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Freelance pricing calculator

Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Turn your annual income goal, business costs and realistic billable time into an hourly rate that supports your target.

Your desired income is before personal income tax. This calculator does not estimate taxes.

Why billable time matters

Your working hours are not all client hours.

Sales, proposals, admin, bookkeeping, learning and gaps between projects still consume time. The billable percentage prevents those hours from disappearing from your pricing.

Formula

Simple, visible assumptions.

Revenue target = (income goal + business expenses) × (1 + buffer).
Hourly rate = revenue target ÷ annual billable hours.

Planning tool, not tax advice. Taxes, VAT, pension contributions, insurance and country-specific rules are not calculated automatically. Add the reserve you need to your income goal or buffer based on your own situation.

Worked scenarios

See which assumption actually moves your hourly rate.

A rate calculator is most useful when you test the assumptions, not when you accept one default number. These examples use the same calculation engine as the live tool above.

ScenarioBillable hoursSuggested rate
Baseline plan€50k income goal, €8k costs, 60% billable, 10% buffer
1,104€57.79
Lower billable utilisationSame plan, but only 50% of working time is billable
920€69.35
Higher annual costs€15k annual business costs instead of €8k
1,104€64.76
Larger safety buffer20% buffer instead of 10%
1,104€63.04

Billable utilisation sensitivity

The same annual income goal can imply a very different rate depending on how much of your working time you can actually invoice. Lower utilisation means fewer client hours have to carry the same annual revenue target.

40% billable€86.68/h736 billable hours/year
50% billable€69.35/h920 billable hours/year
60% billable€57.79/h1,104 billable hours/year
70% billable€49.53/h1,288 billable hours/year
80% billable€43.34/h1,472 billable hours/year

Use the result as a pricing floor, not a market promise

The calculator answers a business question: what rate supports the income, cost and capacity assumptions you entered? It does not prove that clients in your niche will pay that number. Your final price can be higher for scarce expertise, urgent work, risk, intellectual property, retainers or value-based engagements.

Do not hide non-billable work

Sales calls, proposals, revisions outside scope, administration, bookkeeping, learning, sick time and gaps between projects still consume capacity. If you use 100% billable time by default, the resulting rate can look attractive while being structurally too low.

Before you quote a client

  1. Use a realistic billable percentage based on tracked time where possible.
  2. Include recurring software, insurance, equipment and professional-service costs.
  3. Decide whether your income target already includes pension, leave and personal reserves.
  4. Round your internal minimum into a commercial rate that fits the project and market.

What this calculator deliberately leaves out

  • Personal income tax and VAT calculations
  • Country-specific pension, insurance or social contributions
  • Market demand, negotiation power and value-based pricing
  • Late-payment risk, currency risk and unpaid scope changes

Calculator guide

How to set a sustainable freelance hourly rate

A freelance rate has to cover more than the hours spent directly on client work. Proposals, administration, bookkeeping, learning, sales and gaps between projects all use working time. This calculator converts those realities into a rate using your own income target and assumptions.

Formula

Annual revenue target = (desired income + annual business expenses) × (1 + safety or profit buffer). Annual billable hours = working weeks × hours per week × billable percentage. Suggested hourly rate = annual revenue target ÷ annual billable hours.

Example

With the default example of €50,000 desired income, €8,000 business expenses, 46 working weeks, 40 hours per week, 60% billable time and a 10% buffer, the calculator produces 1,104 billable hours and a suggested rate of about €57.79 per hour.

Frequently asked questions

Does the rate include income tax or VAT?

No. The tool deliberately avoids country-specific tax estimates. Your desired income is entered before personal income tax, and VAT, pension, insurance and other obligations should be handled according to your own situation.

What billable percentage should I use?

Use a realistic share of your working time that can actually be charged to clients. If you are unsure, start conservatively and update the percentage after tracking a few months of real project and non-project time.