Hourly rate calculator for designers

Work out what to charge per hour of design from your own numbers, not other people's price lists. Revisions, presentations and emails count too. No sign-up.

Three mistakes that pull your income down

1. Endless revisions. The price assumed two rounds, and there were five. Name the number of rounds up front and charge for the rest separately.

2. Free concepts. Three concepts to choose from is three times the work, and the client pays for one. Build the exploration into the price or show fewer options.

3. Handover left out of the estimate. Source files, guidelines, exports in every format take days at the end of a project. If they're not in the estimate, they become free time.

Where a designer's unpaid hours hide

A designer's time doesn't only go into layouts. Briefs, moodboards, concept presentations, calls, packing source files — it's all work, but it rarely makes it onto the invoice.

Revisions are a separate conversation. If the contract doesn't name the number of rounds, every new round eats your rate: the hours grow, the amount stays the same.

That's why the calculator has a field for unpaid time. Enter an honest share, and the paid hours will cover everything else.

Working out your rate is half the job

The calculator tells you what to charge. The timer shows what you actually get: how many hours you worked today, how many of them are paid, and how much is left until your daily target.

A rate without tracked hours is a promise to yourself that nobody checks.

Five of your numbers, not someone else's median

Going by someone else's rate makes no sense: it's built from someone else's life — another city, another tax, another share of paid hours. Yours comes from five numbers, and all of them are about you.

Common questions

How much does a freelance designer earn?

As much as they sold hours at their rate, minus costs and tax. Two designers can differ several times over: because of hours, costs and clients. So it's more useful to work out your own rate than to look for someone else's. More in what others earn.

What should a less experienced designer charge per hour?

The formula is the same for everyone: living budget, hours sold, tax, margin. Experience changes something else — how many hours a task takes. While the work goes slower, a project takes more hours — the logged hours show it.

Charge by the hour or by the project?

Clients prefer a project price; you need to know how many hours are in it. Work out your rate, estimate the hours, multiply. More in hourly or fixed price.

How do I account for revisions in my rate?

Two ways: build their share into unpaid time, or name the number of rounds in the contract and bill the rest by the hour. The second is fairer to both sides.

How do I explain to a client why it costs this much?

By pointing to your own economics, not other people's prices. How to name the price and offer a few options — see a menu instead of a range.

Rate, hours and projects in one place

A minute on how it works day to day.

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