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Freelance Rate Calculator

Estimate a sustainable freelance or consulting rate from your income goal, business expenses, working time and billable hours.

Use the same currency for income and expenses. The generic dollar display does not convert currencies. The buffer is added on top of income and expenses; taxes are not modeled unless included in your inputs.

The calculation runs locally in your browser. No input values are saved or sent to a server.

Set your income goal and how much time you can bill.

Your yearly income goal, before adding business expenses.

Include operating costs such as software, equipment, insurance and professional fees.

Account for vacation, holidays and planned time away.

Your total working time, including billable and non-billable work.

The share of working time you expect to spend on paid client work.

An extra percentage added to your income-and-expense target. Clear the field to use no buffer.

Estimated billable hours for a sample project. Clear this field to omit the project-rate example.

Worked example

With an $80,000 income goal, $20,000 in annual expenses, 48 working weeks, 40 hours per week, 60% billable time and a 10% buffer, the annual revenue target is $110,000. That is 1,152 billable hours and a required rate of about $95.49 per hour.

About this calculator

Why freelance rates exceed employee hourly pay

Only some working hours are billable, and your rate also needs to cover administration, marketing and sales, software, equipment, insurance, professional fees, vacation and downtime—not just personal income.

How to use the estimate

The calculator adds your income goal and annual expenses, applies the optional buffer, then divides that target by your estimated annual billable hours. Weekly revenue is spread across working weeks; the day-rate example assumes eight billable hours, and the optional project rate uses your estimated project hours.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as billable time?

Billable time is work you can charge to a client. Administration, marketing, sales, and business development are usually non-billable.

Does this rate include taxes?

Taxes are not calculated. Include the amount you need to cover in your income goal, expenses, or optional buffer.

Planning estimate only. It does not forecast demand or include taxes, benefits, or other costs unless entered.