Freelance Rate Calculator
Stop guessing your rate. Reverse engineer your hourly price based on your target annual income, billable hours, and business expenses.
Your Goal & Capacity
Amount you want to take home before tax/expenses.
Realistic: 4-6 hrs
Holidays + Sick
Software, insurance, self-employment tax.
Minimum Hourly Rate
Charge $0.00 to be safe
Why this rate?
- Net Income Goal:$100,000.00
- + Expenses (20%):+$25,000.00
- Total Revenue Needed:$125,000.00
How to calculate freelance rates?
New freelancers often make the mistake of taking their full-time salary and dividing it by 2080 (40 hours × 52 weeks). This is wrong because it ignores unbillable time (admin, sales) and overhead expenses (taxes, healthcare, equipment).
A healthy freelance rate formula is:(Target Annual Income + Overhead) ÷ (Billable Hours per Year)
This calculator assumes you do not work every single hour of the day. Most successful freelancers only bill 4-5 hours a day. The rest is spent on marketing, emails, and learning.