How to use this freelance rate calculator
Work backward from the life you want, not forward from a number that "sounds fair." Enter the take-home income you want for the year, your annual business expenses, the billable hours you realistically work each week, the weeks you actually work, and a tax buffer for self-employment tax plus a cushion. The tool returns the hourly and day rate that gets you there.
The formula
- Revenue needed = (desired take-home ÷ (1 − tax %)) + business expenses.
- Billable hours/year = billable hours per week × weeks worked.
- Hourly rate = revenue needed ÷ billable hours per year.
- Day rate = hourly rate × billable hours in a day.
A worked example
Say you want $80,000 take-home, have $10,000 of expenses, bill 25 hours a week for 48 weeks, and set a 30% tax buffer. Grossing $80k up for tax gives about $114,300; add expenses and you need to bill roughly $124,300 across 1,200 billable hours — about $104 an hour, or ~$829 a day. Charge $75 "because it sounds fair" and you would have to work far more hours for the same take-home.
Why the rate feels high — and why it isn't
A freelance rate is not an employee wage. You are only billable part of the week, you get no paid time off, and you cover your own taxes, tools, and insurance. The rate has to carry all of it. If the number here feels high, that is usually a sign your old rate was quietly underpaying you. Price the work with confidence, then send it in a clean estimate, and use the break-even calculator to check the whole picture.