Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
How it works
Total billable hours for the year is just billable hours a week times weeks worked a year — 25 hours a week for 48 weeks is 1,200 billable hours, out of however many more hours were actually worked. Required revenue is the income you want to take home plus whatever it costs to run the business on top of that; annual business expenses are added rather than subtracted, since the rate needs to cover both. The rate itself is simply that required revenue divided by the billable hours — the smallest hourly number that, charged consistently across every billable hour, reaches the income you asked for after expenses.
Frequently asked questions
Why base the rate on billable hours instead of total hours worked?
Because only billable hours are ever multiplied by the rate a client actually pays. Admin, proposals, invoicing and marketing take real time out of a working week, but none of it disappears just because it isn't billed — it still has to be paid for somehow, out of the hours that ARE billed. Pricing against total hours worked would understate the rate needed, since it assumes every hour in the week earns money, which for almost every freelancer isn't true.
Why do business expenses get added to income instead of subtracted from it?
Because the rate has to cover both amounts at once, not net them against each other. "Desired annual income" here means what you want to actually take home; the software, insurance, and other costs of running the business are a separate bill on top of that, paid out of the same revenue. Adding them together before dividing by hours means the resulting rate, charged consistently, leaves you with the income you asked for after the business costs are covered — not before.
Why does weeks worked per year default to 48, not 52?
Because budgeting a rate around a full 52-week year with zero time off is not a realistic plan to hold yourself to — sick days, holidays, and slow weeks between clients are normal, not exceptions. Defaulting to 48 bakes in about four weeks off; adjust it up or down to match how much time off you actually expect to take.