How to convert a salary into a freelance hourly rate
You can't just divide a salary by 168 hours: freelancing sells fewer hours, and tax, holidays and finding work are on you. Work it out honestly. No sign-up.
Why salary ÷ 168 doesn't work
- A take-home salary of €3,000. Divide by 168 hours a month and you get €18 an hour.
- But in a job your holidays, sick leave and public holidays are paid, the employer handles taxes, and the work comes to you.
- Freelancing, to keep the same €3,000 a month for living with the calculator's default settings, you need to charge €113 an hour. More than 6 times as much — and that's not greed, it's the same salary.
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 168 hours?
That's a working month in a job: 21 days of 8 hours. Freelancing, far fewer of them end up on an invoice.
Should I account for holidays?
Yes, with the field for holidays and sick days. In a job the employer pays for your holiday; freelancing, your sold hours do.
What if I have a part-time salary?
Enter it in the «Other income» field — the calculator subtracts it from what hourly work needs to cover.
Why is the rate several times higher than the salary?
Because fewer hours get sold, and the costs an employer used to carry are now yours.
Rate, hours and projects in one place
A minute on how it works day to day.
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