Freelance pricing
How Much Should I Charge as a Freelancer?
Freelance pricing gets clearer when you start from the year you want, subtract the weeks you cannot bill, and add the real cost of running the business.
Calculate with Freelance
Start with the calculation you need
Freelance rate calculator
Price freelance work after admin time, expenses, payment fees, and taxes.
Try a scenario
Load common starting numbers, then edit any field to match your own business.
Freelance hourly rate
$120.31
Billable hours per year
1,196
Gross revenue target
$143,884.89
Formula used
- Billable hours
40 x 46 x (1 - 35%) = 1,196- Gross revenue target
($85,000.00 + $15,000.00) / (1 - 27% - 3.5%) = $143,884.89The fee reserve models payment fees and marketplace costs as a percentage of gross revenue.- Freelance hourly rate
$143,884.89 / 1,196 = $120.31
Assumptions used
- Billable capacity
- 65% of 1,840 available work hours are treated as billable.
- Revenue target
- Desired salary and business costs are grossed up for tax reserve, payment fees and marketplace costs before dividing by billable hours.
- Fee reserve
- 3.5% of gross revenue is reserved for card processing, payout, or marketplace charges.
Admin time includes proposals, bookkeeping, revisions, marketing, calls, and learning.
Questions people usually check before using this result
Should I charge hourly or project based?
Use hourly math to find your floor. Then quote projects when scope, risk, and value are clear enough to price the outcome.
What if my market will not pay the calculated rate?
That is a signal to tighten scope, raise the value of the offer, reduce non-billable time, or target clients with more urgent demand.
Start with billable hours
A full-time workweek is not the same as a full-time billable week. Sales, admin, revisions, learning, and unpaid time all reduce the hours that can carry revenue.
Build in taxes and expenses
Contractors often underprice because they quote from salary alone. Add software, insurance, equipment, benefits, tax reserve, and payment or marketplace fee reserves before setting the rate.
Use the number responsibly
What to verify before you act on the result.
BizCalcKit is designed for planning and comparison. Treat the result as a working estimate, then confirm the details that depend on your location, client, platform, or tax situation.
Good use cases
- Setting a freelance hourly floor from desired income, business costs, admin time, taxes, and fee reserves.
- Explaining why a rate must cover non-billable work and unpaid time.
- Converting a salary expectation into a revenue target for services work.
Check before sending
- Admin time includes proposals, bookkeeping, marketing, calls, revisions, and learning time.
- Business costs include software, insurance, equipment, subcontractors, and professional help.
- Payment or marketplace fees match the channels you expect clients to use.
- The final client price reflects value, scope risk, urgency, and market positioning.
Quick workflow
- 1.Start with the take-home income you want the business to support.
- 2.Add business costs, tax reserve, payment or marketplace fee reserve, working weeks, and expected non-billable time.
- 3.Use the calculated rate as a floor, then adjust for scope, risk, urgency, and value.
- 4.Check contractor tax and invoice assumptions before quoting or sending payment terms.
Questions to check before you decide
Should I charge hourly or project based?
Use hourly math to find your floor. Then quote projects when scope, risk, and value are clear enough to price the outcome.
What if my market will not pay the calculated rate?
That is a signal to tighten scope, raise the value of the offer, reduce non-billable time, or target clients with more urgent demand.