Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Most freelancers price by taking the salary they'd like and dividing by 180 hours. That's an employee's arithmetic: it ignores the tax and National Insurance you now pay yourself, your business expenses, and the fact that only some of your working hours are billable at all. This starts from the end — what you want left — and works back to the rate that actually produces it.
What you need
Start from the end — how much you want left in your pocket each month, after tax and NI.
Only hours a client pays for. Sales calls, bookkeeping and email don't count here.
52 minus vacation, holidays and sick days. 46 is a reasonable assumption.
Equipment, office, accountant, insurance, software, car.
VAT is not your income — it's collected for the state and passed on. An osek murshe adds it on top of the rate shown here.
Reality check — what do you charge today?
Enter your current rate and see what it actually leaves you.
The common 'desired salary ÷ 180 hours' is an employee's arithmetic, not a freelancer's: it ignores the tax and National Insurance you pay yourself, your business expenses, and the fact that only some of your working hours are billable.
An estimate only. The calculation uses the current tax year's brackets and self-employed National Insurance rates and does not account for other income, a spouse, pension contributions or additional personal credits.
How it works
- •Not every working hour is a billable hour. Sales calls, proposals, bookkeeping, email and dead time between projects are all real hours nobody pays for, and your billable rate has to carry them too.
- •Tax isn't a straight line. Brackets rise, so the next shekel isn't taxed like the last one. Doubling your rate doesn't double your net.
- •Business expenses come off before tax. That's the point: equipment, office, accountant and insurance reduce taxable income, so you must recover them in your rate but they don't cost you their full face value.
- •VAT is not your income. An authorized dealer collects it for the state and passes it on. The rate here is before VAT.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I charge per hour to earn like an employee?
Roughly twice the equivalent hourly salary, sometimes more. An employee gets social benefits, paid vacation and sick days, and their employer pays part of National Insurance. A freelancer covers all of it, pays business expenses, and bills only a fraction of their working hours.
How many hours a week does a freelancer actually bill?
In practice 20 to 30 for most freelancers, even when working 45. The rest goes to sales, admin, proposals that didn't land, and gaps between projects. Assuming 40 billable hours a week is the single most common cause of underpricing.
Should I add VAT to the rate?
An authorized dealer adds VAT on top of the rate. It isn't your income — it's money collected for the state — so it doesn't enter the calculation of what you keep. For a business client it's transparent anyway, since they deduct it.
How many working weeks should I assume?
46 is a reasonable assumption: 52 minus vacation, holidays and sick days. If you take a full month off, drop to about 44. The more time off you take, the higher your hourly rate must be — nobody is paying you for it.
Should I raise prices for an existing client?
That's a business decision, but the calculator gives you the number to talk about. Comparing your current rate to the required one shows the gap in shekels per month — which is usually what makes the conversation easier.
Rate set — now invoice for it
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