Freelance hourly rate calculator
A freelance hourly rate calculator that starts from a salary. Enter the job you would otherwise do, and it works out the hourly rate a freelancer needs to end up in the same place, once holidays, pension, costs and unbilled hours are paid for.
This is the rate at which freelancing pays the same as the job, not what the market will pay. The quoted rates are rounded up to a clean number.
How the number is worked out
Money needed = salary + what the employer adds on top + your business costs. Billable hours = (260 working days − your days off) × hours per day × billable share. Hourly rate = money needed ÷ billable hours. The salary per hour is the salary divided by 52 weeks of the job's hours, because an employee is paid through their holidays.
The usual first mistake is to divide the old salary by the hours in a year and charge that. It takes one quiet month to see why it fails. The salary came with paid holidays, a pension contribution, a desk and a computer, and every hour spent in meetings or on admin was paid. As a freelancer none of that is.
If you would rather start from the income you want than from a job, use the day rate calculator. When you have the rate, the guides on pricing a freelance project and invoicing hourly work cover what to do with it.
Questions
How do I turn a salary into a freelance hourly rate?
Add what the employer pays on top of the salary (pension, social contributions, benefits) and your yearly business costs. Divide that by the hours you will actually bill in a year: working days minus holidays and sick days, times the hours in a day, times the share of those hours that end up on an invoice.
Why is the freelance rate so much higher than the salary per hour?
An employee is paid for every week of the year, holidays included, and the employer pays contributions and equipment on top. A freelancer pays for all of that and only earns on billed hours. Selling, quoting, invoicing and the gaps between projects are unpaid.
What billable share should I assume?
Only your own records can tell you. If you have none yet, be cautious: a year with no gaps between projects is rare, and every hour that is not billed has to be paid for by the ones that are.
Should I charge this rate?
It is the rate at which freelancing pays the same as the job. Below it you earn less than you would employed. What you charge on top depends on your market, your experience and what the work is worth to the client.
Put the rate on paper
OIO puts it on quotes and invoices in any currency, tied to the client and the project, and shows what is outstanding and what is paid. Free plan, no card.
Start freeOther free tools: day rate calculator, quote template, invoice generator.