FREE CALCULATOR
Freelance hourly rate calculator
Turn business costs, target income and billable capacity into an hourly planning reference based on your assumptions.
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How to read the result
- Include every business cost and the personal income you need to cover.
- Use only hours you can realistically invoice to clients.
- The margin creates room for risk, growth and less productive months.
CHECK
What to check before interpreting the result
Try several scenarios and change one input at a time. This makes it easier to see whether a result is driven by costs, capacity, reserve, savings or margin instead of treating an assumption as a confirmed fact.
Compare every amount entered with your own records. The calculator does not validate invoices, expenses, hours, payments or percentages, and it does not retrieve information from tax authorities, banks or any other external source.
Use the output as a mathematical comparison between scenarios. Before making a tax, legal, accounting or financial decision, check the current rules and your specific circumstances with an official source or a suitably qualified professional.
Keep a separate record of where each figure came from and when it was checked. Recalculate the scenario when income, expenses, capacity or percentages change; the tool does not update data, preserve evidence or detect changes by itself. Review the underlying records independently before using a new scenario.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a freelance hourly rate?
Add the personal income and annual business costs you need to cover, reduce working time for holidays and non-billable work, then apply your planning reserve and target margin.
Does this calculate my personal taxes?
No. You can enter an editable planning reserve, but the calculator does not apply legal tax rates or replace professional advice.
Can I calculate day and project rates?
Yes. The results include an hourly reference, a day scenario based on the hours entered and a mathematical ten-hour project reference.
Can I use the full calculator in Excel or Google Sheets?
Yes. The downloadable workbook works in Excel and includes a Google Sheets import guide.
The full workbook adds day, project and retainer pricing, validation, scenarios and an editable results sheet.
Get the full rate workbook for $11