Freelance
Freelance Day Rate Calculator
Most freelancers underprice because they divide their target income by every working day in the year. In reality you don't bill every day: there's holiday, sickness, gaps between clients, and the admin and pitching that nobody pays for.
This calculator starts from the income you want, adds your business costs, and spreads them over the days you'll realistically bill. Or flip it round and see what a day rate you've been offered actually earns.
Calculator
Fill in the boxes above and your answer appears here.
Worked examples
Real numbers, worked out by the same calculator. Press “Use these numbers” to try one above.
Want £60,000 with £5,000 of costs
- Day rate to charge
- £369.32
- Hourly rate
- £46.16
- Billable days per year
- 176
- Total to invoice per year
- £65,000.00
To earn £60,000.00 before tax and cover £5,000.00 of costs you need to invoice £65,000.00. With 176 billable days that's £369.32 a day.
Want £45,000, fewer costs, busier diary
- Day rate to charge
- £227.05
- Hourly rate
- £28.38
- Billable days per year
- 207
- Total to invoice per year
- £47,000.00
To earn £45,000.00 before tax and cover £2,000.00 of costs you need to invoice £47,000.00. With 207 billable days that's £227.05 a day.
What does a £400 day rate earn?
- Income before tax
- £65,400.00
- Total invoiced per year
- £70,400.00
- Average per month
- £5,450.00
- Billable days per year
- 176
- Equivalent hourly rate
- £50.00
At £400.00 a day and 176 billable days, you'd invoice £70,400.00 and keep £65,400.00 before tax after £5,000.00 of costs.
How the calculation works
Billable days = (52 − weeks off) × days available per week × share of days you bill. With the defaults: 44 weeks × 5 days × 80% = 176 billable days, not the 260 working days on a calendar.
Day rate = (income wanted + business costs) ÷ billable days. Wanting £60,000 with £5,000 of costs means invoicing £65,000, which over 176 days is £369.32 a day.
Hourly rate = day rate ÷ hours in a working day. It's a handy comparison figure even if you always quote by the day.
Common mistakes when setting a day rate
- Dividing by 260. That's the number of weekdays in a year, and you won't bill nearly all of them. Doing so can underprice you by a third.
- Forgetting non-billable time. Quoting, invoicing, chasing payments and learning new skills all take real days.
- Treating the answer as take-home pay. This calculator gives income before tax. Tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and sick pay come out of it, so make sure the target you type in is the one that leaves you enough afterwards.
- Ignoring costs. Insurance, software and equipment are real money even when they're small.
Day rate or hourly rate?
A day rate is simple for clients to budget and stops a long day costing you nothing extra. Hourly rates work better for small, unpredictable jobs. If you quote hourly, convert with the hourly figure above and remember it must cover the same non-billable time.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out my day rate?
Add your target income and business costs to get what you need to invoice, then divide by the number of days you realistically bill in a year, not the number of working days.
How many billable days a year should I assume?
Many freelancers land somewhere around 150 to 200. It depends on holiday, sickness, gaps between clients and how much of your time goes on admin and finding work. Adjust the boxes above to match your own situation.
Is this rate before or after tax?
Before. It's the income you want to earn from the business. Make sure your target leaves enough after tax and National Insurance, which this calculator doesn't work out.
How do I convert a day rate to an hourly rate?
Divide the day rate by the hours in your working day. £400 a day over 8 hours is £50 an hour.
Should I charge more than the number this gives me?
Often yes. The result is the minimum that meets your target under your assumptions. Your market, experience and the value of the work matter too, and this is only the floor.
Related tools
- FreelanceHourly Rate CalculatorWork out the hourly rate a freelancer needs to charge to hit an income target, or convert an annual salary into an hourly rate. Free and instant.
- FreelanceAnnual Income CalculatorTurn hourly, daily, weekly or monthly pay into a yearly income, and see it broken down every other way. Adjust hours, days and weeks worked.
- FreelanceUtilisation Rate CalculatorWork out your utilisation rate from billable and available hours, see what your unbilled time costs, or find the billable hours a target needs.
- FreelanceProject Profitability CalculatorSee what a project really paid per hour after expenses, how it compares with your target rate, and what fee would have hit that target.
Formulas tested against hand-worked answers. Last reviewed 29 September 2026. These calculators do arithmetic only; they are not financial, tax or legal advice.