Free tool
Freelance Rate Calculator
One of the best parts of going independent: you set the price. Enter what your old job paid, and we'll find the rate where freelancing pays you just as well. Everything above it is a raise you gave yourself.
1What your old job paid
Your business should pay you at least this well. Count everything the job bundled in. As a freelancer, you keep all of it, you just price it in.
or target income
what you'd pay
employer match you'd lose
as much as you like, it's your call now
2Your working year
This is where freelancing pays off: nobody hands you a 9-to-5 anymore. You design your own year. Want six weeks off? A four-day week? Set it here, and your rate adjusts so your income doesn't.
all work, billable or not
you choose how many
Part of your week goes to running your business: meeting new clients, sending proposals, building your name. Pick a scenario to see your rate at each stage: most freelancers start around 60% and grow toward 90% as clients start coming to them.
Your floor rate
$98/hour
$783 day rate · at 75% billable (1,440 hrs/yr)
Charge this and you match your old job, with your time off, your schedule, and your ceiling. Everything above it is upside.
Salary
$110,000
Health insurance
$6,600
401(k) match
$4,400
Paid time off
20 days
$8,462
Total old compensation
$129,462
Employee FICA (already withheld)
-$8,415
Freelance revenue needed
grossed up for self-employment tax
$140,964
Your S Corp opportunity
Whether an S Corp election is worth it turns on your net profit after business expenses, which this calculator does not ask for. The tax savings calculator does.
Work out your S Corp savingsThe math behind your potential savings
As a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, self-employment tax applies to every dollar of profit. With an S Corp, you split your income into two parts, a reasonable salary and owner distributions. Payroll taxes apply only to the salary.
Assumes a 260-day working year and an 8-hour working day for the day rate math. Your actual calendar may differ, adjust the working hours and weeks above to match it.
Estimates for educational purposes, not tax, legal, or financial advice.
Let Collective handle the business side so your rate stays defensible
A member accountant sets up your S Corp, runs your payroll, and keeps your books ready, so the rate you just calculated is the rate you actually keep.