Last Updated on November 10, 2026
Most freelancers set their rate by asking around. The going rate is what other people charge; it says nothing about whether it pays your bills.
The usual mistake is dividing the income you want by the days in a working year. You will not bill five days a week. Finding work, quoting, invoicing, admin and the quiet weeks all eat days that nobody pays for. We call the difference your billable-day gap: the days you work each year that no client is charged for. Ignore the gap and your rate comes out 30 to 50% too low before you have quoted a single job.
This calculator starts from the income you want, adds your business costs, counts your real billable days, and tells you the day rate and hourly rate that actually deliver that income.
No email address, no sign-up. Everything runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
How the sums work
- Working days = (52 minus weeks off) times days per week.
- Billable days = working days times the share you can bill. The remainder is your billable-day gap.
- Revenue needed = your target income plus business costs, plus the optional margin.
- Day rate = revenue needed divided by billable days. Hourly rate divides that by the billed hours in a day.
Worked example, as an illustration: a freelancer wants £45,000 with £7,000 of business costs, takes 6 weeks off, works 5 days a week, can bill 60% of days and wants a 10% buffer. That is 230 working days, 138 of them billable, with a billable-day gap of 92 days. Revenue needed is £57,200. The day rate is £415, and at 7 billed hours a day the hourly rate is £59.
Notice what the gap does. Divide £57,200 by all 230 days and you would quote £249 a day, and work the whole year to miss your own target by nearly half.
Sense-check the result against published rates
A rate that pays your bills still has to survive contact with the market. The published 2026 figures behind our Day Rate Checker put UK freelance day rates broadly between £305 and £538 depending on seniority, with advertised contractor medians around £413 to £429. If your required rate lands far above what your experience supports, the fix is usually more billable days or lower costs, not wishful pricing. If it lands below £250, question the inputs before you question yourself: most people underestimate the gap, not their worth.
What this does not tell you
- The income figure is before your personal Income Tax and National Insurance. This tool prices your work; it does not do your tax. How much to set aside depends on your structure, which is accountant territory.
- It assumes your billable share is honest. Track one ordinary month and count the days a client actually paid for before trusting 60%, 70% or anything else.
- Rates are quoted ex VAT. If you are VAT registered, VAT goes on top and is not your money.
Questions people ask
What is a billable-day gap?
The days you work each year that no client pays for: finding work, quoting, invoicing, admin, and the quiet patches between jobs. A freelancer working 230 days who bills 138 of them has a billable-day gap of 92 days. Your rate has to carry those days, because nothing else does.
How many days a year does a freelancer actually bill?
It varies with the work, but billing 60% of working days is a common honest level once selling, admin and gaps are counted. Very few freelancers sustain 80% or more over a full year. Track your own month before assuming.
Should I charge a day rate or an hourly rate?
For project work, day rates are simpler to quote, harder to nibble at, and standard in most UK freelance markets. Hourly rates suit genuinely small or unpredictable pieces of work. Know both numbers; quote the one that fits the job.
Is my data stored?
No. The calculation runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
- Am I paying too much? Day rate checker: the buyer’s side of this page, with the published 2026 figures.
- Web design and agency cost calculator: what agencies charge for comparable work.
- Hire a marketer or outsource?
