Employees think in salary; freelancers have to think in billable hours, which are always fewer than total working hours once time spent on admin, proposals, and unpaid gaps between projects is accounted for. A freelancer targeting $80,000 a year in take-home pay who only bills 30 hours a week for 48 weeks needs a meaningfully higher hourly rate than $80,000 divided by 2,080 annual hours would suggest — and that's before overhead, profit margin, and taxes are added on top.
This calculator walks through that full chain, so the rate you land on actually supports the income you want rather than quietly underpricing your time.
Most freelancers under-price initially because they calculate from total working hours rather than billable hours, and forget to build in overhead, profit, and tax — this calculator is designed to surface that gap.
Software subscriptions, health insurance, equipment, professional development, and the unpaid time spent on invoicing, proposals, and finding new clients all fall under overhead, even though none of it is directly billable to a client.
Either works — day rates are common for project-based or consulting work and can reduce the perception of being clocked on minutes, while hourly rates suit ongoing or unpredictable-scope work. This calculator gives you both from the same inputs.
Most full-time freelancers land between 25 and 32 billable hours out of a 40-hour week once client communication, admin, and business development are excluded — treat higher numbers with some skepticism when planning.