Kollaz Toolz Calculators

Smart financial tools for modern money.

Freelancer Rate Calculator

What should I charge per hour?

Here is the short answer: your minimum hourly rate is the money you need to bill in a year, divided by the hours you can actually bill. The money you need is your target take-home pay, grossed up for the tax share you set aside, plus your business expenses. Type your numbers below and your rate appears here, worked out in your browser. The numbers you type are never sent to us or stored.

Your numbers

Your rate inputs

Country

United States Canada

Target yearly take-home pay ($)

What you want to keep for yourself in a year, after tax and after business expenses. Think of your salary to yourself.

Tax set-aside estimate (%)

A planning estimate you can change, not tax advice and not an exact tax calculation. The United States default is 30 percent and the Canada default is 25 percent. Picking a country sets the default; you can type any share from 0 to under 100.

Billable hours per week

Hours a client pays for, not hours at your desk. Admin, marketing and email do not count unless a client pays for them.

Weeks worked per year

Weeks you actually work. 48 weeks leaves four weeks for holidays, sick days and quiet spells.

Yearly business expenses ($)

Software, gear, insurance, fees and the rest of what the work costs you in a year. Zero is a fine answer if you have none.

Your minimum hourly rate Your rate is waiting

Type your numbers above to see your minimum hourly rate.

You need to bill per year $0.00

Your day rate (8 hours) $0.00

Billings per working week $0.00

Billable hours per year 0

Picture the first client who says yes at this rate: the tax share is already set aside, the expenses are covered, and the take-home you aimed at is the take-home that lands.

The math, in plain words

Billable hours per year = billable hours per week x weeks worked per year. Money you need to bill = business expenses + target take-home / (1 - tax set-aside percent / 100). Hourly rate = money you need to bill / billable hours per year. Day rate = hourly rate x 8. Billings per week = money you need to bill / weeks worked per year.

What this free rate does not calculate

This page prices one scenario, honestly. It does not calculate:

a quarterly tax system, instalments or filing deadlines;
state or province tax detail;
invoicing, expense tracking or late payment chasing;
more than one scenario at a time, so you cannot compare a raise side by side here.

The paid workbooks do that work: full tax lines for your country, scenario tabs to test a raise before you ask, and trackers that run all year. One rate is a start. A system is what keeps you paid.

US Freelancer Rate Calculator 2026 (CA$19.99)

Get the full rate workbook on Etsy

Take your rate with you

Your rate is above, and it is yours to keep. Join KOLLAZ Modern Money for one plain-number email a week, and get the free Know Your Date sheet as a welcome gift.

How the Freelancer Rate Calculator works

Updated November 2026

Why guessing your rate makes you busy and broke

Pick a round number that sounds fair and two things go wrong at once. The hours you can bill are fewer than the hours you work, because admin, marketing and chasing invoices pay nothing. And the money a client pays you is not the money you keep, because tax and business expenses come out of it first. A guessed rate quietly pays for neither. This calculator fixes both problems in order: it counts only billable hours, and it builds the rate from the take-home you actually need.

How the rate is built, step by step

First, your honest capacity: billable hours per week times weeks worked per year. The example on this page uses 25 billable hours a week and 48 working weeks, which is 1,200 billable hours in a year. That is the whole supply your rate has to work with.

Second, the money you need to bill. Your target take-home has to survive tax, so it is grossed up: divided by (1 - tax set-aside percent / 100). At a 30 percent set-aside, keeping $60,000 means billing $85,714.29 for that part alone. Add your yearly business expenses on top.

Third, the rates: the money you need to bill, divided by your billable hours, is your minimum hourly rate. Times 8 is your day rate. Divided by your working weeks is what you need to bill in an average week.

A verified worked example

Take the numbers this calculator opens with. Target take-home $60,000, tax set-aside estimate 30 percent, business expenses $6,000, 25 billable hours a week, 48 weeks a year. Billable hours: 25 x 48 = 1,200. Money to bill: $6,000 + $60,000 / 0.70 = $91,714.29. Hourly rate: $91,714.29 / 1,200 = $76.43. Day rate: $611.43. Billings per week: $91,714.29 / 48 = $1,910.71. Charge less than $76.43 an hour on these numbers and one of three things gives: your take-home, your tax share, or your expenses. The math does not offer a fourth option.

How to read your result

Your hourly rate is a floor, not a ceiling. It is the lowest rate that covers the life you typed in. Skilled, fast or in-demand work can and should charge above it. The day rate is the same floor in the unit many clients think in. The weekly billings figure is your pace check: in an average working week, that is what has to be invoiced to stay on plan.

What the math takes as given, and what it leaves out

The math takes your typed numbers as given and treats the tax set-aside as one flat share of every dollar billed. Real tax is not flat: it has brackets, deductions, credits and two levels of government, and it is owed on a schedule. This page leaves out quarterly instalments, state and province detail, invoicing and expense tracking, and every scenario but the one you typed. That honesty is the point of the free tool, and the paid workbooks exist to do the rest.

Educational information only, not financial advice and not tax advice. Consider a qualified professional for decisions about your specific situation.

Frequently asked questions

How is my hourly rate calculated?

In three steps. Your billable hours per year are your billable hours per week times your weeks worked per year. The money you need to bill is your business expenses plus your target take-home divided by (1 - tax set-aside percent / 100). Your hourly rate is that money divided by your billable hours. The day rate is the hourly rate times 8.

Why is a tax set-aside included in the rate?

Because the money a client pays you is not all yours. Part of every payment has to be set aside for tax, or tax time turns into debt. Building the set-aside into the rate means the rate itself carries the tax share, dollar by dollar, all year.

Is this tax advice?

No. The tax set-aside is a planning estimate you can change, with a 30 percent default for the United States and 25 percent for Canada. It is not an exact tax calculation, it does not use brackets, deductions or credits, and it is not tax advice. For your real tax picture, talk to a qualified professional in your country.

Where does my information go when I use this calculator?

The calculation runs entirely in your browser on your own device, and the numbers you type are never sent to us or stored. Like every Kollaz page, this one counts visits with cookies only if you accept them; the consent banner explains that choice, and it is yours to decline. The signup form on this page sends only the email address you type into it, and your first name if you add it, when you press its button. Signing up takes one more step: we email you a link, and clicking it is what subscribes you.

What is the difference between the United States and Canada settings?

Only the starting point. Picking the United States sets the tax set-aside estimate to 30 percent, and picking Canada sets it to 25 percent. The math is identical, the currency sign is a dollar in both, and you can change the percentage to any share that fits your own planning.