Freelancers worldwide lose 20–30% of every payment to hidden fees and bad routes. Settlo shows you the real number — in your local currency — before you withdraw.
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Simple & Free
The freelancer payment calculator that actually makes sense
Most freelancers find out what they earned after the money arrives. We think you deserve to know beforehand.
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Pick your platform & country
Select where the payment is coming from — Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal, Deel, or a direct client — and choose your country.
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See every deduction
Settlo breaks down every fee — platform cut, withdrawal charge, and bank conversion — so nothing is hidden.
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Get your real number
See exactly what lands in your account in your local currency using live exchange rates — not outdated estimates.
Why it matters
Freelancers lose 20–30% of every payment. Most don't even know it.
When a client pays you $500 on Upwork, you don't receive $500. By the time it reaches your bank account — after Upwork's cut, Payoneer's transfer fee, and your bank's conversion rate — you might walk away with $370.
That's not a glitch. That's just how international payments work. And most freelancers only find out after the fact.
Settlo exists so you know the real number before you do the work, price the project, or plan your month. It takes 10 seconds and it's completely free.
A freelancer earning $2,000/month loses up to $600 in fees annually without realizing it.
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Exchange rates aren't fixed
The rate your bank applies is rarely the real rate. The difference quietly eats your earnings every single time.
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Platforms aren't transparent
Upwork, Fiverr, and Payoneer each have their own fee structures. Settlo puts them all in one place.
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Now you can plan properly
Know your real take-home before you quote a client, withdraw your balance, or plan your budget.
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Figuring out what to charge is one of the hardest parts of going freelance. Charge too little and you're working yourself into burnout just to cover the bills. Charge too much without knowing your numbers and you might struggle to land clients. This calculator takes the guesswork out of the equation by turning your income goals, expenses, and available working hours into a clear, defensible hourly rate.
Your Estimated Minimum Hourly Rate
Based on the numbers you enter — your desired annual income, business overhead, taxes, and realistic billable hours — this tool calculates the minimum hourly rate you need to charge to hit your income goals without shortchanging yourself. Think of this as your floor, not your ceiling: it's the rate below which you're effectively losing money or working for less than you intended.
Freelance Rate Factors
Your hourly rate isn't just a number you pick out of thin air. It should reflect:
Your target take-home income — what you actually want to earn in a year
Business overhead — software, equipment, insurance, marketing, and other costs of running your business
Taxes — self-employment tax and income tax set-asides
Billable hours — the realistic number of hours you can actually invoice for, not the total hours you work
Experience and specialization — niche expertise and a strong portfolio justify higher rates
Market demand — what clients in your industry and region are willing to pay
Why Use a Freelance Rate Calculator?
Guessing at your rate is risky in both directions. Underpricing leaves money on the table and can signal lower quality to prospective clients. Overpricing without a rationale can cost you work you actually wanted. A rate calculator grounds your number in real math — your expenses, your goals, your time — so you can quote with confidence and explain your pricing if a client asks.
What Should You Charge Per Hour?
There's no single right answer — it depends on your skillset, experience, industry, and cost of living. But your rate should always cover three things: your living expenses, your business costs, and a buffer for taxes and slow periods. From there, market research on what peers in your field charge helps you fine-tune the number so it's competitive without underselling your expertise.
How This Hourly Rate Calculator Works
The calculator starts with your desired annual salary and adds your estimated annual business expenses. It then accounts for taxes and a profit margin for business growth. That total is divided by your realistic number of billable hours per year — not your total working hours, since time spent on admin, marketing, and client acquisition isn't billable. The result is the minimum rate you need to charge per hour to meet your goals.
What You'll Get with This Freelance Rate Calculator
A clear, personalized minimum hourly rate
A breakdown of how income, expenses, taxes, and billable hours factor into that number
A benchmark you can compare against market rates in your field
A starting point for adjusting your rate as your business grows or your costs change
Proof This Rate Calculator Works
Freelancers across design, writing, development, and consulting have used rate calculators like this one to move away from guesswork pricing. Many report the same shift: once they saw their real costs and billable hours laid out plainly, they realized their old rates weren't sustainable — and raising prices didn't cost them the clients they were afraid of losing. Knowing your numbers tends to bring more confidence to the negotiating table than any script or tactic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about freelance rates
A freelance hourly rate is the amount a freelancer charges per hour of work performed for a client. It's meant to cover not just the freelancer's time, but also business expenses, taxes, and profit — costs that an employer would otherwise absorb for a traditional employee.
