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Freelancers

Free Freelance Rate Calculator

Work out the hourly rate you actually need to charge, based on your income goal, business expenses, taxes and a realistic number of billable hours (not a 40-hour week).

What this does: turns your desired annual income, business overhead and estimated tax rate into a target hourly rate, day rate, and suggested project-rate range, using your actual billable weeks and hours per year. It runs entirely in your browser, needs no signup, and is for planning purposes only, not financial or tax advice.

Software, insurance, equipment, marketing, subcontractors, etc. Leave blank if none.

Your combined estimate for self-employment and income tax. Enter 0 if you truly have none.

Billable hours are usually well under 40/week: unpaid time spent on admin, invoicing, marketing and finding clients isn't billable, so 20-30 hours/week is typical for a full-time freelancer.

Fill this in to also see a suggested flat project-rate range. Leave blank to skip it.

Fill in the fields above and press Calculate

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?

Add your desired annual income to your annual business expenses, then divide by (1 minus your tax rate) to get the gross revenue you need to earn. Divide that gross revenue by your total billable hours per year (billable weeks multiplied by billable hours per week) to get your hourly rate. For example, a $60,000 income goal plus $6,000 in expenses at a 25% tax rate requires $88,000 in gross revenue; at 48 billable weeks and 25 billable hours per week (1,200 hours/year), that works out to about $73.33 per hour.

Why are billable hours per week less than 40?

Most freelancers cannot bill clients for every hour they work. Time spent on admin, invoicing, bookkeeping, proposals, marketing, finding new clients, and gaps between projects is unpaid. As a result, a full-time freelance schedule usually yields only 20 to 30 truly billable hours per week, not 40, so pricing based on a 40-hour week understates the rate you actually need to charge.

Should my freelance rate include taxes and business overhead?

Yes. Unlike an employee, a freelancer is responsible for self-employment and income taxes and for every business cost an employer would otherwise cover, such as software, equipment, insurance, and marketing. Building your estimated tax rate and annual overhead into the rate calculation ensures the income left over after taxes and expenses actually matches the amount you want to take home.