Freelance developer rate calculator
Price dev work from your real take-home target — and from how few hours you can truly bill.
Your numbers
Annual figures. Be honest about billable hours.
"Billable hours" should exclude admin, sales, and downtime — most full-timers bill far fewer hours than they work.
Track billable hours and turn them into invoices automatically with FreshBooks.
What developers should factor in
Developers tend to command higher rates, but also face long unbillable stretches: project setup, learning new stacks, hard-to-bill debugging, and gaps between contracts. Be conservative with billable hours and generous with expenses — hardware, hosting, tools, and licenses add up.
For longer engagements, weekly or monthly retainers smooth out income better than pure hourly. Whichever model you use, divide the total by realistic hours to confirm it clears the floor this calculator gives you.
Frequently asked
Hourly suits unclear scope; retainers stabilize income for ongoing clients; fixed-bid rewards efficiency but punishes underestimation. Whichever you pick, divide the total by realistic hours to confirm it clears your floor.
Most full-time freelancers bill 20–30 hours a week once admin, sales, and downtime are removed — not 40. Be conservative here or you'll underprice.
Commonly cited figures put the U.S. average around $48 an hour, but it varies hugely by field, experience, and location. Treat it as a sanity check, not a target.