Freelance Rate Calculator
From the income you want to the rate you should charge — hourly, daily, per project.
Your rates
Revenue you need
Hours you can bill
Rate by billable hours a week
How this was calculated
Results are estimates for general information and planning, not financial advice. Banks and institutions may calculate differently (rounding, fees, rate changes). Confirm figures with your lender or a qualified adviser before deciding.
About the Freelance Rate Calculator
Dividing a salary you would like by 2,000 hours gives a rate that is far too low for a freelancer: you pay your own tax and expenses, you have no paid leave, part of every week goes on admin and finding work, and you will not be booked every hour you have free. This calculator builds the rate up the other way — from the take-home pay you want, your business expenses, tax and contributions, time off, non-billable time and utilisation — to a minimum hourly and day rate that just covers it all, and a target rate with a profit buffer on top.
It also prices a project from your hour estimate with a contingency, sets a monthly retainer, and shows how the rate you need changes with the hours you can bill each week.
How to use it
- Enter the take-home pay you want (a year or a month) and your business expenses — software, equipment, insurance, workspace, accountant.
- Enter your effective tax rate and any social or pension contributions, as a share of profit, and the profit buffer for the target rate.
- Set your working week and your days off: holidays and leave, public holidays and sick days.
- Enter the share of your time that is not billable (admin, sales, invoicing, learning) and your utilisation — how much of the remaining time clients actually book.
- Read the minimum and target hourly and day rates, then the project price, the retainer and the table of rates for different billable hours.
Examples
225 working days → 1,080 billed hours (24 a week) Revenue needed ₹16,80,000 → minimum ₹1,555.56 an hour, target ₹1,866.67 Day rate ₹12,444.44 – ₹14,933.33
Profit needed = ₹12,00,000 ÷ (1 − 0.20) = ₹15,00,000, plus ₹1,80,000 of expenses.
46 hours → ₹71,555.56 minimum, ₹85,866.67 target
₹33,600 a month (₹1,680 an hour); extra hours at ₹1,866.67
How the rate is built
- Working days = 52 weeks × days a week − holidays and leave − public holidays − sick days.
- Billed hours = working days × hours a day × (1 − non-billable share) × utilisation.
- Revenue needed = take-home ÷ (1 − tax − contributions) + expenses. Tax and contributions are worked out on profit, so they are “grossed up”: keeping ₹12 lakh at a 20% rate needs ₹15 lakh of profit.
- Minimum rate = revenue needed ÷ billed hours — the rate that only just pays your take-home, tax and expenses.
- Target rate = minimum × (1 + buffer), for savings, slow months, equipment and growth.
Non-billable time and utilisation
Two separate things cut the hours you can charge for. Non-billable time is the work you must do that no client pays for: proposals, sales calls, invoicing, accounts, learning. Utilisation is how much of the remaining billable time clients actually book — the gaps between projects. With 25% non-billable time and 80% utilisation, only 60% of an 8-hour day is billed, which is why the rate table matters: every billable hour you add a week lowers the rate you need.
Projects, day rates and retainers
A day rate is the hourly rate × the hours in your working day. A project price is your hour estimate plus a contingency for scope that grows and revisions, at the hourly rate — quote it as a fixed price, not as hours. A retainer buys a set number of hours each month; a small discount is common in return for guaranteed work, and hours beyond the retainer are charged at your full rate. The calculator warns if a retainer would take more hours than you expect to bill.
Which tax rate to enter
Use your effective rate — the total tax for the year divided by your profit — not the top slab rate, which applies only to the last part of income. It depends on where you live and how your business is set up; in India you can estimate it with the income tax calculator. Rates here are before GST or VAT: if you are registered, add it to the invoice on top.
Limitations
- Tax is a flat percentage of profit, not a slab-by-slab calculation; check your effective rate with your country’s rules or an accountant.
- A year is counted as 52 weeks; the calculator does not know your country’s public holidays — enter how many you take.
- The rate is what covers your costs and goals, not what your market will pay. Compare it with rates for similar work.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
Add the take-home pay you want, the tax on it and your business expenses, then divide by the hours you will actually bill in a year. With ₹16,80,000 needed and 1,080 billed hours, the minimum rate is ₹1,555.56 an hour.
How many billable hours does a freelancer have in a year?
Fewer than you think. 52 weeks of 5 eight-hour days is 2,080 hours; take off 35 days of holidays, public holidays and sick days and it is 1,800. If a quarter of that is admin and clients book 80% of the rest, you bill 1,080 hours — about 24 a week.
What is the difference between the minimum and the target rate?
The minimum rate only just covers your take-home, tax and expenses at the hours you expect to bill. The target rate adds your profit buffer on top, so slow months or unexpected costs do not cut into your pay.
Should I charge by the hour, the day or the project?
Use whatever your clients prefer; the calculator gives all three from the same build-up. Project prices protect you when you work efficiently, and the contingency covers scope that grows.
Does the rate include GST?
No. GST or VAT, if you are registered, is added to your invoice on top of the rate.