Freelance Rate Calculator: What You Should Charge

Most freelancers pick a number that sounds reasonable and then wonder why the year ends short. The correct order is the opposite: start with the income you need to take home, add taxes and expenses, and divide by the hours you can actually bill.

Why Billable Hours Are the Trap

A 40-hour week is not 40 billable hours. Selling, invoicing, revisions, and admin eat 30–50%. Twenty to twenty-five billable hours a week is a realistic full-time number.

The Employee Comparison

A $60,000 salary is not a $30/hr freelance rate. Add self-employment tax, no benefits, no paid time off, and unpaid gaps, and the equivalent is closer to $60–$75/hr.

Move to Project Pricing Fast

Hourly rates cap your income and punish you for getting faster. Once you know how long work takes, quote the project. The same job priced at value often doubles the effective rate.

Raising Rates Without Losing Clients

Raise new-client rates first, keep existing clients at the old rate for one more cycle, then give them 30 days' notice. Losing the bottom 20% of clients while raising the rest 30% is a raise, not a loss.

What rate reaches $10k a month

The hourly rate needed for $10,000 a month at 20-50 hours a week, with and without non-billable time, and a worked 18-month rate ladder.

• How to make $10k a month

You may also find these useful: Virtual Assistant Rate Calculator and Freelance Runway Calculator.