Question 1

How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?

Accepted Answer

Start from the salary you want to take home, add your annual business expenses, then gross that up for the tax you will owe. Add a profit buffer, and divide by the hours you can realistically bill in a year. After holidays, admin and downtime, 55–70% billable is typical. This calculator does all of that math and shows every step.

Question 2

What should I charge as a freelancer?

Accepted Answer

It depends on your target income, costs, tax rate and how many hours you can invoice. As a sanity check, freelancers often need to charge roughly 1.5×–2× their equivalent full-time hourly wage to cover unpaid time, self-employment tax, benefits and business expenses.

Question 3

Why is my freelance rate so much higher than an employee wage?

Accepted Answer

Because you cover everything an employer used to: both halves of payroll/self-employment tax, health insurance, retirement, paid time off, equipment, software, and the unpaid hours you spend on admin and finding clients.

Question 4

What percentage of my hours are actually billable?

Accepted Answer

For most freelancers, 55–75%. The rest goes to invoicing, proposals, sales, email, bookkeeping and breaks. Being honest about this number is the biggest lever on your correct rate.

Question 5

Can I generate an invoice from my rate?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Once you have your rate, use the invoice generator to add line items (pre-filled with your computed rate), enter client and business details, set tax and dates, and download a clean branded PDF invoice — all in your browser.

Question 6

Is this freelance rate calculator free and private?

Accepted Answer

Yes. It is completely free, runs entirely in your browser, and sends nothing to a server. Your inputs and invoice details stay on your device, and invoices are generated locally as a PDF.