Free tool · Money & pricing
Freelance hourly rate calculator
Your minimum freelance rate is the revenue you need in a year — take-home pay plus taxes plus business costs — divided by the hours you can actually bill. Most people underprice because they divide by 40 hours a week and 52 weeks a year.
Minimum hourly rate
$114
Bill 1,150 hours a year at this rate to take home $80,000.
- Revenue needed per year
- $131,022
- Day rate (8 hrs)
- $911
- Week rate (5 days)
- $4,557
- Monthly retainer (≈ billable hrs / 12)
- $10,919
- Equivalent salaried pay
- $111,111
Formula
- Revenue needed = Take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate) + Business expenses
- Billable hours = (52 − weeks off) × billable hours per week
- Hourly rate = Revenue needed × (1 + buffer) ÷ Billable hours
Why billable hours are lower than you think
A freelancer's week includes sales calls, proposals, invoicing, admin, learning and revisions that clients do not pay for by the hour. Twenty to thirty billable hours out of a forty-hour week is common, and new freelancers with no pipeline often bill fewer.
Then subtract holidays, vacation and sick days. Forty-six working weeks at 25 billable hours is 1,150 hours a year — barely more than half of a salaried 2,080.
Worked example
A copywriter wants $70,000 take-home, expects about a 28% combined tax rate and has $6,000 of yearly costs (software, laptop, health insurance share, accountant). Revenue needed: $70,000 ÷ 0.72 + $6,000 ≈ $103,200.
With 6 weeks off and 24 billable hours a week, that is 1,104 hours. Adding a 10% buffer for slow months gives about $103 an hour — far above the $50 an hour that “$100k ÷ 2,080 hours” would suggest.
From hourly to project and value pricing
Use the hourly number as a floor, not a price tag. Once you know how long a typical project takes, quote a fixed project fee that is at least your hourly floor × estimated hours, plus a margin for scope creep.
As you specialize, price on the value to the client — a sales page that brings in $50,000 is worth more than its hours. Retainers (a fixed monthly fee for a set amount of work) smooth out income and are often the fastest route to stable freelancing.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
Add the take-home income you want, the taxes on it and your business expenses to get yearly revenue needed, then divide by the hours you can realistically bill in a year (weeks worked × billable hours per week).
How many billable hours does a freelancer work?
Commonly 20–30 hours in a 40-hour week, because marketing, admin and client communication take the rest. Plan with a conservative number and raise it once your pipeline is steady.
Should I charge hourly or per project?
Hourly suits open-ended work and new client relationships. Fixed project fees reward you for working efficiently and are easier for clients to approve. Many freelancers calculate an hourly floor and quote per project.
How much more should a freelancer charge than an employee earns?
Often 1.5–2× the equivalent salaried hourly rate, because you cover your own taxes, benefits, equipment and unpaid time between projects.