Don't guess your rate from what others charge. Start from the income you want, add business costs, divide by hours clients actually pay for — that's the rate you need.
Price from the income, not the market's mood
Most freelancers set rates by glancing at what others charge and picking something that feels safe. This calculator works the other direction: start from the income you need, add what the business costs to run, and divide by the hours clients will actually pay for. The result is the minimum rate at which your target income is real.
The formula
- Required rate = (target income + business expenses) ÷ (billable hours per week × working weeks per year)
The two numbers people get wrong are the denominator's: billable hours (admin doesn't bill) and working weeks (vacation, illness, and dry spells don't bill either). Be pessimistic there — the formula punishes optimism.
How to use the result
Treat the output as your walk-away floor in negotiations, and revisit it whenever expenses, capacity, or income goals change. If your current rate sits below the floor, you now know the size of the gap — and can close it deliberately with your next client instead of wondering why full-time freelancing feels underpaid.
Frequently asked questions
- How many billable hours per week is realistic?
- Fewer than most beginners assume. Out of a 40-hour week, prospecting, proposals, invoicing, email, and unpaid revisions commonly consume a third to half. Many experienced freelancers plan around 20–25 truly billable hours and treat more as upside.
- Why is my required rate so much higher than my old salary's hourly rate?
- Because employees are subsidized: the employer pays for equipment, insurance, retirement contributions, sick days, vacation, and the unpaid gaps between projects. As a freelancer you fund all of that from your rate. A rate that merely matches your old salary-per-hour is a pay cut in disguise.
- Should I quote hourly or per project?
- This calculator gives you your floor either way. For project pricing, estimate the hours honestly, multiply by your required rate, and add margin for revisions and risk. Project pricing usually rewards fast, experienced workers better than hourly billing does.
- What if clients won't pay my required rate?
- Then the business model — not the math — needs adjusting: cheaper cost base, more billable hours, a different clientele, or more valuable services. Dropping the rate below the floor doesn't make the numbers work; it just hides that they don't.