Freelancer Hourly Rate Calculator
Work backwards from your take-home goal — see the hourly rate, day rate and annual revenue target you must charge after expenses, tax and unbillable time.
- Free — no sign-up
- Instant, on-screen results
- Built by our CA · CS team
- Rules cited on the page
Enter your figures — the result on the right updates as you type.
How your rate is built up
Freelancer tax & GST, sorted by a CA
44ADA presumptive returns, GST registration and quarterly advance tax — handled for you.
Disclaimer: Indicative estimate to help you price freelance work. It is not a tax computation — actual income tax, GST and take-home depend on your regime, deductions and expenses.
How to price freelance work
Most freelancers guess a number and hope it works. The right way is to work backwards from the take-home income you actually want. Add your business expenses, then gross the total up for tax and unbillable time, and divide by the hours you can realistically bill. Whatever comes out is the floor — the rate below which you are quietly working at a loss.
The formula
Five inputs, four numbers out. Here is exactly what the calculator does:
| Revenue needed | (Income + Expenses) ÷ (1 − Buffer%) |
| Billable hours / year | Hours per week × Working weeks |
| Hourly rate | Revenue needed ÷ Billable hours |
| Day rate | Hourly rate × 8 |
| Monthly target | Revenue needed ÷ 12 |
Worked example
A freelance consultant wants ₹12,00,000 in hand, spends ₹1,00,000 a year on tools and workspace, bills 25 hours a week across 48 working weeks, and keeps a 25% buffer for tax and gaps.
Key terms explained
Billable vs non-billable hours
Billable hours are the ones a client actually pays for. Sales calls, invoicing, proposals, learning and admin are non-billable — often 30–50% of your week — so you can only sell a fraction of your desk hours.
Buffer for tax & gaps
A percentage that grosses your target up so income tax, GST and empty weeks between projects do not eat into your take-home. Raise it if your workload is lumpy or your effective tax rate is high.
Section 44ADA (presumptive)
Eligible professionals with gross receipts up to ₹75 lakh can declare just 50% of receipts as income and pay tax on that — no books of account needed. It sharply lowers the buffer you need to hold back.
GST above ₹20 lakh
Once your annual receipts cross ₹20 lakh (₹10 lakh in some states) you must register for GST and charge 18% on invoices. It is collected from clients, but it changes how you quote and invoice.
Questions people ask
Short answers on Freelancer Hourly Rate. Tap a question to open it.
01How should a freelancer set an hourly rate?
Start from the annual income you need, add business costs and the tax you will pay, then divide by realistically billable hours — not total working hours. Most independents bill only 60% to 70% of their time.
02What costs should be built into the rate?
Equipment and software, internet and workspace, insurance, professional fees, marketing, training, unpaid leave and sick days, and the retirement saving an employer would otherwise have made for you.
03How much of the year is actually billable?
After weekends, holidays, leave and time spent on sales, admin and invoicing, a full-time freelancer usually bills about 1,300 to 1,600 hours a year. Using 2,000 hours in the calculation is the single most common mistake.
04How does tax affect the rate?
A freelancer pays income tax on profits and, above the threshold, GST on invoices. Section 44ADA lets many professionals declare 50% of receipts as income, which simplifies the calculation but does not reduce the cash you need to set aside.
05Should I quote hourly or per project?
Quote per project to the client wherever you can, but derive that price from your hourly number. Fixed pricing rewards you for getting faster; hourly billing does not.
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Disclaimer: This tool gives indicative results for general guidance only and is not professional advice. Please verify with a qualified CA before acting on the numbers.