Stop guessing your rates. Calculate exactly what you need to charge to survive and thrive.
Note: This does not account for income taxes. We recommend adding 20-30% to this rate to cover taxes depending on your region.
When transitioning from a 9-to-5 job to freelance, most people simply divide their old salary by 2,080 hours (40 hours x 52 weeks) to find their hourly rate. This is a fatal mistake. Freelancers do not get paid for administrative work, marketing, taking sick days, or buying software.
In an 8-hour workday, a freelancer typically only spends 4 to 5 hours actually doing client work that they can bill for. The rest of the time is spent answering emails, pitching new clients, and managing the business. If you assume you can bill 8 hours a day, you will quickly burn out or go broke.
Input the salary you want to take home to your family. Then, add up all your business expenses (web hosting, Adobe subscriptions, marketing). Finally, tell the calculator how many weeks of vacation you want, and how many hours a day you actually expect to do client work. The calculator will tell you the absolute minimum you must charge per hour to survive.