Freelancer Hourly Rate Calculator
Work out the hourly rate you need to charge to hit your income goal.
Your inputs
Billable hours are almost always fewer than total working hours — admin, pitching, and unpaid revisions eat into the week, so keep this realistic rather than assuming a full 40-hour week is billable.
Estimates only. Figures are indicative and do not constitute financial advice.
About the Freelancer Hourly Rate Calculator
"How much should I charge as a freelancer" is one of the most common and most poorly-answered questions in freelancing — many freelancers set a rate by guessing or copying what others charge, without actually working backward from the income they need. This calculator does that math properly: your desired take-home income, plus business expenses, divided by your realistic billable hours, gives you the rate you actually need to charge.
The part most freelancers get wrong is billable hours — a 40-hour work week does not mean 40 billable hours. Time spent on client pitching, invoicing, admin, unpaid revisions, and skill development doesn't generate direct revenue, so realistic billable hours are usually well below total working hours, often 20-30 hours a week even for a full-time freelancer. This calculator lets you set your own billable hours and working weeks per year (accounting for holidays and slow periods) rather than assuming an unrealistic full-time-equivalent number, which is exactly why a naive 'desired income ÷ 2,000 hours' calculation usually results in underpricing. Use this when setting your rates for the first time, when deciding whether to raise them, or when comparing a project-based quote against your effective hourly equivalent.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your desired annual take-home income.
- Enter your annual business expenses.
- Enter your realistic billable hours per week and working weeks per year.
- See your required hourly and daily rate.
Frequently asked questions
›How many hours a week should a full-time freelancer count as billable?
Most freelancers find 20-30 billable hours a realistic weekly figure even when working full-time, since admin, marketing, and unpaid work fill the rest of a working week.
›Should freelancers include taxes in their hourly rate calculation?
Yes — the 'desired income' figure you enter should be your target take-home after tax, since freelance income tax isn't withheld automatically the way salaried TDS is; consider your expected tax liability when setting that target.
›How do I convert an hourly rate to a project quote?
Estimate the total hours a project will realistically take (including revisions) and multiply by your hourly rate, then consider adding a buffer for scope creep, which is extremely common in freelance projects.
›What if my calculated rate seems too high for my market?
Consider whether your billable-hours assumption is realistic, whether your expenses are inflated, or whether you may need to niche down or improve your positioning to command that rate rather than lowering it and undervaluing your work.
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Read the full guide
The Freelance Rate Mistake: Assuming a 40-Hour Billable Week