FREE FREELANCER TOOL
What hourly rate supports the way you actually work?
Start with your monthly income goal, add business expenses and allow for time you cannot bill. This calculator estimates a planning rate from your own assumptions; it does not tell you what every client will pay.
Currency selection does not convert amounts. Estimates use your inputs and exclude personal taxes. No account is needed; this calculator does not submit its input values.
HOW IT WORKS
Use billable hours, not every hour at your desk.
The annual revenue needed is your monthly income goal plus monthly business expenses, multiplied by 12. Annual billable hours are working hours per week × working weeks per year × billable share. Divide revenue by billable hours for the baseline hourly rate, then apply your chosen buffer as a percentage uplift.
Example: a monthly income goal of 1,500 and costs of 150 require 19,800 per year. With 35 working hours per week, 46 working weeks and 60% billable time, you have 966 billable hours. The baseline is about 20.50 per hour. A 15% buffer raises the planning rate to about 23.57. The example uses whichever currency you select; it is not a market-rate recommendation.
CHOOSE YOUR INPUTS
Build a rate around a realistic calendar.
Billable time includes work the client pays for. Proposals, your own marketing, training, unpaid administration and gaps between projects can reduce the share of your week that earns revenue. Use your own time records if available and test a less optimistic scenario before relying on the result.
Working weeks should allow for leave and downtime. Business costs might include software, hosting for your business, subscriptions and equipment allowances. Keep project-only expenses separate so they are not counted twice. The buffer is an uplift, not a calculated profit margin.
The income goal is before personal taxes. Tax rules, benefits, insurance needs and purchasing power differ; none are calculated here. Currency selection changes formatting only and does not perform an exchange-rate conversion.
NEXT STEP
Turn a rate into a clearly scoped quote.
A sustainable hourly baseline is one input to pricing. Specialization, scope, revisions, delivery risk and the client’s alternatives still matter. Use the project calculator to convert an estimate into a fixed-price plan, or compare monthly delivery costs in the retainer calculator.