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Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Calculate the hourly and day rate you need to hit your freelance income goals. Factor in expenses, billable hours, and profit margins.

Preset scenarios

Inputs

Currency

Annual income goal

Working weeks per year

Billable hours per week

Annual fixed expenses

Variable expenses (% of revenue)

Desired profit margin (%)

Recommended hourly rate$122.76Based on 1,150 billable hours per year

Recommended day rate$613.81Assuming 5.0 billable hours per day

Monthly net income$8,750.00From monthly revenue of $11,764.71

Annual net income$105,000.00Required annual revenue: $141,176.47

Revenue breakdown

Take-home pay$85,000.00 · 60%

Fixed expenses$15,000.00 · 11%

Variable expenses$21,176.47 · 15%

Profit buffer$20,000.00 · 14%

Delivery insights

Bill 1,150 hours (~230 focused days) each year to stay on track.
Variable expenses absorb $21,176.47annually, leaving $105,000.00 for take-home and profit reinvestment.
Your profit buffer adds $20,000.00 to personal income, boosting the effective net hourly rate to $91.30.

Proposal-ready snippets

Hourly rate blurb

My standard hourly rate for this engagement is $122.76, which covers delivery, communication, and project management time.

Day rate blurb

For dedicated days, I quote $613.81 per day based on 5.0 focused billable hours.

Retainer guide

To hit our agreed outcomes, budget $11,764.71 per month. This sustains a net freelancer income of $8,750.00.

Enter your income goal, expenses, and availability or apply a preset that matches your situation.
Review the calculated hourly, day, and monthly figures plus the revenue breakdown.
Copy the proposal-ready snippets or adjust variables to model retainer and project scenarios.

Re-price retainers after scope changes or contract renewals.
Plan a transition from employment to freelance by modeling different billable hours.
Stress-test budgets before hiring subcontractors or investing in new tools.

Keep variable expenses below 100% of revenue so the calculator can produce realistic results.
Set profit margin above 0% to create a buffer for downtime, learning, and admin tasks.
Revisit your numbers quarterly: small changes in billable weeks can dramatically affect rates.

Which currency does the tool use?: Choose from the dropdown to switch currency formatting. Calculations stay the same regardless of currency symbol.
Why do I see a "needs more data" notice?: Make sure billable hours per week and working weeks are above zero and that variable expenses stay under 100% of revenue.
Can I save my inputs?: Use browser bookmarks with query parameters or keep the tab open. Dedicated saving is on the roadmap.

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