Calculator
Freelance Pricing Calculator
Choose a pricing starting point for hourly work, fixed projects, retainers, or the awkward middle where the client wants a number and the scope is still fog.
This calculator gives you the baseline hourly floor first, then points you toward the specific OwnerMath calculator that matches how the work is sold.
Hourly
Best when scope is uncertain, diagnostic, advisory, or likely to change. The floor keeps hourly from becoming a polite donation.
Fixed project
Best when deliverables, revisions, timeline, and assumptions are clear enough to price the whole job on purpose.
Retainer
Best for recurring monthly scope with boundaries. Availability is not free just because it feels tidy on an invoice.
Result
Baseline floor: $137/hr
Your business needs $157,333 in gross annual revenue across 1,152 billable hours. That means every billable hour must contribute at least $137 before you cover expenses, reserves, and owner pay. This is not your proposal rate — it is the floor underneath it.
Recommended path
Start with the hourly floor
If the pricing model is still fuzzy, do not guess the final price first. Calculate the internal hourly floor, then choose hourly, project, or retainer pricing based on how the work is sold.
Assumptions used
- Owner pay
- $100,000
- Business expenses
- $18,000
- Reserve rate
- 25%
- Billable hours / week
- 24
- Working weeks / year
- 48
- Annual billable hours
- 1,152
Use the finder if you need the site to route you to the next specific calculator.
Educational pricing estimate only. Not tax, legal, accounting, or financial advice.
What the number means
The baseline hourly floor is gross business revenue math. It tells you the minimum hourly economics your pricing needs to protect after desired owner pay, annual business expenses, reserve rate, and realistic billable capacity are counted.
It is not your final proposal price. It is the floor underneath the proposal. If that floor is fuzzy, every quote after it is just a confident guess wearing nice shoes.
How to use this calculator
- Choose how you sell the work: hourly, fixed project, monthly retainer, or not sure yet.
- Enter desired annual owner pay as pre-tax owner compensation, not gross business revenue.
- Add annual business expenses separately so revenue does not cosplay as take-home pay.
- Use the reserve rate for taxes, savings, downtime, and profit buffer. It is planning math, not tax advice.
- Follow the recommended next calculator when you need proposal-ready project or retainer pricing.
Formula and assumptions
Annual revenue required = (desired annual owner pay + annual business expenses) / (1 - reserve rate). Annual billable hours = billable hours per week x working weeks per year. Baseline hourly floor = annual revenue required / annual billable hours.
Fixed project and retainer estimates use the baseline hourly floor as a starting point, then add scoped hours, risk buffer, and profit buffer. The specialist calculators go deeper when the price needs to become a real proposal.
Warning flags to take seriously
- Billable weeks that leave no room for downtime or sales.
- Billable-hour assumptions above what recent invoices prove.
- Reserve rates that ignore taxes, savings, slow months, or profit.
- Fixed projects with no admin, revision, or risk buffer.
- Retainers where meetings consume the work before delivery starts.
Related calculators
FAQ
What does the Freelance Pricing Calculator calculate?
It calculates a baseline hourly floor from desired owner pay, business expenses, reserves, billable hours, and working weeks, then recommends the next pricing path for hourly, project, retainer, or unclear work.
Is this different from the Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator?
Yes. This is the broad entry point for choosing a pricing model. The hourly-rate calculator goes deeper on tax reserve, savings reserve, slow-month buffer, current-rate gaps, and rate tiers.
Should I price freelance work hourly, fixed-fee, or retainer?
Use hourly pricing when scope is uncertain, fixed-fee pricing when scope is clear, and retainers for recurring monthly work with defined boundaries. If you are unsure, start with the hourly floor.
Does this calculator include taxes?
It includes a planning reserve rate that can represent taxes, savings, downtime, and profit buffer. It does not calculate tax liability or replace tax advice.
What is a baseline hourly floor?
It is the internal minimum hourly rate your business needs before you translate that floor into a client-facing hourly rate, fixed project quote, or monthly retainer.
Can I use this to send a final proposal?
Use it for a starting point. For proposal-ready math, continue into the Project Quote Calculator or Retainer Pricing Calculator so scope, revisions, meetings, and overages get handled properly.