Salary negotiation, freelance rates, commute costs, burnout risk, toxic bosses and career changes — type your situation, get a straight answer in seconds. The full detailed report costs $2.95.
New freelancers usually price from what they think clients will pay, then discover six months in that they are earning less than the job they left. This calculator runs the calculation the other way: start from the annual salary you actually want to replace, subtract your true billable hours (not the 40 you wish you had), then add the overhead and tax that every self-employed person carries. The result is the rate that keeps freelancing worthwhile — and it is usually higher than you feared asking for.
Work backwards from the salary you want to the hourly rate you must charge — including the overheads and unpaid hours most new freelancers forget.
Because you now pay your own overheads, taxes, holiday, sick days and the hours spent on admin and chasing work. The 2-3x rule of thumb exists because those costs are real, not greedy.
A realistic first-year number is 20-25 billable hours per week even if you work 40 — the rest goes to proposals, bookkeeping and gaps between projects. Optimists under-bill and then panic.
Yes, if you can show the value. If your portfolio is thin, take two or three projects at 70-80% of the rate to build proof, then move to the full number within six months — and raise 10-15% a year after that.
Every tool answers instantly from our own knowledge and calculators. Want the deeper, personalised version? Each has a $2.95 full report.