How to calculate your hourly rate as a freelancer

Many freelancers set their hourly rate by gut feeling, or by copying a colleague. There is a better way: work backwards from the net income you want to the rate that supports it. That way you know you are not quietly working below minimum wage. This guide walks through the calculation step by step, with a worked example, broad rate indications per field and tips for raising your rate.

Prefer calculating over reading? The free hourly rate calculator does exactly the calculation from this guide: enter the net monthly income you want and see the hourly rate that supports it, with tax, costs and pension included.

Why your old gross wage is not an hourly rate

The most common starter mistake: taking your gross hourly wage from employment as your freelance rate. That forgets two things. Your employer paid well beyond your gross wage: holiday pay, pension contributions, sick pay, insurance and employer charges. Those are now your line items. And in employment every hour was paid, including meetings and training. As a freelancer only billable hours pay; sales, administration and quotes do not.

As a rule of thumb you need roughly one and a half to two times your old gross hourly wage to end up with the same net income.

Step 1: start from your desired net income

What do you want to take home each month, including the holiday pay and bonuses you now have to arrange yourself? Say: 3,500 euros net per month, so 42,000 euros per year.

Step 2: add costs, buffers and tax

• Business costs: software, phone, travel, insurance, accounting, workspace. For many service providers 3,000 to 6,000 euros per year is realistic.
• Disability insurance (AOV): often 1,500 to 4,000 euros per year, depending on your profession and coverage.
• Pension: ten percent of revenue is a common starting point. More in the guide on pensions for freelancers.
• Tax: you pay income tax and the Zvw healthcare contribution on your profit. Thanks to the self-employed deduction and the SME profit exemption the burden is lower than an employee's, but as a rule of thumb count on roughly a quarter to a third of your profit. See the guide on setting aside tax as a freelancer.

Step 3: be honest about billable hours

A year has 52 weeks, but after holidays, illness and public holidays about 46 working weeks remain. And not every working hour is billable: sales, administration, quotes and learning do not pay. Full-timers often land at 1,200 to 1,500 billable hours per year; four days a week means more like 1,000 to 1,200. Every hour you overestimate here artificially lowers your rate.

Step 4: divide and round up

Hourly rate = (desired net income + tax and buffers + business costs) divided by billable hours. Round up; negotiating is easier from a higher starting point.

The worked example

Say you want 3,500 euros net per month, reserve ten percent for pension and bill 28 hours per week:

The tax line is deliberately a rule of thumb; the hourly rate calculator computes it precisely with the 2026 brackets and credits.

The market check, negotiating and raising your rate

Your calculated rate is your floor, not your asking price. Check what is customary in your field and region: broadly, Dutch freelance rates range from 35 to 60 euros per hour for text and administrative work up to 85 to 140 euros for consultancy and interim roles, with IT, marketing, construction and healthcare in between. These are indications only; experience and specialisation move them a lot.

When negotiating: state your rate plainly, and negotiate scope rather than price. Raise your rate yearly, starting with new clients, and announce increases to existing clients briefly and businesslike, one to two months ahead.

Hourly rate or fixed price?

An hourly rate is transparent but capped by your available hours. For well-defined jobs a fixed project price can pay better: finish faster and the upside is yours. Always convert a fixed price back to hours so you know your effective rate. Finq invoices both: tracked hours onto an invoice with one click, or a line with a fixed amount.

How Finq helps

Finq's time tracking shows you after a few months exactly how many hours are truly billable, the honest input for step 3. The reports show revenue, costs and profit per year, so you can verify your rate delivers what you calculated. Start for free, with no limit on invoices or hours.

This guide is general information based on the 2026 figures, not financial or tax advice.