Freelance day rate calculator
Your salary divided by 260 is not a day rate. This works out what you actually need to charge.
Quick start: pick your role
Sets typical assumptions for the role and shows the going market band. Your income stays yours.
You need to charge
£0 / day
£0 an hour at 7.5 billable hours
0 billable days a year with these assumptions.
How the maths works
The calculator takes 52 weeks, removes your holiday weeks, multiplies by days per week, removes sick and buffer days, then applies your billable share. That is the number of days that actually earn. Your target income, business costs and pension are spread across only those days.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored.
Common questions
How do I calculate my freelance day rate?
Start from the income you want, add business costs and pension, then divide by your real billable days: 52 weeks minus holiday, times days per week, minus sick and admin buffer, times the share of your time that is billable. Salary divided by 260 ignores all of that and comes out far too low.
What is a typical utilisation rate for freelancers?
Industry benchmarks put billable client work at 60 to 80 percent of a freelancer's working time, and 60 to 70 percent is the realistic base case. The rest goes on finding clients, admin, invoicing and professional development. New freelancers should assume the lower end.
Should my day rate include pension contributions?
Yes. Employees get employer pension contributions on top of salary; as a freelancer that money has to come out of your rate. The calculator adds your chosen percentage on top of target income.
How many billable days does a freelancer have per year?
With 6 weeks off, a 5-day week, 10 buffer days and 70 percent utilisation you get roughly 154 billable days, not the 260 working days a salary assumes. UK freelancers take around 24 days of holiday a year on average (IPSE), and bank holidays come on top.
What is a typical freelance day rate in the UK in 2026?
Booking-data benchmarks put graphic designers around £350 a day, copywriters around £400 to £440, digital marketers £325 to £430, web developers £400 to £650 depending on stack and seniority, and business or strategy consultants £500 to £700. Photography ranges widest, from about £250 to £1,000 a day once usage and kit are priced in.
Charging it is the easy part
HelloNoa turns your rate into proposals, contracts and invoices that get paid on time, with time tracking that fills the invoice for you.
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