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FREELANCE DAY RATE

Freelance day rate calculator

Work out the day rate and hourly rate you need to charge as a freelancer or contractor to reach your target take-home pay after tax, costs, holidays and unbilled days.

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Your details

01Income

Your effective rate, not the top rate. Use a salary or self-employed tax calculator for your country.

Equipment, software, insurance, accountant, pension, coworking…

02Time

Share of working days you cannot bill.

Day rate to charge

$539

$67.37 an hour over 178 billable days a year

Hourly rate
$67.37
Revenue needed per year
$95,714
Revenue needed per month
$7,976
Billable days per year
178
Day rate if every working day were billed
$431
  • Revenue needed = take-home ÷ (1 − effective tax rate) + business costs; day rate = revenue ÷ billable days. Enter the share of your profit that goes on income tax and social contributions in your country: it varies with income and business structure.
  • Non-billable time matters: if you could bill every working day the rate would be $431, but time spent finding clients, invoicing and between projects pushes it to $539.
  • As an employee you would also get paid holidays, sick pay, a pension contribution and job security; compare like with like when weighing a contract against a salary.

Day rate to charge: $539 $67.37 an hour over 178 billable days a year

What the rate has to cover in a year
Show the breakdownPer year
Take-home income you want$60,000
Tax and social contributions (30% of profit)$25,714
Business costs$10,000
Revenue needed$95,714
Where each year's revenue goes
63%TAKE-HOME
  • Take-home$60,00063%
  • Tax$25,71427%
  • Business costs$10,00010%

Your working year

DaysCount
Weekdays (52 × 5)260
Holidays−25
Public holidays−8
Sick days−5
Working days222
Admin, sales and gaps (20%)−44
Billable days178

$539

$67.37 an hour over 178 billable days a year

How it's calculated

A freelance rate has to pay for everything an employer would otherwise cover: your tax and social contributions, your equipment and software, your pension, and every day you are not billing, whether that is a holiday, illness or time spent finding the next client. The calculator works backwards from the income you want to keep.

Being self-employed also means handling your own tax returns and contributions; government guidance in most countries explains how to register and what you owe.GOV.UK

The formula

  1. Profit before tax = take-home income ÷ (1 − effective tax rate)
  2. Revenue needed = profit before tax + business costs (× (1 + safety margin))
  3. Working days = 52 × days per week − holidays − public holidays − sick days
  4. Billable days = working days × (1 − share spent on admin, sales and gaps)
  5. Day rate = revenue needed ÷ billable days; hourly rate = day rate ÷ billable hours per day

Worked example

To take home $60,000 a year with 30% of profit going on tax and $10,000 of business costs, you need $95,714 of revenue. With 25 days' holiday, 8 public holidays and 5 sick days, there are 222 working days; spending a fifth of them on admin and sales leaves 178 billable days, so the day rate is $539 ($67.37 an hour).

$60,000 take-home, 30% tax, $10,000 costsFREELANCE / 178 BILLABLE DAYS
LinePer year
Take-home income you want$60,000
Tax and social contributions (30% of profit)$25,714
Business costs$10,000
Revenue needed$95,714

Billing every working day would need only $431 a day, which is why rates based on a salary divided by working days come out too low.

Assumptions and limitations

  • One effective tax rate. Real tax is progressive; use your country's self-employed or salary calculator to find the rate that matches your income.
  • Steady work through the year. Seasonal work or long gaps between contracts need a higher non-billable share or a safety margin.
  • Costs you pay yourself. Include pension contributions, insurance and equipment if you want the rate to cover them.
  • Any currency. Choose dollars, euros, pounds or rupees under the advanced settings.
FAQ

Questions people ask

How do I calculate my freelance day rate?

Start from the take-home income you want, gross it up for tax and social contributions, and add your business costs to find the revenue you need for the year. Then count the days you can actually bill: weekdays minus holidays, public holidays and sick days, minus the time you spend on admin, sales and gaps between projects. Divide revenue by billable days.

Why is a freelance day rate so much higher than an employee's daily pay?

An employee's salary is paid for every working day, including holidays and sick days, and the employer pays for equipment, pension contributions and payroll taxes on top. A freelancer pays all of that out of fees earned on the days they bill, and rarely bills every working day. Dividing an equivalent salary by 220 working days understates the rate needed.

How many days a year can a freelancer bill?

Out of about 260 weekdays, take off holidays, public holidays and sick days, then allow for time spent on marketing, proposals, invoicing and gaps between contracts. The share is usually lower when you are starting out and rises as your client base becomes steady, so base it on your own records where you have them and revisit it every few months.

What tax rate should I enter?

Enter the share of your profit that goes on income tax and social contributions, your effective rate rather than your top rate. It depends on your country, income, allowances and whether you work as a sole trader or through a company. A self-employed or salary tax calculator for your country gives a good estimate.

Should I charge by the day or by the hour?

Day rates suit project work where the hours per day vary and spare you from tracking time to the minute; hourly rates suit short or unpredictable tasks. The calculator shows both. Whichever you use, agree up front what a day means, how overtime is handled and how expenses are billed.

Sources

  1. GOV.UKWorking for yourself: self-employed or employed · retrieved 2026-10-20

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How every figure is checked: methodology.