How the hourly rate calculator works
Why 2× the employee rate is the honest floor
An employee salary arrives after someone else paid payroll taxes, software, insurance, equipment, and the desk. A freelancer pays all of that from the rate, then takes unpaid vacations and spends a third of the week on work nobody bills for. The classic outcome: a rate that "feels like" the old salary nets 40–50% less. The calculator shows the rate that avoids that trap.
The billable-hours honesty check
Most freelancers can sell 20–28 hours a week sustainably once sales, admin, revisions, and learning are counted. If you plug in 40 billable hours, the calculator flatters your rate by 30%+ — and the gap shows up as money stress in month three. Use the number you can defend on a busy quarter, not the one that sounds diligent.
Raising the rate you just calculated
The floor is a floor. Position above it using value anchors: the client's alternative (hiring, doing nothing, a competitor), the outcome's worth, and your specialty. The floor tells you what you must not go below; the market decides how far above it you can sit. Both numbers belong in your head — only one belongs in your quote.