Calculate your minimum hourly and daily billable rates based on income goals, expenses, and billable capacity.
Calculate the hourly rate you need to charge to hit your income goal after business expenses with this free tool.
A freelance rate calculator finds the hourly rate you need to charge to achieve your annual income goal after accounting for business expenses, non-billable time, and taxes. It removes the guesswork from rate-setting.
Too many freelancers set rates based on what competitors charge rather than what they actually need to earn. This tool makes your rate-setting objective.
Start with your desired annual take-home income. Add your business expenses (software, equipment, insurance, marketing). Divide by the number of billable hours you realistically work in a year. Optionally add a buffer for taxes.
This gives you the minimum hourly rate you need to charge to meet your income goals.
Freelancers do not bill for every hour they work. Admin, marketing, meetings, invoicing, and professional development all take time but are not directly billable.
A realistic billable hour estimate is often 50-70% of total working hours. This calculator accounts for that so your rate covers all your time.
Your calculated minimum rate may be higher or lower than the market rate. If your required rate is below market, great: you have room to charge more. If it is above market, you need to either reduce expenses, increase billable hours, or find higher-value clients.
Know your number before negotiating. It gives you a clear walk-away point in any rate discussion.
Raising rates is uncomfortable but necessary. As your skills grow and expenses increase, your rate should increase too. Give existing clients notice before raising rates. New clients should get your current rate from day one.
Use the Tez Invoice free invoice generator to create professional invoices at your correct rate.
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Common questions about Freelance Rate Calculator: Find Your Ideal Hourly Freelance Rate on Tez Invoice.
Add your target income to annual expenses, divide by billable hours per year. Add tax buffer if needed.
A billable hour is time you directly charge a client for. Admin, marketing, and other overhead time is non-billable.
Realistically, 1000-1400 hours per year depending on how much non-billable work you have.
Yes, if the market supports it. Your calculated rate is the minimum to cover your income needs.
Add your tax rate to the calculation or gross up your target income to account for taxes paid.
Yes. Completely free with no sign up and no usage limits.
Yes. Fully responsive on all devices.
No. All processing is in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server.
Yes. Designed for freelancers and businesses.
Use the free Invoice Generator on Tez Invoice.