Orvian Market › Freelance rate calculator
Freelance Rate Calculator Spreadsheet
Work out the hourly rate your business actually needs from your take-home goal, tax estimate, costs and billable hours. Then price the next project phase by phase and see whether it clears your floor before you send it.
$14one-time on Etsy · Excel and Google Sheets
- Minimum and recommended hourly, plus day, week and retainer rates
- Five profession presets to start from, every number editable
- Quote builder with contingency, rush fee, deposit and a floor check
- Reality check on what you charge now, and three rate emails
Worked example
From a take-home goal to an hourly rate
The workbook's Designer preset, made-up starting numbers. Every figure below is what the sheet calculates.
| Step | Example |
|---|---|
| Take-home you want, after tax | $65,000 |
| Gross it up for 28% tax and a 15% buffer | $106,209.15 |
| Add yearly business costs | $8,300 |
| Billable hours: 48 weeks × 5 days × 8 h × 50% | 960 |
| Minimum hourly rate | $119.28 |
| Recommended hourly (+20%) | $143.14 |
| Day rate (6 billable hours) | $858.82 |
| Week rate (5 days) | $4,294.09 |
| Monthly retainer (40 hours) | $5,725.46 |
Example data, made up. The preset's current rate is $65 an hour, $78.14 below recommended, which the Reality Check turns into $75,011 a year at 960 billable hours and the verdict "Underpricing — you are losing money".
Quote builder
Does this project clear your floor?
Estimate hours per phase at your recommended rate, add contingency and costs, and the sheet gives the quote, the 40% deposit and the effective hourly rate.
| Phase | Hours | Subtotal |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery & brief | 4 | $572.55 |
| Design concepts | 12 | $1,717.64 |
| Build / implementation | 20 | $2,862.73 |
| Revisions & QA | 6 | $858.82 |
| Launch & handoff | 3 | $429.41 |
| Contingency 15% | $966.17 | |
| Pass-through costs | $150.00 | |
| Quote total | 45 | $7,557.31 |
| Deposit (40%) | $3,022.92 | |
| Balance on delivery | $4,534.39 | |
| Effective hourly rate | $167.94 | |
| Your minimum rate | $119.28 |
Example data, made up. Result: "YES, take it (or negotiate up)". The take-this-job score for the same lead is 20 of 25, which the sheet rates "Strong yes".
Profession presets
Five starting points, all editable
Pick a preset and the yellow cells fill in. These are the workbook's own starter numbers, not survey data: change them to your life.
| Preset | Take-home | Billable h | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designer | $65,000 | 960 | $119.28 | $143.14 |
| Writer | $60,000 | 924 | $108.33 | $130.00 |
| Developer | $90,000 | 1,056 | $152.14 | $182.57 |
| Marketer/VA | $55,000 | 1,152 | $81.69 | $98.03 |
| Coach-Consultant | $80,000 | 497 | $299.06 | $358.87 |
Example data, made up. Each preset also sets its own tax estimate, buffer, hours and costs, which is why the rates differ so much.
Your options
Free calculators or this one
We downloaded and opened both free workbooks. If one of them does what you need, use it.
SheetFor rate calculator, free
- A two-tab sheet: take-home goal, costs, tax rate, weeks off and billable share give a minimum hourly rate rounded up to the next $5, a day rate and a 20-hour project price. No sign-up.
- If you only need an hourly number, this is enough.
Nimbly Sheets rate calculator, free
- Seven tabs: hourly, day and retainer rates, a project quote list with a risk buffer, low/base/stretch scenarios and a quote pipeline. Direct .xlsx download.
- A genuinely strong free file. No rate emails, no phase-by-phase quote with deposit, and no check of what you charge now.
Our free web calculator
- The free rate calculator on this site gives an hourly rate, day rate, project quote and a rate-increase email in your browser. Nothing to download.
- One screen only; no presets, phases or floor check.
This workbook, $14 once
- Minimum and recommended rates, five presets, a reality check on your current rate, a phase-by-phase quote with deposit and floor check, a take-this-job score and three rate emails.
- No time tracking or invoicing, and it doesn't know market rates; the Market Check tab is for numbers you collect.
Sources, checked Oct 29, 2026: SheetFor · Nimbly Sheets. Features change; check their pages.
FAQ
Questions, answered straight
How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
Work backward from the take-home pay you want. Gross it up for tax and a profit buffer, add your yearly business costs, then divide by the hours you can actually bill, not the hours you work. With the Designer preset that's $65,000 take-home, 28% tax and a 15% buffer, plus $8,300 of costs, over 960 billable hours: $119.28 an hour.
What's the difference between the minimum and the recommended rate?
The minimum (the sheet calls it the survival rate) is the hourly rate that just covers your take-home goal, tax estimate, buffer and overhead at your billable hours. The recommended rate adds 20% on top for safety, and the day, week and retainer figures are built from the recommended rate.
What billable utilization should I use?
Be honest. Utilization is the share of your working hours a client actually pays for; sales, admin, revisions and unpaid discovery all come out of it. The presets use 45% to 60%, and the what-if table shows your yearly revenue at 40% to 75% so you can see how much it matters.
Does it tell me what other freelancers charge?
No. It does the math from your own goal, costs and hours. The Market Check tab is there for you to record rates you've actually seen in your field; its example ranges are placeholders, not market data.
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. It's a real .xlsx file with live formulas and no macros. Open it in Excel, or in Google Sheets use File → Import → Upload.
Is the tax rate in the sheet accurate for me?
It's an estimate you type in. The presets start at 28% or 30% as placeholders. Your real effective rate depends on your whole tax picture, so set it with your tax plan or a professional. It's a planning tool, not tax advice.
Is it a subscription?
No. It's a one-time download from Etsy: the full workbook, a one-screen quick calculator with a rate-increase email that fills itself in, and a Quick Start PDF.
Know your floor before you quote.
$14 once on Etsy. Instant download: the full workbook, a one-screen quick calculator and a Quick Start PDF.