What is a good hourly rate for freelancers?

A good hourly rate depends on your income goal, expenses, taxes, and billable hours. This calculator estimates a target rate based on those inputs.

How many hours are billable in a year?

Many freelancers plan for 40–70% of working hours as billable once you account for admin, sales, and downtime. Your billable percentage strongly impacts your required rate.

Freelance Rate Calculator — How Much Should I Charge?

Enter your numbers

Currency Desired annual take-home (after tax)

This is what you want to personally keep in a year.

Annual business expenses

Software, equipment, coworking, insurance, subcontractors, etc.

Effective tax rate (%)

Use your best estimate. Many use 20–35%.

Profit buffer / “oops” factor (%)

Covers slow months, bad clients, scope creep.

Working weeks per year

52 minus vacation, holidays, sick days.

Working hours per week

Total work hours, not just client work.

Billable time (%)

If you work 35 hours/week and 60% is billable, you bill ~21 hours/week.

Tip for higher conversion: Put a small paid upgrade here (PDF + spreadsheet + rate negotiation script). Keep the calculator free.

Example: Download the printable kit ($9)

Your target rate

Hourly rate to charge

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Day rate (8 billable hours)

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Adjust the “day” definition to your niche (6h, 7h, 8h).

Required annual revenue (before tax)

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Income goal + expenses, grossed up for taxes & buffer.

Billable hours per year

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Based on your weeks, hours, and billable %.

How this calculator works

The math is simple: you need enough revenue to cover expenses and taxes, plus a buffer, and you spread that across your billable hours. The biggest lever is your billable percentage.

More non-billable work → higher rate required
Fewer working weeks → higher rate required
Higher expenses/tax → higher rate required

FAQ (add your niche phrasing)

Should I charge hourly or fixed? Many freelancers quote fixed project fees using an internal hourly baseline (this number) to stay profitable.

What if my market won’t pay this? Reduce scope, specialize, improve offer, or raise billable utilization—don’t just accept unprofitable work.

How to set a freelance rate (the 60-second version)

A sustainable freelance rate isn’t based on what you made at a job. It’s based on what you need to earn, plus business costs, plus taxes, divided by the hours you can actually bill. Most people underestimate non-billable time: proposals, client calls, invoicing, revisions, marketing, and gaps between projects.

Use the calculator above to estimate a baseline hourly rate. Then sanity-check it against your niche: what buyers pay for outcomes, how specialized you are, how urgent the problem is, and how differentiated your offer feels. If you want a quick upgrade, sell a “rate kit” (PDF + spreadsheet + scripts) beneath the calculator.