Freelance Rate Calculator | Hourly Rate Tool

Freelance rate calculator turns your target income, expenses, time off and billable hours into the hourly and day rate you need to charge. Free. Designed specifically for developers and professionals, this free online calculator runs entirely in your browser to process tasks quickly and securely. Enjoy unlimited usage with no data tracking and no registration required.

Also known as: freelance rate calculator · freelance hourly rate calculator · how much to charge freelance · contractor hourly rate calculator · self employed rate calculator · freelance day rate calculator · billable hours rate calculator · consulting rate calculator online

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Your Numbers

Target income and billable hours are required.

Target Take-Home Income ($ a year)

What you want left after tax and business expenses.

Annual Business Expenses ($)

Health insurance, software, hardware, accounting, coworking.

Billable Hours a Week

Weeks Off a Year

Effective Tax Rate (%)

Federal, state and the 15.3% self-employment tax combined. Ask your CPA for your real number.

Rate Breakdown

The rate that clears expenses, tax and unpaid weeks.

Enter your target income and billable hours, then select Calculate Rate to see the breakdown.

About Freelance Rate Calculator

This freelance rate calculator works backward from the income you actually want to keep. It adds your business expenses, grosses up for self-employment and income tax, spreads the total across the weeks you really work, and divides by billable hours to produce the hourly, day and weekly rate you need to quote.

Key Features

Works backward from take-home pay rather than guessing a rate and hoping
Grosses up for tax so the target income survives the IRS, not just the invoice
Subtracts unpaid weeks off, so vacation and holidays are priced in
Separates billable hours from the 40 hour week and reports your utilization
Outputs hourly, day and weekly rates plus a monthly revenue target
Shows the tax to set aside so quarterly estimated payments are not a surprise

Use Cases

Setting a first contract rate when leaving a salaried job in the US
Checking whether an agency's offered rate actually covers your overhead
Converting a target salary into a defensible hourly consulting rate
Pricing a retainer by working out the weekly rate for a fixed hour commitment
Deciding how many billable hours a week a target income really requires

Supported Formats

USD currency

Plain text (.txt)

Hourly, day and weekly rates

Related Keywords

freelance rate calculator

freelance hourly rate calculator

how much to charge freelance

contractor hourly rate calculator

self employed rate calculator

freelance day rate calculator

billable hours rate calculator

consulting rate calculator online

Why is the rate so much higher than my old salary divided by 2,080?

Because the 2,080 hour figure assumes every working hour is paid, and none of a freelancer's are guaranteed. A salaried employee at $95,000 works about 2,080 hours with an employer covering half of FICA, paid vacation and often health insurance. A freelancer billing 25 hours a week for 46 weeks has only 1,150 billable hours to recover the same income plus expenses plus the full 15.3% self-employment tax. That is why the honest hourly number usually lands near double the naive salary division.

Privacy & Security

All processing happens locally in your browser. Your data never leaves your computer, ensuring complete privacy and security.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Freelance Rate Calculator used for?

Freelance rate calculator turns your target income, expenses, time off and billable hours into the hourly and day rate you need to charge. Free.

Is Freelance Rate Calculator free to use?

Yes. Freelance Rate Calculator is completely free with no usage limits, and there is no paid tier required to use it.

Do I need an account to use Freelance Rate Calculator?

No. Freelance Rate Calculator works immediately in your browser with no signup, login, or email address required.

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