Why your employee salary ÷ 2000 is the wrong rate
The classic mistake: "$120k salary ÷ 2,000 hours = $60/hr, I'll charge $70 and come out ahead." You won't, for three compounding reasons. You'll bill 1,100–1,300 hours, not 2,000 — sales calls, proposals, admin, and the gaps between projects are unpaid. You now owe both halves of FICA and your own health premium. And nobody covers your dry spells but you. Run the honest math and the $60 "equivalent" lands somewhere between $120 and $150 an hour — which is why experienced freelancers' rates look "high" to salaried engineers and barely-break-even to accountants.
Reading the number this calculator gives you
It's a floor, not a market price. If the market for your skill bears more than your floor, charge more — the gap is profit, and profit is what funds the slow quarter and the sabbatical. If the market bears less than your floor, the answer isn't to shave the floor; it's to change one of the inputs: more billable hours, lower overhead, a niche that pays better, or productized work that decouples income from hours. The floor tells you which conversations to have with yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Is this calculator really free?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent to a server, stored, or shared. Your inputs are saved locally on your own device so they're still there next visit.
What's a realistic billable-hours number?
Full-time freelancers with steady clients commonly bill 20–30 hours of a 40+ hour week; the rest goes to finding work, running the business, and context-switching. If you're newer, assume the low end — early-career freelancers overestimate utilization more than any other input.
Should I quote hourly or fixed-price?
Build every quote from your hourly floor internally, then decide how to present it. Fixed pricing pays better when you estimate well and the scope is controlled; hourly protects you when it isn't. The full trade-off, with the math.
Do day rates just equal hourly × 8?
Usually hourly × 7–8, and they're often an upgrade: a booked day is a day you're not context-switching or hunting for the next hour of work. Many consultants quote day or week rates precisely to stop selling fragmented hours.