Free calculator · no account needed
Freelance day rate calculator
Start from what you want to earn in a year. The calculator takes out vacation and unbilled days and gives you a day rate that covers it.
Before income tax.
Software, equipment, insurance, accountant.
Income and self-employment tax together.
Vacation, holidays and sick days.
Sales, admin and learning time nobody pays for.
Your day rate
$680
- Half-day rate
- $340
- Hourly equivalent
- $85.02
- Billable days per year
- 173
- Working days per year
- 230
- Revenue needed per year
- $117,333
Estimate only. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Start from the year, not the day
A day rate has to pay for the days you don't bill. Add the pay you want to your yearly business costs, gross it up for tax, and divide by the days a client actually pays for. Most freelancers overestimate that last number: 52 weeks at 5 days is 260, but vacation, public holidays and sick days take 6 weeks or more, and sales calls, proposals, invoicing and learning take a share of what's left.
Half days and hourly
The half-day rate is a straight half. Some freelancers charge 60% instead, because a half-day booking still breaks up the rest of the day. The hourly equivalent is there for clients who ask; quoting days keeps the conversation on the work instead of the clock.
Check it against reality
After a quarter, compare the days you billed with the calculator's billable days. If you billed fewer, either the rate goes up or the unbilled share does. The utilization calculator measures that from your timesheets.
IN SHORT
Day rate = (yearly pay + business costs) ÷ (1 − tax share) ÷ billable days. Billable days are working days minus time spent on sales and admin. With $80,000 of pay, $8,000 of costs, 25% for tax, 5 days a week, 6 weeks off and 25% of days unbilled, you bill about 172 days and need about $680 a day, or $85 an hour over 8 hours.
Prices and limits as of .
Questions
How many billable days does a freelancer have?
Should I charge a day rate or an hourly rate?
What is a half-day rate?
What tax share should I use?
Related calculators
Know how many days you really bill
Time Tracking in SoloWOS times each project, marks hours as billable and adds them to the invoice. 14 days free, no card needed · Then Basic for $2/month.