Free Tool
Freelance & Consulting Rate Calculator
Your minimum freelance rate isn't just your old salary divided by hours worked. It has to cover benefits an employer used to pay for, business overhead, and a self-funded safety net for the months work dries up. This calculator gives you both a breakeven minimum and a recommended market rate, built from what you actually need to replace.
The gap most rate calculators ignore: solopreneurs on Reddit consistently describe going solo as working with no safety net, no backup, and no one to catch you if a client disappears. Unlike an employee, a freelancer's unemployment insurance and sick pay have to come out of their own rate. That's why this calculator adds a safety-net buffer as its own line item, instead of hoping your margin quietly covers it.
Salary & benefits you want to replace
What you'd want to earn as a take-home salary.
What you pay (or would pay) for coverage.
% of salary you want to self-fund toward retirement.
Weeks you want off with no client billing.
Overhead, time & buffer
Software, insurance, accounting, hosting, etc.
Admin, marketing, proposals, and email.
Hours you can realistically bill, not just work.
Cushion for slow months, with no employer to fall back on.
How this calculator works
We add your target salary, annualized health insurance, retirement contributions, and business overhead, then layer a safety-net reserve on top of that total. Dividing by your realistic billable hours per year, after subtracting PTO weeks, gives your true minimum rate. The recommended market rate applies your margin on top of that minimum so occasional slow months don't put you underwater.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related resources
Pricing strategy
Your rate should fund your whole life, not just your invoices.
Mustard Seed helps solopreneurs and small teams turn a defensible rate into a full pricing and positioning strategy, so growth doesn't depend on working more hours.
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