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Freelancer Rate Calculator

Full cost-of-business analysis to find your true freelance rate including all expenses.

Full Cost AnalysisDay Rate Guide

Income Target ($)

Software/Tools ($)

Equipment ($)

Insurance ($)

Marketing ($)

Accounting ($)

Other Expenses ($)

Billable Days per Year

How to use this calculator

Enter annual business and personal income requirements, non-billable time and available working hours, then calculate the cost-recovery and recommended quote rates.

Useful real-world examples

Setting a minimum hourly rate before quoting new work.
Seeing how fewer billable hours affect the rate required.

Important detail

Market pricing also depends on expertise, value, demand and project risk, not just cost recovery.

About the Freelancer Rate Calculator

The freelancer rate calculator helps independent contractors and consultants work out what they need to charge per hour to meet their income goals after accounting for non-billable time, business expenses, superannuation, and taxes. Setting your freelance rate based on guesswork is one of the most common mistakes new freelancers make — this tool ensures you work from real numbers.

How to Use It

Enter your target annual net income — the amount you want to take home after taxes.
Enter your estimated annual business expenses (software, insurance, equipment, co-working).
Enter the number of billable hours you expect to work per week (typically 60–70% of working hours for freelancers).
Enter your weeks worked per year (most freelancers target 46–48 weeks after holidays and sick leave).
The calculator returns the minimum hourly rate you need to charge to hit your goals.

Key Costs Freelancers Often Forget

When transitioning from employment to freelancing, many people underestimate their true cost base. As a freelancer in Australia you are responsible for your own superannuation (11% of income), income tax (which you must set aside quarterly), professional indemnity insurance, public liability insurance, accounting fees, software subscriptions, marketing, and the cost of unpaid leave. A common rule of thumb is to double your desired hourly employee-equivalent rate as your starting freelance rate — this accounts for the additional costs and the fact that not every hour of your week is billable.

Most full-time freelancers realistically achieve 25–30 billable hours per week out of a standard 40-hour week. The rest is spent on admin, proposals, invoicing, marketing, professional development, and business management. Planning around 25 billable hours per week is a conservative and realistic starting point.