How to Use FreeRate

FreeRate calculates your ideal freelance hourly rate in seconds. Just fill in three inputs — income goal, work schedule, and business costs — and your rate appears instantly.

Step-by-Step

Set your Income Goal

Choose your currency, enter your target income, and select whether that number is annual, monthly, or weekly. Use the amount you want to take home — your net salary target.

Define your Work Schedule

Set hours per day, days per week, and vacation weeks per year using the sliders or by typing directly into the number inputs. FreeRate uses these to calculate your total billable hours for the year.

Add your Operational Margin

Enter the percentage of your gross revenue that goes to business costs — software subscriptions, taxes, health insurance, equipment, and so on. A typical range is 20–35% for most freelancers. This ensures your quoted rate actually covers all your costs.

Read your Results

Your Recommended Gross Rate is what you should quote clients — it includes the operational margin so your costs are covered. The Net Take-Home Rate is what reaches your pocket after costs. The Earnings Breakdown shows projections for annual, monthly, weekly, and daily gross earnings.

Compare Currencies

Scroll down to the Currency Converter to see your gross hourly rate converted across 20 major currencies using live exchange rates. Rates are refreshed every 24 hours and cached for offline use.

The Formula

billable_hours = hours_per_day × days_per_week × (52 − vacation_weeks)

net_hourly = annual_salary ÷ billable_hours

gross_hourly = net_hourly ÷ (1 − margin / 100)

The gross rate is what you charge clients. The net rate is what remains after deducting your operational costs.

Tips for Better Results

Not sure about vacation weeks? 4 weeks (20 business days) is a good starting point. Remember to include public holidays in your estimate.

What to include in the operational margin? Think: income taxes, health insurance, professional software, hardware depreciation, accounting fees, and any idle time between projects.

Working with international clients? Switch your base currency to USD or EUR and use the currency converter to set expectations with clients paying in different currencies.

Install as an app. FreeRate is a Progressive Web App (PWA). Tap "Install App" in the header to add it to your home screen — it works offline too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does FreeRate save my data?

Yes — your inputs are saved in your browser's localStorage so they're still there when you come back. Nothing is sent to any server. See our Privacy Policy for details.

How current are the exchange rates?

Rates are fetched from ExchangeRate-API and cached for 24 hours. If you're offline, the last cached rates are shown with an indicator in the header.

Should I use my gross or net salary as the income goal?

Net (take-home) is the right input. The operational margin field handles the gross-up — the calculator will add your business costs on top automatically.

Does this tool account for taxes?

Partially. You can include your estimated tax rate inside the operational margin field. However, FreeRate does not model specific tax laws or brackets — consult a local accountant for precise numbers.

Is FreeRate free?

Yes, completely free with no ads, no sign-up, and no paywalls.

Ready to find your rate?

Head back to the calculator and get your number in under a minute.

Open Calculator →