Freelance rate calculator made for you
Most freelancers price too low. Build a rate that includes unpaid hours, taxes, and running costs, not only the time you bill.
Your time
Client delivery and project management, not marketing or admin.
hrs
After vacation and holidays.
wks
52 weeks in a year
1,728 路 billable hours this year
What you need to earn
Salary you pay yourself each year.
$
Software, insurance, gear, and admin. Annual total.
$
Buffer for slow months.
$
Ask your accountant what to set aside.
%
$113,100 路 income goal, including tax reserve
How the calculator works
- Billable hours. Hours per week you can bill clients, times the weeks you work in a year. Leave out marketing, proposals, bookkeeping, and other admin.
- Income goal. Your target pay plus business costs, a profit cushion, and a tax reserve you choose.
- Hourly rate. Your income goal divided by your billable hours. This is your floor, not your quote.
- Project quote. The hours for a job times your quote rate, with headroom for scope and negotiation, as one flat fee.
A quick example
Say you can bill 25 hours a week for 46 weeks a year. That's 1,150 billable hours. If your income goal, with pay, costs, a cushion, and a tax reserve, is $70,000, your floor is about $61 an hour. A 40-hour project at that rate is about $2,440, before any headroom.