💼 Freelancer Rate Converter
A two-way converter that accounts for the real constraints of freelance work: billable time, overhead, and time off. Find the rate that actually works for your business.
📊 Hourly to Annual Conversion
📊 Annual to Hourly Conversion
📖 Usage Examples
💼 Web Developer: Hourly to Annual
A front-end developer charges $65/hour and works 40 hours/week with 20 days off (vacation + holidays).
🎯 Target $120k: Annual to Hourly
A graphic designer wants $120,000/year, works 7 hrs/day, 5 days/week, and takes 25 days off.
📅 Part-Time Consultant Strategy
A retired executive consults 3 days/week, 6 hrs/day, with 10 weeks off for travel. Target: $60,000/year at 90% billable.
❔ Frequently Asked Questions
Billable hours are the time you can directly charge clients. Non-billable time includes admin, marketing, proposal writing, skill development, and client communication. New freelancers often achieve 50-60% billable, established freelancers reach 70-80%, and agency-backed consultants may hit 85-90%. Track your time for a month to find your real percentage.
Your calculated rate only covers your desired net income. You should add approximately 15-30% to cover: self-employment tax (15.3%), health insurance (if self-funded), business expenses (software, equipment), retirement contributions, and a buffer for slow periods or late-paying clients.
There are 260 weekdays in a typical year (52 weeks × 5 days). From this, subtract your vacation days, public holidays, sick days, and any other planned time off. The default values in this calculator (15 vacation + 11 holidays) leave 234 working days.
Hourly rates work best for ongoing, variable-scope work where time is unpredictable. Daily or weekly rates are better for intensive short-term projects. Daily rates often imply higher commitment from the client and protect you against partial-day inefficiencies. Many experienced freelancers strongly prefer daily or project-based pricing.
As a rough rule, divide an annual salary by 2,000 (standard work-year hours) to get the equivalent hourly rate, then multiply by 1.3 to 1.5 to account for the lack of benefits (health insurance, 401k match, paid leave). For example, $100,000 salary = ~$50/hr W-2 equivalent, which should be $65-75/hr as a freelancer.
Consider raising your rates when: (1) you have more demand than capacity, (2) you've gained significant new skills or certifications, (3) a client has been with you for 12+ months without a rate adjustment, or (4) your billable percentage is consistently above 85%. Raise rates for new clients first, then transition existing clients gradually.
💼 About the Freelancer Rate Converter
This bidirectional converter tackles the most fundamental pricing challenge every freelancer faces: translating between an hourly rate and a sustainable annual income. Unlike the simplistic "hourly × 2,080" calculation that assumes you work 52 weeks with zero time off and 100% billable utilization, this tool lets you model your actual working reality.
You control hours per day, days per week, vacation days, public holidays, and — critically — your billable hours percentage. Billable time is the real constraint in freelancing: the hours you can invoice clients, as opposed to the time spent on admin, marketing, proposals, and skill development. The default 80% reflects an established freelancer; newer practitioners often land closer to 60-70% until they build efficient systems and a reliable client pipeline.
The annual-to-hourly direction answers an equally practical question: "If I want to earn $100,000 next year, what hourly rate do I need to charge?" The answer depends entirely on your realistic billable capacity. Earning $100K from 2,000 billable hours at $50/hour is very different from earning the same amount from 1,200 billable hours at $83/hour. The converter surfaces both numbers and highlights the gap between theoretical capacity and billable reality.
Use this tool when: setting your rates as a new freelancer, evaluating whether to adjust rates with existing clients, comparing a freelance opportunity against a salaried offer, or projecting revenue targets for the coming year. For more on self-employment tax strategy, see our Guide to Estimated Quarterly Taxes for Freelancers.