How to Calculate Your True Freelance Hourly Rate (Step-by-Step Guide)
Stop guessing your hourly rate. Learn the expense-based method freelancers use to charge what they are actually worth.
Built for photographers, Etsy sellers, food trucks, tutors, translators, and freelancers who are tired of guessing their prices. Calculate your true cost, your real profit, and the rate you should actually be charging — in seconds.
Each tool is built from a real cost-of-doing-business model — not a random multiplier. Plug in your numbers, get a defensible price you can quote with confidence.
Build profitable wedding photography packages that cover your time, gear, editing, and profit margin.
Open calculator →Calculate true Etsy product prices that cover materials, labour, fees, shipping, and profit.
Open calculator →Set profitable food truck menu prices by food cost percentage, portion size, and overhead.
Open calculator →Calculate per-word, per-line, and hourly translator rates by language pair and specialisation.
Open calculator →Set home-tutoring hourly rates by subject, grade level, and local cost of living.
Open calculator →Price bridal, event, and editorial makeup services with kit cost and travel factored in.
Open calculator →Eight categories covering the most common pricing problems freelancers and small businesses face.
Most pricing advice on the internet tells you to "charge what you're worth" — which is useless if you don't know what your time actually costs. Our calculators start from your real numbers: materials, hours, overhead, taxes, profit margin. Then they tell you the price you should quote.
Every tool is paired with a long-form guide explaining the methodology, the industry benchmarks, and the common mistakes to avoid — so you understand the why, not just the what.
Materials, hours, overhead, desired profit — every cost that touches your work.
A transparent formula breaks down labour, materials, fees, taxes, and margin line by line.
A price you can explain to clients — and a breakdown you can negotiate from if needed.
Each calculator links to a long-form article explaining the industry benchmarks and common pitfalls.
No 300-word listicles. Every guide is 1,500+ words of original research with worked examples.
Stop guessing your hourly rate. Learn the expense-based method freelancers use to charge what they are actually worth.
From undercharging for editing time to forgetting print costs, these photography pricing errors cost pros thousands per year.
Listing, transaction, payment, and offsite-ad fees explained with worked examples so you know your true cost per sale.
Master food cost percentage — the single most important number for profitable food pricing in 2025.
Subject, level, location, and credential — the four levers that decide what tutors can fairly charge.
Per-word rates for the 25 most common language pairs, plus rare-pair premium guidance from translator communities.
Pricing is high-stakes — it's literally your livelihood. We hold ourselves to the same standards you'd expect from a financial publication.
Read our editorial policy →Every formula is documented on our methodology page so you can audit the math.
Our editorial team includes working photographers, makers, and freelancers.
We review calculators quarterly against current fees, tax rates, and benchmarks.
No "top 10 web hosts" lists. No paid reviews. Just tools that solve real pricing problems.