instant downloads for work, home, and life✦less admin. more room for life.✦bundle and save on connected tools✦simple systems. better days.✦instant downloads for work, home, and life✦less admin. more room for life.✦bundle and save on connected tools✦simple systems. better days.✦
rheaclub.
free · no sign-up · runs in your browser

Free Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Enter what you want to take home each month, what the business costs to run, and how much of your time is actually billable. The calculator shows the revenue you need and the hourly and day rate that covers it.

your numbers

$

What you want to pay yourself each month after costs and reserves.

$

Software, equipment, insurance, workspace. Divide annual costs by 12.

%

A planning allowance, not a tax calculation. Ask an accountant what to use.

%

Extra for slow months, reinvestment and surprises.

hrs

All the hours you work, billable or not.

wks

After holidays, public holidays and sick days.

%

Share of working time spent on sales, admin and learning.

hrs

Used to turn the hourly rate into a day rate.

your result

Suggested hourly rate
$74.33

A planning minimum, not a market benchmark.

Day rate (7 billable hours)
$520.28
Revenue needed per month
$6,980.39

Take-home plus costs, grossed up for the tax reserve and profit buffer.

Billable hours per month
93.9

Planning estimate only, not tax, accounting or financial advice. The tax reserve and profit buffer are heuristics you choose. Currency changes the symbol, not the math. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

how the calculation works

  1. 1Revenue needed per month = (take-home target + business costs) ÷ (1 − tax reserve) ÷ (1 − profit buffer)
  2. 2Billable hours per month = hours per week × working weeks per year ÷ 12 × (1 − non-billable time)
  3. 3Hourly rate = revenue needed per month ÷ billable hours per month
  4. 4Day rate = hourly rate × billable hours in a day

worked example

The calculator above starts with these numbers.

inputs

Worked example inputs
Take-home target$4,000 a month
Business costs$450 a month
Tax reserve25%
Profit buffer15%
Working time35 hours a week, 46 weeks a year
Non-billable time30%
Billable hours in a day7

results

Worked example results
Billable hours per month93.9
Revenue needed per month$6,980.39
Hourly rate$74.33
Day rate$520.28

assumptions and limits

  • The tax reserve is a flat percentage of revenue you choose. It's a planning heuristic, not a tax calculation for your country; ask an accountant which figure to use.
  • The profit buffer is a heuristic too: a share of revenue kept back for slow months, reinvestment and surprises.
  • Reserves are taken from revenue by dividing, so a 25% reserve and a 15% buffer keep 36.25% of revenue aside, not 40%.
  • Each reserve and the non-billable share must be between 0% and 95%. Working hours and weeks must be more than zero.
  • The result is a planning minimum based on your inputs, not a market benchmark for your specialism.
  • Currency only changes the symbol shown; the math is the same in any currency.

questions

2,080 is 40 paid hours for 52 weeks. As a freelancer you cover your own costs and taxes, take unpaid time off, and spend part of every week on work you can't bill.

It depends on your country, income, business structure and deductions. Ask an accountant or check your tax authority's guidance.

No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is stored or sent.