Freelance Rate Calculator
100% private — runs on your device, never uploaded. Works offline once loaded.
Enter your target income, business expenses, billable hours and desired profit to work out the hourly and day rate you actually need to charge. The calculator turns your yearly goals into a defensible rate. Everything runs on your device.
Turning income goals into a rate
Freelancers often set rates by copying peers or guessing, then wonder why the year comes up short. This calculator works from the numbers that actually matter. It starts with the revenue you need, then divides by the hours you can realistically bill. The formula is: required revenue = (target income + expenses) × (1 + profit / 100), and hourly rate = required revenue / (billable hours per week × weeks worked per year).
The insight is that your salary target is not your rate. You have to earn enough to pay yourself, cover the cost of running the business, and leave a profit buffer — all within the limited hours clients pay for.
Why expenses and profit belong in the rate
Every freelance business has costs: software, hardware, insurance, accounting, a workspace, and taxes on the business itself. If your rate only targets take-home income, those expenses quietly eat into it. Adding them before dividing means clients fund the true cost of delivery.
The profit margin on top is not greed — it is resilience. It creates a cushion for slow months, reinvestment, and the risk you carry as your own employer. Even a modest 10 to 20% margin turns a break-even practice into a sustainable one.
- Target income: what you want to actually pay yourself
- Expenses: every cost of running the business for a year
- Profit margin: a buffer for risk, slow periods and growth
- Billable hours: the hours clients genuinely pay for, not hours worked
Billable hours are the hidden lever
The single biggest reason freelance rates feel high is that billable hours are far fewer than working hours. A 40-hour week rarely yields 40 billable hours — sales, admin, marketing and rest consume a large share. Bill 25 hours a week over 46 weeks and you have roughly 1,150 billable hours a year, not 2,080.
This tool derives a day rate by spreading your weekly billable hours across a five-day week, so the day rate reflects a realistic working day rather than a full eight billable hours. Lowering your billable-hours estimate raises the rate you need, which is exactly why honest estimates matter.
Using the result wisely
Treat the output as your floor, not your ceiling. It is the rate at which your business breaks even against your own goals. Where demand, skill and results justify it, charging above this floor is how freelancers grow income without simply working more hours.
Revisit the numbers whenever your costs, availability or ambitions change. A rate set two years ago rarely reflects today's expenses or the value you now deliver.
Frequently asked questions
How many weeks should I enter?
Subtract holidays, sick days and downtime from 52. Many freelancers use 44 to 48 weeks to reflect time off and gaps between contracts.
How is the day rate calculated?
It spreads your weekly billable hours across a five-day week, so the day rate equals your hourly rate times your billable hours divided by five. That keeps it consistent with your real weekly capacity.
Should the rate include tax?
Include business taxes and overhead in your expenses so the rate covers them. Personal income tax comes out of the take-home income you set as your target, so budget for it separately.
What profit margin should I choose?
There is no fixed rule, but 10 to 30% is common. A higher margin builds a bigger buffer for slow periods and reinvestment; a lower one makes your rate more competitive.
Why divide by billable hours instead of all hours?
Because you can only invoice billable hours. Dividing your required revenue across the smaller billable figure is what produces a rate that actually meets your income goal.
Is any of my data saved?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and never transmits or stores your figures.
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