Freelance rate calculator: price your time from what you need to earn
Most freelancers copy someone else’s rate. This freelance rate calculator works it out from your own numbers: the take-home income you want, business costs, tax and the savings an employer would make for you — divided by the hours clients actually pay for. You get a minimum hourly rate, a day rate and a project quote in rupees, dollars, pounds or euros.
Flip it round with Income from my rate to see what a rate you already charge leaves you with, compare it with a typical market rate, then turn the rate into a creative project quote (design, photo shoot or writing, with revisions, usage and expenses) or a monthly retainer. For India it applies the presumptive scheme or tax on actual profit under the new regime; elsewhere, an effective rate you choose. It runs in your browser, and results are estimates, not tax advice.
How to use the Freelance Rate Calculator
- Choose Rate from my income goal or Income from my rate and your currency, then enter the income (or rate), savings and costs.
- Pick how you are taxed and set your working week, weeks off, admin share and utilisation.
- Read the hourly and day rates; add a project size and contingency for a quote, and a market rate to compare.
- Under Price a creative job or a monthly retainer, enter the hours or words, revisions, usage and expenses — or the retainer hours, discount and roll-over rule.
- Press Copy rate card to keep the figures.
Freelance Rate Calculator features
Real billable hours
Removes admin time and unsold hours, so the rate covers the whole year.
Indian tax built in
Presumptive taxation on 50% of receipts or tax on actual profit, new regime, with the ₹12 lakh rebate.
Reverse mode and market check
Turns a rate you charge into take-home income and compares it with a market rate you enter; ₹, $, £ or €.
Creative project quotes
Hours or words, revision rounds, a usage or licence uplift and expenses with markup, plus a per-word rate.
Retainers
Monthly fee from hours, rate and discount, with the extra-hour rate and roll-over rule.
How the rate is calculated
Fees needed = take-home income + savings + business costs + tax on those fees, and hourly rate = fees ÷ billable hours. Billable hours = (52 − weeks off) × days a week × hours a day × (1 − admin share) × utilisation. Because tax depends on the fees, the calculator solves for the smallest fee total that leaves your target after tax.
Worked example (the default): ₹18 lakh take-home, ₹1.8 lakh of savings and ₹2.12 lakh of costs need ₹21.92 lakh of fees. Under the presumptive scheme only half, ₹10.96 lakh, is taxed — below ₹12 lakh, so the rebate leaves no tax. Forty-six weeks of five 8-hour days is 1,840 hours; after 20% admin time and 75% utilisation, 1,104 are billed, so the minimum rate is ₹1,986 an hour (₹15,884 a day). Taxed on actual profit instead, tax is about ₹2.74 lakh and the rate rises to ₹2,234.
Tax for freelancers in India (tax year 2026-27)
- Presumptive scheme: professionals (engineers, architects, interior designers, consultants, accountants, IT professionals) can declare 50% of gross receipts as income without detailed books, for receipts up to ₹50 lakh — ₹75 lakh when no more than 5% arrives in cash. From 1 April 2026 this is section 58 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly s.44ADA).
- Actual profit: receipts minus business costs, with full books; better when costs exceed half your fees.
- New regime: no tax up to ₹12 lakh of income thanks to the ₹60,000 rebate; freelancers do not get the ₹75,000 standard deduction that salaried people do. Check slabs with the income tax calculator.
- GST and TDS: register above ₹20 lakh of service turnover (₹10 lakh in some states) and add GST on top of your fee — the GST calculator helps; exports under a letter of undertaking are zero-rated. TDS deducted by clients is claimed back.
Pricing a creative job or a retainer
Creative project: quote = (work hours + revision rounds × hours per round) × rate × (1 + usage uplift) + expenses × (1 + markup). For writing, hours = words ÷ words an hour, so ₹2,000 an hour at 500 words an hour is ₹4 a word. Example: 20 hours of design plus two 2-hour revision rounds at ₹2,000 is ₹48,000; a +50% commercial-use uplift and ₹5,000 of expenses with 10% markup make ₹77,500. The usage presets (+25% editorial, +50% advertising, +100% buyout) are rules of thumb to edit, not market rates.
Retainer: monthly fee = hours × rate × (1 − discount). Twenty hours at ₹2,000 with 10% off for a six-month commitment is ₹36,000 a month (₹1,800 an hour, ₹2,16,000 over the term). Agree whether unused hours roll over, and what extra hours cost, in the contract.
Rules used (as of October 2026)
Income-tax Act, 2025 (in force 1 April 2026): section 58 presumptive taxation of professionals at 50% of gross receipts (limits ₹50 lakh / ₹75 lakh), new-regime slabs and the ₹60,000 rebate up to ₹12 lakh, 4% cess, figures rounded to ₹10. Flat rates are your own estimate of income tax plus self-employment tax, National Insurance or social charges. GST, advance-tax timing and other income are not modelled.
Freelance Rate Calculator FAQ
How much should I charge per hour as a freelancer?
At least (take-home income + savings + costs + tax) ÷ billable hours. With a ₹18 lakh goal and 1,104 billable hours, the freelance rate calculator gives about ₹1,986 an hour under India’s presumptive scheme.
How many billable hours does a freelancer have in a year?
Usually 1,000 to 1,400. Forty-six working weeks of 40 hours is 1,840 hours, but admin, sales and gaps between projects take a large share — so never divide a salary by 2,080 hours.
How do I turn an hourly rate into a day rate?
Multiply by the hours you bill in a day — usually 6 to 8.
Can I use this outside India?
Yes. Choose dollars, pounds or euros and enter an effective tax rate that includes self-employment tax or National Insurance. UK contractors comparing inside and outside IR35 can use the IR35 calculator.
How do I calculate a monthly retainer fee?
Multiply the hours a month by your hourly rate and take off any discount for the commitment: 20 hours × ₹2,000 − 10% = ₹36,000 a month.
How should I price a photo shoot or design project?
Cost every hour (shoot, editing or design, revisions), add a usage uplift for commercial or exclusive use, then expenses.