What do I need to charge per hour to earn what I want?
Software, hardware, accountant, insurance, coworking.
Your own rate — this tool never guesses it for you.
52 minus holiday and sick days.
Not hours worked. Admin, sales and email are not billable.
Hourly rate you need
$74.78
25 a week × 46 weeks
Most people undercharge because they divide by hours worked rather than hours billed. Half a working week is usually admin, pitching and email.
Free Freelance Rate Calculator
Start from the take-home you want, your business costs, your tax rate and the hours you can genuinely bill — and get the hourly and day rate that adds up to it. Most freelancers undercharge by dividing by hours worked instead of hours billed.
Built by Slashit · Last updated 27 September 2026
What is the freelance rate calculator?
A freelance rate calculator works backwards from the life you want to the number you put on an invoice. You start with the take-home pay you need, add what running the business costs you, add the tax you will owe, and divide by the hours you can genuinely bill — not the hours you work. That last distinction is where most freelancers go wrong. A full-time employee is paid for forty hours; a freelancer is paid for the twenty-five or so that a client will accept on an invoice. The rest goes on admin, proposals, email, bookkeeping and chasing payment, and it is real work that still has to be covered by the rate. Divide by 40 instead of 25 and you have quietly given yourself a 37% pay cut. This runs entirely in your browser — your income is nobody else's business.
How our free freelance rate calculator works
Start with take-home
The amount you want to actually keep in a year, after tax. Not turnover.
Add what the business costs
Software, hardware, accountant, insurance, coworking — everything you pay for because you work for yourself.
Add your own tax rate
You enter it. This tool never guesses at a tax rate, because rates differ by country, band and year.
Divide by billable hours
Weeks you will genuinely work, times hours a client will genuinely pay for.
What can you use the freelance rate calculator for?
Turning a salary into a rate
A £50,000 salary is not a £25/hour freelance rate. Once holiday, pension, sick pay, equipment and unbillable hours are priced in, it is usually closer to double.
Deciding whether a retainer is worth it
Work out your needed rate, then check what the retainer actually pays per hour once the extra calls and revisions are counted.
Raising your rates with a reason
'I need £X to run my business sustainably' is a far easier conversation than 'I feel I should charge more'.
Who uses our free freelance rate calculator?
New freelancers
Setting a first rate without simply copying what someone in a forum charges.
Freelancers going full time
Converting a salary into a rate that covers holiday, sick days and pension.
Anyone feeling underpaid
Checking whether the busy feeling is a pricing problem rather than a workload problem.
Agencies
Sense-checking what a contractor's rate needs to be before agreeing one.
Why use the freelance rate calculator?
Works backwards from real life
Starts with what you need to earn rather than what the market supposedly pays.
Counts the unbillable hours
The admin and sales time that a salaried job pays for and freelancing does not.
No tax guessing
You supply the rate, so the answer is right for your country rather than for someone else's.
Tips for getting the best results
Be honest about billable hours
Track a normal week before you fill this in. Almost everyone guesses high, often by ten hours.
Use 46 weeks, not 52
Holiday, illness and quiet weeks are real. Pricing for 52 means working 52.
Add your costs before the margin, not after
Software and insurance come out of turnover, not out of profit.
Recalculate every year
Costs rise, and a rate set three years ago is a pay cut you gave yourself without noticing.
Frequently asked questions
How many billable hours should I assume?
For a full-time freelancer, 25 a week from a 40-hour week is realistic. Below 20 suggests too much admin; above 30 is rarely sustainable for long and usually means sales has stopped.
Should I include holiday in this?
Yes, by reducing the number of weeks you work. 46 weeks leaves roughly six weeks for holiday and illness. If you price for 52 weeks you cannot afford to stop.
What tax rate should I put in?
Your own effective rate, including income tax and any self-employment or social contributions. Your accountant can give you the figure; this tool deliberately does not guess, because getting it wrong would make every other number wrong.
My rate looks too high to win work. Now what?
That is useful information, not a reason to ignore it. Either the take-home target is too high for your current market, your costs are too heavy, or you need to bill more hours. The number tells you which lever to pull.
Is my income sent anywhere?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
