How much to charge per hour as a freelancer

The answer depends on what you need, not on what others charge. Below are the calculator and a table for a quick estimate. No sign-up.

Rate by living budget

Two months without work, 75 hours a month, a fifth of the time unpaid, 20% tax and a 50% margin — the calculator's defaults.

The table is only a rough guide. Change the hours or the unpaid share in the calculator and the rate moves noticeably.

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

Why not show what the market charges?

Someone else's median knows nothing about your life, tax or hours. Two people with the same rate earn very differently if one gets 100 paid hours a month and the other 50. More in what others earn.

What if clients won't pay that much?

Work on the gap: raise the rate gradually, make it up in hours, or combine both. The three paths are in the method, the client conversation in how to raise your rate.

How many hours a month can I realistically sell?

80–100 is a good benchmark. More is a lot: part of the time always goes on emails, sales and rest.

What if I work for a fixed price?

Then the rate is a check on the project price. How to do it — see hourly or fixed price.

Rate, hours and projects in one place

A minute on how it works day to day.

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