Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Employees get paid vacation, sick leave, and benefits baked in. Freelancers have to build all of that into their rate. This works out what to charge.

Desired annual take-home income (after tax) Tax rate on your income (%) — combined income + self-employment tax, check your own country's rules Annual business expenses (software, insurance, equipment...) Billable hours per week — not total working hours; time you can actually invoice Working weeks per year — 52 minus vacation, sick days, holidays

How this works

Revenue needed = (desired take-home + business expenses) ÷ (1 − tax rate)
Billable hours/year = billable hours/week × working weeks/year
Hourly rate = revenue needed ÷ billable hours/year

This is a pure calculation from the numbers you enter — tax rates, currency, and typical rates vary enormously by country and field, so there are no built-in assumptions to keep this accurate everywhere. Not tax or financial advice.