Freelance Rate Calculator

Find the hourly and project rate that actually pays your bills.

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Your inputs stay on your device and are not sent to our servers. Optional usage analytics does not receive your files or tool inputs.

Freelance Rate Calculator

Hourly, day and project rates that cover your goals

Money

Yearly take-home pay you want

₹

Yearly business costs

₹

Software, internet, co-working, equipment, insurance.

Average tax rate on your profit

Your effective rate, not the top slab.

Time

Working days a week

Weeks off a year

Holidays, festivals, sick days, gaps between clients.

Hours worked a day

Share of hours you can bill

Admin, sales and learning are unpaid. 50–70% is common.

Price a project

Project estimate (optional)

hours

Hourly rate₹1,468Charge at least this for every billable hour

Day rate₹7,0444.8 billable hours in a day

Revenue needed a year₹16.20 L₹1.35 L a month

Billable hours a year1,104of 1,840 hours worked

Where a year of revenue goes

How it works

Your rate has to cover what you want to take home, the tax on it, your business costs, and all the hours you work but cannot bill. This calculator works backwards from your goals to the lowest rate that gets you there.

Compare with the market
₹1,468 an hour is what you need, not necessarily what clients will pay. Use it as your floor.

Profit before tax = take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate) = ₹12,00,000 ÷ 0.80 = ₹15,00,000.
Revenue needed = profit + business costs = ₹15,00,000 + ₹1,20,000 = ₹16,20,000.
Working days = (52 − 6 weeks off) × 5 = 230. Billable hours = 230 × 8 × 60% = 1,104.
Hourly rate = revenue ÷ billable hours = ₹16,20,000 ÷ 1,104 = ₹1,467.39.

Count unpaid time honestly: invoicing, finding clients and learning all reduce billable hours.
Quote projects by value to the client as well; this hourly figure is your floor.
If a client pays late, add a cash buffer or ask for an advance.

Revenue = take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate) + business costs; hourly rate = revenue ÷ (working days × hours a day × billable share). For many Indian freelance professionals, section 44ADA of the Income-tax Act lets you declare 50% of gross receipts as profit (receipts up to ₹50 lakh, or ₹75 lakh if cash receipts are 5% or less), which gives an effective tax rate you can enter here; see the Income Tax Department's presumptive taxation guidance at incometaxindia.gov.in. Tax is a single average rate you choose.

Preparing tool

How to use Freelance Rate Calculator

Enter the yearly take-home pay you want and your yearly business costs.
Set your tax rate, days you work and the share of hours you can really bill.
Read your hourly and day rate, then add a project's hours to price it.

Read the detailed guide →

What are the limits of Freelance Rate Calculator?

A planning guide, not tax or financial advice. Tax is a single average rate you choose; GST, advance-tax timing and slabs are not modelled. Nothing you enter leaves your device.