Stop undercharging. Use our free freelance rate calculators to calculate your true hourly rate, protect project margins, and build a sustainable business.
Calculate My Rate NowBuilt by a freelance developer for freelancers.
Calculate your real minimum profitable rate by factoring in taxes, expenses, and unbillable hours.
Convert your hourly rate into safe flat-rate project quotes with built-in buffers.
See how “just one small change” destroys your effective hourly rate.
Learn how to price based on business impact instead of time — with real examples and frameworks.
If you're wondering how much you should charge as a freelancer, the answer is never “whatever others are charging.” A sustainable freelance rate must be calculated using a clear formula. Our freelance hourly rate calculator is built around this exact framework.
Step 1: Define your target annual income.
Step 2: Add annual business expenses (software, hardware, insurance, subscriptions).
Step 3: Add self-employment taxes (typically 20–30%).
Step 4: Divide by realistic billable hours (not 40 hours per week).
Most freelancers only bill 50–65% of their working hours. The rest goes to admin, marketing, client communication, and proposal writing. This is why dividing salary by 2,080 hours leads to undercharging.
Desired income: $100,000
+ Expenses: $15,000
+ Taxes (25%): ~$28,750
= Required revenue: ~$143,750
If you realistically bill 1,200 hours per year:
$143,750 ÷ 1,200 = $119/hour minimum rate.
Once you know your base rate, use the project pricing calculator to convert it into flat-fee quotes.
Flat-rate pricing protects you from efficiency penalties. If you complete work faster due to experience, you earn more per hour instead of less.
Freelancers are responsible for self-employment tax, income tax, and quarterly estimated payments. Always calculate rates using gross revenue targets — not net income assumptions.
Scope creep silently lowers your effective hourly rate. Use the scope creep estimator to see how unpaid revisions reduce profit margins.
Protect yourself with clearly defined deliverables, revision limits, and change-order clauses.
A practical breakdown of the exact formula used in our calculators.
There is no universal rate. Your pricing should be based on income goals, business expenses, taxes, and realistic billable hours. Use our Hourly Rate Calculator to calculate your minimum sustainable rate instead of copying competitors.
A "good" rate depends entirely on your income goals, business expenses, billable hours, and tax bracket. Instead of guessing based on competitors, use our Hourly Rate Calculator to find your exact baseline.
Most full-time freelancers realistically bill between 20 to 30 hours per week. The remaining time is consumed by unbillable administrative tasks, marketing, accounting, and client communication.
Hourly pricing is safer for undefined work, but flat-rate project pricing is more profitable for experts because it rewards efficiency. Once you know your base hourly rate, use our Project Pricing Calculator to build profitable flat-fee quotes.
Unlike traditional employees, freelancers must pay both income tax and self-employment tax. You should typically set aside 25-30% of your gross income. Learn more in our Freelance Tax Guide.
Scope creep happens when a client continuously adds new features, revisions, or extra meetings to a flat-rate project without increasing the budget. See how much money this costs you using our Scope Creep Estimator.