Take the calculator to Excel or Google Sheets
The same logic in a free spreadsheet, with the scenarios sheet and the instructions, to keep at hand offline. Download it by leaving your email.
Hourly rate calculator for freelancers
What to charge per hour to reach your income goal, cover your costs and keep a margin. Change the numbers and the result updates instantly.
This calculator tells you what to charge per hour to reach your target monthly income, cover your fixed costs and keep a margin. From that rate it also works out your daily rate and the price of an example project, with the breakdown in plain sight. It is free, runs in your browser and needs no sign-up.
The quick math (dividing your target by 160 hours) undervalues your hour, because nobody bills 160 hours a month: meetings, proposals, admin, vacation and slow weeks do not get paid. With 25 billable hours a week and 6 non-billable weeks a year, a real month has about 96 billable hours, not 160. That is why the calculator starts from your real billable hours and folds your fixed costs and margin into the rate.
Your rate
Hourly rate28.80 USD
- Daily rate (6 h)
- 172.80 USD
- Example project (40 h)
- 1,152.00 USD
Show the breakdown
- Billable weeks per year
- 46
- Billable hours per month
- 95.83
- Monthly cost to cover
- 2,300.00 USD
- With a 20% margin
- 2,760.00 USD
Hourly rate = monthly cost x (1 + margin) / billable hours per month
Fix the highlighted fields to update the result.
Three scenarios
Compare at a glance how your rate changes with how much you want to earn and how much you work. All three scenarios are editable; the day is priced at 8 hours, as in the spreadsheet.
| Item | Conservative | Target | Ambitious |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target monthly income (USD) | |||
| Billable hours per week | |||
| Non-billable weeks per year | |||
| Fixed monthly costs (USD) | |||
| Target margin (%) | |||
| Billable hours per month | 120.00 | 95.83 | 73.33 |
| Hourly rate (USD) | 17.25 | 28.80 | 60.27 |
| Daily rate, 8 h (USD) | 138.00 | 230.40 | 482.18 |
Check the highlighted values:
FAQ
How do I choose my billable hours per week?
Count only the hours a client pays for: deliverable work. Sales calls, proposals, admin, learning and dead time stay out. If you do not track your time, start with 20 to 30 hours, measure one or two weeks and adjust. The lower the real figure, the higher your rate has to be.
What about the weeks I do not bill?
Vacation, holidays, sick days and slow weeks between projects happen even if you do not plan them. The calculator subtracts them from the year (52 minus the non-billable weeks) and spreads the result over 12 months, so your rate also covers the months you bill less. Six weeks is a reasonable starting point; if your work is seasonal, use more.
How do I go from an hourly rate to a project price?
Estimate the hours of the project (include revisions and client communication) and multiply them by your hourly rate: that is what the "Example project" row does. Then decide whether to quote that number as a fixed price or by the hour. To build the quote, track whether it was accepted and log the payment with its fees, there is the quoting and payment tracker.
What does the margin mean?
It is a buffer on top of your monthly cost (target income plus fixed costs) for surprises, savings, slow months or new tools. 20% is a common starting point. The calculator adds it before dividing by the hours, so it sits inside the rate and you do not have to negotiate it separately.
Next steps
The next step: quote and get paid
With your rate settled, the USD quoting and payment tracker lets you quote each project, track what was accepted and log every payment with its fees and real net.
Our products and articles are practical tools and informational content. They are not legal, accounting or tax advice. Every country and every payment platform has its own rules: talk to a professional before making tax decisions.