Free tools

Freelance rate calculator

Hourly, day and project rates from your income target, expenses and the hours you can actually bill, with the math shown live on the page.

Calculates in your browser No signup Transparent formula

What you need to earn

Step 1 of 3

Buffer for slow months, bad debtors and rate pressure. 10-20% is a sane floor.

The hours you can actually bill

Step 2 of 3

The number most freelancers get wrong: admin, proposals, invoicing and marketing eat hours you cannot bill. A common planning assumption is that only 60-70% of working hours end up billable, so charging as if every hour were billable underprices you by roughly a third.

Leave, public holidays, sick days.

Project pricing mode

Step 3 of 3

Estimate the hours, add a buffer for scope creep, and the project price follows your hourly rate.

Branding

Add your logo and accent color to your downloadable rate card. The small KAZI footer stays.

Business logo
Brand color

Used on your document. The KAZI footer stays.

Your hourly rate

R 498

per billable hour

Day rate (8h billable day)
R 3 981
Project (40h + 15% buffer)
R 22 889

The formula, in the open

hourly = (income + expenses) x (1 + margin) / billable hours per year

(R 480 000 + R 60 000) x 1.15 / (48 weeks x 40h x 65%) = R 498/hour

Based on 1248 billable hours per year. No black box.

The maths runs in your browser and the exact figures you type stay here. When you unlock the rate-card download we save your email and your calculator inputs as ranges (income band, expense band, billable ratio, weeks off and your computed rates as bands) to personalise your KAZI setup.

Rate settled? Turn it into a client-ready proposal with the free AI proposal generator; your hourly, day and project rates carry over.

Prefer to see it as money in and money out? A free KAZI account shows quoted vs invoiced vs paid in one dashboard.

Create a free account

Everything is calculated in your browser and autosaved on this device; your exact figures stay here. When you unlock the rate-card download or opt in to tips we save your email and your inputs as ranges to personalise your KAZI setup. The share link simply encodes your numbers in the URL.

Hourly

R 498/hr

Already on KAZI? Track your hours against this rate in your dashboard

How the math works

Your freelance hourly rate = (target income + business expenses) x (1 + profit margin) / your real billable hours per year. The trap is billable hours: after admin, proposals and marketing, a common planning assumption is that only 60-70% of working hours can be invoiced. This calculator makes every assumption adjustable and shows hourly, day and project rates live, free with no signup and nothing uploaded. It also prints a designed rate card; we ask for your email when you download that PDF.

A rate only pays off when your hours are tracked against it. KAZI's time tracking software logs billable hours per client and project and turns them into invoices at the rate you set here. The calculator stays free; see KAZI pricing for the full platform.

Freelance rates: common questions

How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
Add your target annual income and your annual business expenses, multiply by one plus your profit margin, then divide by your real billable hours per year. Billable hours per year = working weeks (52 minus weeks off) x hours per week x your billable ratio. Example: earning R480,000 with R60,000 expenses, a 15% margin, 48 working weeks, 40 hours a week and a 65% billable ratio gives (480,000 + 60,000) x 1.15 / (48 x 40 x 0.65) = about R498 per hour.
What is a billable ratio and why does it matter?
The billable ratio is the share of your working hours you can actually invoice. Admin, proposals, marketing, invoicing and email are real work but nobody pays for them, and a common planning assumption is that only 60-70% of working hours end up billable. If you price as if 100% of your hours were billable, your effective income comes out roughly a third lower than planned.
How do I price a fixed project instead of an hourly rate?
Estimate the hours honestly, multiply by your hourly rate, then add a scope-creep buffer (10-20% is typical) for revisions and surprises. The calculator has a project mode that does exactly this and prints the result on your rate card.
Should I charge in ZAR or in another currency?
Charge in the currency your client budgets in. The calculator supports ZAR, USD, EUR, GBP, AUD and CAD with correct formatting; many South African freelancers keep a ZAR rate for local clients and a USD or EUR rate card for international work.
Is this calculator free, and where does my data go?
The calculator is free, with no signup: your hourly, day and project rates all show live on screen, and the share link is free too. Everything is calculated in your browser and the exact figures you type stay on your device. When you download or print the designed rate-card PDF we ask for your email and save it with your inputs as ranges (income band, expense band, billable ratio, weeks off and your computed rates as bands) to personalise your KAZI setup; one email unlocks exports on every KAZI free tool. Your inputs autosave to this device, and the share link simply encodes your numbers in the URL so a colleague can see the same result.

Turn the rate into paid work

Free AI proposal generator

Turn this rate into a client-ready proposal in minutes

Free quote generator

Put the rate on a professional PDF quote with a validity date

Why invoices get paid late

The friction-and-memory causes, and the system that fixes them

Track billable hours and get paid with KAZI, free

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