Freelance hourly rate calculator
Type what you want to keep, how many hours you really bill, and your tax. The rate updates as you type. No account, nothing saved on our side.
Last updated 14 October 2026
How the rate is worked out
Four steps, nothing hidden:
- What you must bill = (what you want to keep + business costs) ÷ (1 − tax rate). Tax comes off the top, so the goal has to be grossed up, not just added to.
- Billable hours a year = billable hours a week × (52 − weeks off).
- Hourly rate = what you must bill ÷ billable hours. Rounded up to the nearest 5, because nobody quotes $79.50.
- Day rate = hourly rate × hours in your day.
If you typed monthly amounts, we multiply by 12 first. The small table under the result is the honest part: it shows what the rate has to be when you bill 85, 70 or 55 percent of the hours you planned. Most months are one of those.
One example
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Keep | $5,000 a month, so $60,000 a year |
| Costs | $4,000 a year |
| Tax and contributions | 30% |
| Billable hours | 25 a week, 6 weeks off, so 1,150 a year |
| Must bill | $64,000 ÷ 0.70 = $91,429 |
| Hourly rate | $91,429 ÷ 1,150 = $79.50, so $80 |
A $60,000 salary over 2,000 hours is $30 an hour. The freelance rate that leaves you the same money is $80. The difference is time off, hours nobody pays for, tax and costs. Not greed.
Where the number usually goes wrong
- 40 billable hours. Nobody bills 40. Proposals, calls, invoicing, email, learning: real work, unpaid.
- Zero weeks off. Six is modest. Four of holiday, one sick, one between clients.
- Adding tax instead of grossing up. 30% on top of $64,000 is not $83,200. You have to bill $91,429 to keep $64,000.
- Quoting the floor. This number is the minimum that works. Rush jobs, big clients and boring work pay more.
Questions people ask
How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
Add what you want to keep to your yearly business costs, divide by (1 minus your tax rate), then divide by your billable hours a year: hours a week times (52 minus weeks off). Round up. That is the rate that works if you bill every hour you planned; keep a buffer for the months you do not.
How many hours a week does a freelancer really bill?
20 to 28 out of a 40-hour week, for most solo people. The rest is finding work, admin, unpaid calls and learning. Plan with 25 and treat anything above it as a good month.
Hourly or day rate?
Same number, different packaging. A day rate is the hourly rate times your working day, usually 7 or 8 hours. Day rates make quotes simpler and stop clients counting minutes. Hourly fits small, open-ended work. Many freelancers keep both.
What tax rate should I type?
The share of what you bill that goes to income tax plus social and health contributions. Rough starting points: 25 to 35% for a sole trader in most of the EU, 25 to 30% in the US including self-employment tax, 15 to 25% in the Czech Republic on the flat-rate scheme, 20 to 30% in India, Brazil or Nigeria depending on the regime. Ask an accountant once, then reuse the number.
Why is this higher than what I charge now?
Because most rates come from what feels normal, not from the hours that get billed. Time off, unpaid hours, tax and costs push the real rate 40 to 80% above a salary divided by 2,000. Raise it for new clients first, then for existing ones at the next project.
Does it work for monthly goals?
Yes. Switch the toggle to per month and type what you want to keep each month; costs switch to monthly too. The calculator multiplies by 12 and shows the same hourly and day rate.
Keep going
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