What should you charge per hour?
Enter the pay you want, your business costs, tax and the hours you can really bill. Get the minimum hourly rate, a day rate and a monthly retainer.
You get
Hourly rate, day rate, weekly and monthly retainer figures, billable hours, and how the rate changes with the share of time you bill.
Quoting a fixed price? Make the invoice.
Your minimum rate
Hourly rate
$85.69
Charge at least this per billable hour to take home $60,000 a year. Round it up, not down.
- Day rate (8 h)
- $686
- Week (full-time)
- $3,428
- Monthly retainer, 2 days a week
- $5,256
- Revenue needed per year
- $94,600
- Billable hours a year: 1,104 (46 weeks × 40 h × 60%)
- Where the revenue goes: $60,000 pay, $20,000 tax, $6,000 costs, $8,600 buffer.
- A salary job paying $60,000 after tax works out at about $32.61 per hour worked. Your rate is higher because you pay your own costs and unbilled time.
| If you bill | Hours / year | Rate needed |
|---|---|---|
| 40% of hours | 736 | $129 |
| 50% of hours | 920 | $103 |
| 60% of hours | 1,104 | $85.69 |
| 70% of hours | 1,288 | $73.45 |
| 80% of hours | 1,472 | $64.27 |
This is the floor that covers your pay, tax and costs, not what the market pays: check rates for your skill and region too. Tax is simplified to one average rate. Free, no sign-up, nothing stored.
Most freelancers undercharge because they divide by the wrong number of hours.
A year has about 2,080 working hours, but after holidays, sick days, sales and admin most freelancers bill 1,000–1,400. Divide by the real number and include your costs and tax, and the rate you need is often 1.5–2× what people guess.
- How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
- Add the pay you want before tax to your yearly business costs, then divide by the hours you can really bill. With 60,000 take-home at 25% tax, 6,000 of costs, a 10% buffer and 1,104 billable hours, the rate is about 86 an hour.
- How many hours can a freelancer bill?
- Usually 50–70% of working hours. The rest goes to finding clients, quotes, admin, invoices and learning. Billing 100% of a 40-hour week all year is rare.
- Why is a freelance rate so much higher than a salary per hour?
- An employer pays for your holidays, sick days, equipment, software and the time you are not on a project. As a freelancer you pay all of that from your rate.
- Should I charge by the hour or by the project?
- Use the hourly rate as your floor. For a project, estimate the hours, multiply by the rate and add a margin for unknowns, or price on the value to the client if that is higher.
- Losing billable hours to admin?
- The AI Cost Review finds the quotes, emails and paperwork that AI and simple automation could handle, so more of your week is billable.
Want more billable hours in your week?
We automate the admin that eats into your time: enquiries, follow-ups, invoices and reports.