Freelance Rate Calculator
Any country Currency-neutral arithmetic. Enter figures in your own currency; no country tax rules are applied.
Freelance hourly rate calculator: the rate you need from target income, expenses, weeks off and billable hours, as an hourly, day and consulting rate.
Educational estimate only. Not a lending decision. Your numbers stay in this browser.
Results
How to read this: the verdict describes how much room your numbers leave, not a decision or an offer. Change any input to see how much the result moves.
Assumptions and formula
Working hours are the weeks you work times the hours per week; billable hours are the share of those that clients pay for. What the year must bring in is your desired income plus business expenses plus any profit buffer, and the hourly rate is that total divided by the billable hours. The day rate is the hourly rate times the day length you set.
Dividing a target salary by 2,080 hours is the figure most tools produce, and it is reported here for comparison. It charges for holidays and sick days as if they were worked, bills the admin, selling and learning that fill a third of a freelancer’s week, and recovers nothing for equipment, insurance or software an employer used to provide. The desired income is before personal income tax, so it compares with a gross salary; self-employment charges an employee would not pay belong in the expenses.
Worked example
Wanting $70,000 with $8,000 of expenses, working 40 hours a week for 46 weeks at 60% billable: 1,840 working hours, 1,104 billable. $78,000 ÷ 1,104 = $70.65 an hour, $565 a day. Dividing $70,000 by 2,080 gives $33.65 — less than half — because it bills 976 hours that no client will ever pay for and nothing for the expenses.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out my freelance hourly rate?
Add up what the year must bring in — the income you want, your business expenses, and a buffer — and divide by the hours you can actually bill, not the hours you work. Wanting $70,000 with $8,000 of expenses, working 40 hours a week for 46 weeks at 60% billable, gives $78,000 ÷ 1,104 hours = $70.65 an hour. Dividing $70,000 by 2,080 gives $33.65, which is less than half.
Why is my freelance rate so much higher than my old hourly salary?
Because an employer paid for the hours you did not produce in: holidays, sick days, meetings, training, the equipment on your desk and the insurance behind it, plus their share of payroll taxes and benefits. As a freelancer those hours and costs are yours, and they can only be recovered through the hours a client pays for. A rate that looks like double the salary-equivalent is usually just break-even.
What percentage of my time will be billable?
For most independent professionals, 50–70%. The rest is finding work, quoting, invoicing, chasing payment, bookkeeping, learning, and the gaps between projects. New freelancers routinely assume 90% and price accordingly, then discover in month three why the money is short. Track a few weeks honestly and enter the real figure; the rate moves a lot with it.
Should I charge by the hour or by the day?
The day rate here is the hourly rate times the day length you set, so the two are the same money. Day rates suit work sold in blocks — design, consulting, on-site contracting — and avoid arguing about a 45-minute call. Hourly suits small, variable tasks. Whichever you quote, the annual arithmetic behind it is the same, and a day rate quietly assumes the day is fully billable.
What counts as a business expense?
Anything you pay to be able to do the work: software subscriptions, hardware and its replacement, professional insurance, an accountant, a workspace, training, travel to clients, and any self-employment charges an employee would not pay. Add them for the year and enter the total. Personal income tax is not an expense here — the desired income is pre-tax, like a salary.
How much should I charge as a freelancer, consultant or contractor?
Enough that the billable hours pay for the whole year. How much should I charge is the wrong first question; the right one is how many hours you will actually invoice, which is usually 50% to 60% of the hours you work once admin, selling and holidays are counted. Divide the income you want plus your costs by those billable hours and you have the floor. A consulting rate calculator, a contractor rate calculator and a day rate calculator all do that same division, whether the answer is quoted per hour or per day; this hourly rate calculator for freelance work shows the hourly, day and salary-equivalent figures from one set of inputs.