Freelance Rate Calculator Guide
Price hourly, day-rate, and retainer work with taxes, overhead, and realistic billable hours.
Estimated reading time: 3-4 minutes
Why this calculator works
It gross-ups your desired take-home income for taxes, adds business overhead, and divides by realistic billable hours. You get hourly, day-rate, and monthly retainer pricing that protects your margins.
Quick setup
- Desired annual take-home income
- Tax rate (federal, state, self-employment)
- Overhead % (software, insurance, marketing, gear, office)
- Working hours per week + billable % to cover admin/marketing time
- Weeks off for vacation and holidays
Example: $120k take-home, 30% tax, 20% overhead, 30 hrs/week, 4 weeks off, 65% billable → ~$150–$160/hr.
Tips to keep rates sustainable
- Billable hours over ~35/week are hard to sustain long-term.
- Include benefits and equipment refresh in overhead.
- Use retainers or packages to reduce scope creep and context switching.
- Revisit quarterly as taxes, overhead, and demand change.
No sign-up required. See hourly, day-rate, and retainer pricing instantly.