Hourly Rate Calculator for Freelancers
Enter your target annual income, yearly business expenses, how many hours a week you can realistically bill clients, and how many weeks off you take. The calculator works out exactly what to charge per hour.
Results and any AI-generated content from this tool are provided free, "as is", for general informational purposes only and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date. Always verify the output yourself before relying on it — you use this tool and its results at your own risk.
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How your hourly rate is calculated
Most freelancers price too low because they only think about billable
hours and forget expenses, taxes, and unpaid time. This calculator uses
rate = (target income + annual expenses) / (working weeks ×
billable hours per week), where working weeks = a standard 52-week
year minus the leave weeks you enter (holidays, sick days, time off between
projects). "Billable hours per week" should be hours you actually get
paid for — not hours spent working, which is always higher once
you count admin, proposals, and client communication.
Worked examples
Example 1 — a freelance designer: target income ₹6,00,000/year, expenses (software, laptop, internet) ₹1,20,000/year, 25 billable hours/week, 4 weeks of leave. Working weeks = 52 − 4 = 48. Rate = (6,00,000 + 1,20,000) / (48 × 25) = 7,20,000 / 1,200 = ₹600/hour.
Example 2 — a part-time consultant: target income ₹3,00,000/year, expenses ₹50,000/year, 20 billable hours/week, 2 weeks of leave. Working weeks = 52 − 2 = 50. Rate = (3,00,000 + 50,000) / (50 × 20) = 3,50,000 / 1,000 = ₹350/hour.
Why "billable hours" is usually lower than you think
A common new-freelancer mistake is entering 35-40 billable hours/week — essentially a full-time work week with zero admin time. In practice, most independent freelancers and consultants only bill 50-60% of a standard work week once you subtract time spent on proposals, invoicing, client calls that aren't billed, marketing, and finding the next project. Entering a more conservative billable-hours number produces a higher (more sustainable) hourly rate — which is the whole point of this calculator.
What counts as a "business expense" here?
Include anything you pay for specifically because you're self-employed and wouldn't otherwise: software subscriptions, a portion of your laptop/equipment, coworking space or a home-office allowance, professional insurance, and accounting/GST filing costs. Personal living expenses (rent, groceries) are already covered by the "target annual income" figure — don't double-count them here.
Once you've set your rate, put it on a free BizGo business page alongside your services so new clients see consistent, professional pricing from the first click — see the box above to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
rate = (target annual income + annual business expenses) / (working weeks × billable hours per week), where working weeks = 52 minus your leave weeks. A ₹6,00,000 target with ₹1,20,000 expenses, 25 billable hours/week, and 4 leave weeks gives ₹600/hour.
Only hours you actually invoice a client for — not total hours worked. Most freelancers sustainably bill 50-60% of a standard 40-hour week once admin, sales, and unpaid delivery time are excluded.
Software subscriptions, equipment, coworking/home-office costs, professional insurance, and accounting/GST filing fees — anything you pay for specifically because you're self-employed. Personal living costs belong in "target income", not here.
It likely means your billable-hours assumption is more realistic (lower) than theirs, or you're correctly including expenses and leave time they aren't accounting for. A "too low" competitor rate is often unsustainable, not a benchmark to match.
No — "target annual income" should be the amount you want in your pocket. If you want a rate that also nets out income tax, increase your target income figure to gross-up for the tax you expect to pay.