Besides hourly billing, freelancers commonly use:
Fixed-price/project rates — a flat fee for a defined scope of work
Retainers — a recurring fee for ongoing availability or a set amount of work each month
Value-based pricing — rates tied to the outcome or value delivered rather than time spent
Day rates — a flat fee for a full day's work, common in consulting and production work
Yes. Your rate isn't locked in once you set it. Freelancers typically revisit their rates as their skills grow, their costs change, or demand for their services increases. Many raise rates annually, when taking on new clients, or after completing certifications or major projects that expand what they can offer.
Freelance income varies widely depending on industry, experience, specialization, and location. Some freelancers earn a modest supplement to other income; others build six-figure businesses. The freelancers who tend to earn the most typically combine a specialized skillset, a clear niche, and pricing that reflects their actual costs and value — rather than rates set purely by guesswork or competition.
Roles that require specialized technical skill, high-stakes deliverables, or scarce expertise tend to command the highest rates. This often includes areas like software development, UX/product design, technical writing, marketing and growth strategy, and specialized consulting. Rates within any field also climb with a strong portfolio, niche focus, and proven results.
Freelancing continues to grow as more professionals seek flexibility and businesses look for specialized talent without the overhead of full-time hires. Remote work norms have expanded the pool of clients freelancers can work with, and demand for niche, high-skill freelance services continues to rise. Staying current on in-demand skills and adjusting rates accordingly is key to keeping pace.
Most freelancers start with their desired annual income, add up their business expenses and taxes, and divide the total by their realistic number of billable hours in a year. This produces a baseline rate, which is then adjusted based on experience, market rates, and the specific value delivered to a given client or project.
Common business expenses to factor in include:
Software subscriptions and tools
Equipment and hardware
Health insurance and retirement contributions
Professional development and certifications
Marketing and website costs
Accounting, legal, or other professional services
Coworking space or home office costs
Because freelancers are typically responsible for self-employment tax in addition to regular income tax, many financial advisors suggest setting aside a meaningful chunk of income — commonly discussed in the range of a quarter to a third — for tax purposes, though the right amount depends on your income level, deductions, and location. Consulting a tax professional is the best way to land on a precise figure for your situation.
Most freelancers can't bill a full 8-hour day, since time for admin, client communication, and business development eats into the schedule. Many freelancers find that somewhere between 4 and 6 billable hours a day is a more realistic and sustainable target, though this varies by role and how much of the business side of things you handle yourself.
Yes. As a freelancer, you're typically responsible for covering your own self-employment and income taxes, which aren't withheld automatically the way they are for traditional employees. Building a tax set-aside into your rate calculation helps ensure you're not caught short when tax bills come due.
This is a buffer built into your rate beyond simply covering your salary and expenses. It accounts for slow periods, unexpected costs, and money you want to reinvest in growing your business — like new equipment, training, or marketing — so your business can grow rather than just break even.
It's a good idea to revisit your rate at least annually, or whenever your expenses, income goals, or billable hours change significantly. Gaining new skills, taking on a higher caliber of client, or seeing your costs rise are all good triggers to run the numbers again.
If your calculated rate feels out of step with what clients in your market are paying, look for ways to adjust the underlying numbers rather than simply lowering your rate below what covers your costs. That might mean trimming overhead, increasing your billable hours within a sustainable limit, or focusing on higher-value clients and projects that justify the rate you actually need to charge.
No. While it's especially useful for freelancers setting a rate for the first time, experienced freelancers also use rate calculators to sanity-check their pricing as their expenses, goals, or market position change over time.
Different pricing models suit different situations:
Hourly rates offer flexibility for undefined or evolving scopes of work
Fixed-price projects give clients cost certainty and can reward efficient freelancers
Retainers provide predictable, recurring income
Value-based pricing aligns pay with the outcomes delivered, often leading to higher earnings for high-impact work
Using a mix of models across different clients can help freelancers balance predictable income with the flexibility to price ambitious work appropriately.
That's normal — pricing is part math, part market awareness, and part confidence. If you're still unsure after running the numbers, it can help to research what peers with similar experience charge, test your rate with a few prospective clients, and remember that your rate can always be adjusted as you learn more about your market and your own value.