FREELANCE PRICING GUIDE
How Much Should I Charge as a Freelancer?
A good freelance rate needs to cover more than the salary you want to earn. It also needs to account for business expenses, taxes, non-billable work and time away from work.
Start with your income goal
Decide how much money you would like to keep after normal business costs and estimated taxes. This gives you a realistic target instead of choosing an hourly rate randomly.
Add your business expenses
Freelancers may need to pay for software, equipment, internet, accounting, marketing, payment processing and other operating costs. These expenses need to be covered by client revenue.
Remember that not every hour is billable
A freelancer may spend time answering emails, finding clients, preparing proposals, doing bookkeeping and managing projects. Those hours are real work, but they are often not directly billed to a client.
Account for time off
Employees may receive paid vacation, holidays and sick leave. Freelancers usually need to build the cost of unpaid time off into their rates.
A simple freelance rate formula
A practical starting point is to estimate the yearly revenue your business needs and divide it by the number of billable hours you expect to sell during the year.
Basic formula
Required yearly revenue / yearly billable hours = minimum hourly rate
Example
Suppose you need $75,000 in yearly business revenue and expect to have 1,200 billable hours. Dividing $75,000 by 1,200 gives a minimum rate of $62.50 per billable hour.
Your market still matters
A calculated minimum rate is only one part of pricing. Your skills, portfolio, experience, demand, specialization, client type and the value of the work can justify charging more.
Hourly pricing is not always the best choice
Some projects are easier to price as a fixed fee. When you become faster or more experienced, hourly pricing can sometimes punish efficiency. Project pricing lets you focus more on the value and scope of the work.
Calculate your own rate
Use the SoloTools calculator to estimate your minimum freelance hourly rate based on your income goal, expenses, taxes and available billable time.
Open Hourly Rate Calculator