it to a client depends on the work.
- Hourly rate
- Best for open-ended work, support and anything where the scope keeps moving. It is easy to explain, but it caps your income at the hours you have and rewards working slowly.
- Day rate
- Common for consulting, contracting and on-site work. Multiply your hourly rate by the hours you bill in a day. Clients budget in days, and you avoid tracking every quarter hour.
- Project fee
- Estimate the hours honestly, multiply by your rate and add room for revisions and calls. A fixed fee pays you for getting faster, as long as the scope is written down.
- Monthly retainer
- A set number of hours each month at your rate, paid in advance. It smooths your income, and the invoice generator can bill it in a minute.
What the right rate does for your business
- You stop undercharging. You know the floor below which a job costs you money, whatever the client's budget.
- You quote with confidence. A rate built from real costs is easy to explain and hard to haggle down.
- Time off is already paid for. Holidays and sick days are in the rate, so a week away is not a pay cut.
- Tax is never a surprise. You can see how much of each invoice to set aside before you spend it.
- You can compare offers fairly. Check a contract rate against a salaried job on the same take-home basis.
- Rate rises have evidence. When costs or goals change, rerun the numbers and show clients why.
Freelance hourly rate FAQ
How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
Start with the income you want to keep each year. Divide it by one minus your tax rate to get the profit you need before tax, add your yearly business expenses, then add a buffer for profit and quiet months. Divide that total by the hours you can bill in a year. The freelance hourly rate calculator runs the whole chain for you and updates as you type.
How many billable hours should a freelancer plan for?
Fewer than you work. Finding clients, writing proposals, invoicing, admin and learning are all unpaid, so many solo freelancers plan for 20 to 30 billable hours in a 40 hour week. Start with what your calendar showed over the last three months, not what you hope to bill.
Why is a freelance rate higher than an employee hourly wage?
An employee is paid for every hour at work, and the employer covers holidays, sick days, equipment, software and part of the tax bill. A freelancer pays for all of that from client work alone, and only bills part of the week. That is why a freelance rate is often two to three times the equivalent salaried hourly pay.
What tax rate should I enter?
Use your effective rate, not your top bracket. It is the share of your profit that goes to income tax plus any self-employment or social contributions where you live. If you do not know it yet, divide last year's tax bill by last year's profit for an estimate, and ask an accountant to confirm it.
What counts as a business expense?
Anything you pay to do the work: software subscriptions, hardware, internet, phone, co-working or office costs, insurance, accounting fees, training, marketing and payment processing fees. Add them up for a typical month and enter the total. One-off purchases such as a laptop can be spread across the months you expect to use them.
How do I turn an hourly rate into a day rate or project fee?
For a day rate, multiply your hourly rate by the hours you bill on a working day. For a project fee, estimate the hours honestly, multiply by your hourly rate, and add time for revisions and client calls. The calculator shows a day rate automatically and has a project box that prices any number of hours.
How much should a beginner freelancer charge per hour?
Work out your minimum rate first, because it is the floor that keeps you solvent whatever your experience. Then compare it with what clients in your field already pay. If the market rate is below your floor, you need lower costs, more billable hours or a better paying niche, not a rate that loses money.
Is my data saved when I use the calculator?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser, and nothing is sent to a server or stored. The Copy link button puts your numbers in the link itself, so you decide who sees them.
Set a rate that pays you properly
Five numbers are enough. Put your goal, tax, costs and hours into the freelance hourly rate calculator and leave with an hourly rate, a day rate and a project fee you can defend.
Calculate my rate