Free tool
Freelance hourly-rate calculator
Your salary divided by 2,000 hours is not your rate. This works backwards from the income you want — accounting for non-billable time, costs and social contributions — to the rate you actually need.
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded.
You need to charge
CHF 111/ billable hour
- Revenue to invoice per year
- CHF 112'000
- Gross income before contributions
- CHF 100'000
- Goes to social contributions
- CHF 10'000
Income tax is personal and isn't included — it comes on top. Treat this as a floor, then add margin.
If your billable hours change
| Billable / week | Required rate |
|---|---|
| 12 h | CHF 203 |
| 17 h | CHF 144 |
| 22 h | CHF 111 |
| 27 h | CHF 91 |
| 32 h | CHF 77 |
How it works
- 1
Set your target
The income you want to keep before income tax, plus your yearly business costs.
- 2
Be honest about hours
Only a share of your week is billable. Set the weeks you work and the hours you can actually invoice.
- 3
Read the rate
You get the rate you need, plus a table showing how it moves if your billable hours change.
Questions about setting a rate
How is the required rate calculated?
It works backwards. Your target income is grossed up for social contributions to get your needed gross income, your yearly business costs are added, and the total is divided by your billable hours per year (weeks worked × billable hours per week). Income tax is left out because it's personal.
Why is the rate so much higher than my old salary per hour?
Because an employer covered a lot that you now carry yourself: paid holidays, sick days, admin and sales time that isn't billable, social contributions, and business costs. A salary of, say, CHF 90k does not mean CHF 45/hour — once only ~22 of 40 hours are billable and contributions are on you, the number is much higher.
What social-contribution rate should I use?
It depends on your country and setup. In Switzerland, AHV/IV/EO for the self-employed is around 10% of income. In Germany it varies widely — voluntary or private health insurance plus pension often lands around 20% combined. The presets are starting points; adjust them to your real numbers or ask your accountant.
Does this include income tax?
No. Income tax is personal and depends on your canton or Bundesland, deductions and total income. Treat the result as a floor before tax, and add margin.
Now track those hours and invoice them.
Knowing your rate is half of it. Clienta tracks the time you work and turns it into an invoice at that rate — so the number you calculated here is the number that reaches the client.
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