Rates tool
Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Estimate a more realistic hourly rate based on income goals, overheads, holidays, admin time, and workable billable hours. Useful for freelancers, consultants, contractors, and small service businesses.
Hourly rate tool
Estimate the hourly rate needed to cover your income goal, overheads, and realistic billable time.
Target revenue
£50,000.00
Billable hours
1150
Suggested hourly rate
£43.48
Quick notes
- • Billable hours are usually much lower than a full working week than a full working week suggests.
- • Your rate has to cover overheads as well as your personal income target.
- • This is useful when setting a first rate or reviewing whether your current rate is still strong enough.
Need more context?
How to price your hourly rate
A cleaner way to think about income goals, overheads, and realistic working capacity.
Read guideWhat this calculator helps you do
Set a first rate
Helpful when you are moving into freelance work and need a rate that is based on real business needs rather than guesswork.
Review an existing rate
A rate that once worked can become too low once costs, admin time, holidays, and working patterns change.
Avoid undercharging
Many freelancers price from confidence or market pressure instead of capacity and costs. This tool gives a more grounded starting point.
Worked examples
Example 1: first freelance rate
If you want £36,000 of income, expect £6,000 of business overheads, and have 960 billable hours for the year, you need roughly £43.75 per hour.
That is much more useful than dividing a salary target by a full-time working week that you will never fully bill.
Example 2: established freelancer review
If your income target is £50,000, your overheads are £8,000, and you expect 1,100 billable hours, the required rate is about £52.73 per hour.
That sort of check helps you see whether your current rate is still commercially sensible.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Assuming every working hour in the year is billable.
- Forgetting admin time, sales time, holidays, sick days, and unpaid gaps between projects.
- Ignoring software, subscriptions, insurance, equipment, and other overheads.
- Setting a rate based only on what feels acceptable rather than what your numbers require.
Who this is for
- Freelancers setting or reviewing an hourly rate.
- Consultants and contractors pricing client work.
- Sole traders running service-based businesses.
- Anyone who wants a more realistic rate than a rough guess.
Quick tip
Most underpricing starts with overestimating billable hours. A more honest billable-hours figure usually gives a much more realistic rate.
Read the guide or open the starter pack
Use the guide for a clearer way to think about rate-setting, or open the free starter pack for quick-reference pricing support.