Freelance Rate Calculator
Calculate your ideal hourly rate with full breakdown, rate card export, and market comparison.
Free & unlimitedWorks offline
Presets
Annual salary goal
$
What you want to take home (before personal tax)
Billable hours / week
Weeks off / year
Tax rate
%
Monthly expenses
$
Profit buffer
Extra buffer for savings, growth, and dry spells
Enter your salary goal and work schedule to calculate your rate
Try a preset above to get started
All processing happens in your browser. No data is sent to any server.
About this tool
- 1
Enter annual salary goal
Input the total annual income you want to take home after taxes and expenses.
- 2
Set business expenses
Add annual costs like software, insurance, equipment, and coworking space.
- 3
Define billable hours
Set your available work hours per week and the percentage you expect to actually bill (typically 60-75%).
- 4
View your rate
See the minimum hourly, daily, and project rate you need to charge to meet your salary goal.
- Don't forget to account for self-employment tax, health insurance, and retirement contributions in your expenses.
- Most freelancers can only bill 60-70% of their working hours - the rest goes to admin, marketing, and breaks.
- Add a 10-20% buffer to your calculated rate to cover slow months and unexpected expenses.
- Use the project rate as a starting point, then adjust based on project complexity and client budget.
- Calculates hourly, daily, weekly, and project-based minimum rates
- Accounts for taxes, expenses, vacation days, and sick days
- Adjustable billable hours percentage for realistic estimates
- Side-by-side comparison: freelance rate vs. equivalent salary
- Export a rate card summary
- Setting your freelance rate when transitioning from full-time employment
- Re-evaluating your rates after a change in business expenses
- Preparing a rate justification for client negotiations
- Comparing freelance income potential against a job offer salary