Freelance Rate Calculator
The most common freelancing mistake is charging your old salary divided by 2,080 hours. That ignores unbillable time, your own costs, time off, and tax. Enter the income you want to replace and the calculator returns the hourly and day rate that actually gets you there.
Fill in your numbers, results update as you type. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.
Reading your result
The big number is the hourly rate you need to charge so that your billable hours, after costs, time off, and a tax buffer, add up to the income you want to replace. The breakdown shows the matching day rate for a typical billable day, your billable hours across the year, and the total revenue your business needs to bring in.
The rate will look high next to your old salary divided by hours worked, and that is the point. You are pricing in everything an employer used to absorb. A rate that looks comfortable against your gross pay almost always leaves you earning less than you did as an employee.
How to set the inputs honestly
- Target the income you want to keep. Use the take-home you are replacing, or the goal you are aiming for. The tool adds tax on top through the uplift, so enter the net you want, not a pre-tax salary.
- Be realistic about billable hours. Most full-time freelancers bill twenty to thirty hours a week, not forty. The rest goes to finding work, admin, and breaks. Overstating this is the main cause of underpricing.
- Count all your costs. Software, hardware, insurance, accounting, a workspace. These come out of your revenue now, so they belong in the costs field.
- Set a buffer you can defend. The uplift covers self-employment tax, slow months, and the benefits you lose. Around thirty percent is a reasonable starting point, then adjust to your tax position. Freelance transition guide
A worked example
Lena wants to replace 60,000 of income, has 4,000 of annual business costs, takes 6 weeks off, bills 25 hours a week, and sets a 30 percent uplift. Her working weeks are 46, so her billable hours for the year are 25 times 46, which is 1,150.
Her required revenue is 64,000 times 1.30, about 83,200. Divided by 1,150 billable hours, that is an hourly rate of roughly 72, and a day rate around 362 for a five-hour billable day. Charging the 29 an hour her old salary implied across a full year would have left her earning far less than she did employed, while covering none of her own costs.
Methodology, in plain English
Working weeks equal 52 minus your weeks off. Billable hours for the year equal billable hours per week times working weeks. Required revenue equals your target income plus business costs, multiplied by one plus the tax and buffer uplift. The hourly rate equals required revenue divided by billable hours for the year. The day rate equals the hourly rate times your billable hours in a typical working day, taken as your weekly billable hours divided by five. The tool does not calculate exact self-employment tax, which varies by country, the uplift is your estimate of tax plus margin. Educational estimate, not financial or tax advice. Full assumptions on the methodology page.
The mistakes that lead to underpricing
Dividing salary by 2,080 hours
That treats every working hour as billable and ignores costs and tax. The real rate is much higher. Transition guide
Assuming a full billable week
Finding work and admin eat hours you cannot charge for. Bill the hours you really sell, usually well under forty.
Forgetting your own costs
Software, insurance, and equipment used to be the employer's line. Now they come out of your rate. Test your income
Leaving no buffer for tax and gaps
Self-employment tax and slow months are real. A rate with no margin becomes a pay cut the first quiet month.
Read next
Side Hustles to Build Before Quitting
A de-risking sequence for building income while you still have a paycheck.
Transitioning to Freelancing After Quitting
Setup, pricing, and the income ramp from employment to clients.
Side Hustle Income Calculator
See how long building this income to a livable level actually takes.
Frequently asked questions
What rate do I need to charge to replace my salary?
More than your old salary divided by working hours, because as a freelancer you only bill part of your week, you cover your own costs and time off, and you pay tax differently. This calculator takes your target income, adds business costs and a tax buffer, then divides by your realistic billable hours to give the hourly rate that actually replaces your salary.
Why is my freelance rate so much higher than my old hourly pay?
Because an employee is paid for every hour, while a freelancer is paid only for billable hours. Time spent finding clients, admin, and unpaid gaps is not billed, so the billable hours must cover the unbillable ones. Add self-funded costs, time off, and tax, and the rate that replaces a salary is often well above the equivalent employee hourly pay.
How many billable hours a week is realistic?
For many full-time freelancers, twenty to thirty billable hours a week is realistic once you account for finding work, admin, and breaks. Setting the figure too high is the most common way people underprice, because it assumes every working hour is paid. Start conservative, then adjust as you see your real billable ratio.
Should I charge hourly or a day rate?
Either can work, and many clients prefer a day rate for predictability. This calculator shows both: an hourly rate and a day rate based on your billable hours in a typical day. Pick whichever suits your market, but make sure the day rate is built from the same maths so it still replaces your salary.
People also ask
What should I include in the tax and buffer uplift?
Use it to cover the tax you will owe as a self-employed person, plus a margin for slow periods, late payments, and the benefits you no longer get from an employer. A figure around twenty-five to thirty-five percent is a common starting point, but check your own tax position, since self-employment tax and rules vary by country.
How do I account for time off and admin?
Enter the weeks you will not work for holiday, sickness, and admin in the time-off field, and set billable hours to the part of each working week you can actually charge for. Together these strip out the unpaid time, so the rate is built on the hours you will really bill, not an optimistic full week.
Is this calculator free and private?
Yes. It is free with no signup, and every calculation runs in your browser, so nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. The PDF summary is generated locally on your device.
Build the income before you leap
The safest freelance start happens while you still have a paycheck. The side hustle calculator shows how long it takes to grow this rate into a livable income.
Open the side hustle calculator