About BillMyRate
By Andrew James Flores — Founder, Nathan Management. Solo operator based in Baldwin Park, California.
Most freelancers undercharge. Not because they don't work hard enough — because they never sat down and did the math on what they actually need to earn to cover their expenses, pay their self-employment taxes, take a few weeks off, and still have something left for retirement and a healthcare premium that goes up every January.
I've been on both sides of that equation. I spent years inside W-2 jobs where the gross-to-net split was someone else's problem, then years freelancing where it became my problem and I got it wrong for a long time. The first version of this calculator was a spreadsheet I built for myself in 2023 after a January where I realized my "good year" had quietly turned into a tax bill I couldn't pay in full. Self-employment tax — the 15.3% Social Security and Medicare combo employees only see half of — was the line item I had been ignoring.
BillMyRate exists to make that math obvious for everyone else. You enter the income you want to actually keep, your business overhead, and the number of hours per week you can realistically bill (most full-time freelancers land between 20 and 30 — admin, sales calls, and unpaid revisions eat the rest). The calculator gives you the floor: the minimum hourly rate that lets the numbers work. If a client wants to pay below it, you'd be subsidizing them.
There is no signup, no email capture, no tracking pixel for advertisers, and no AI-generated filler dressed up as advice. The calculation runs entirely in your browser; nothing you type is sent to a server. The site is hosted on Vercel as static HTML and JavaScript with measurement done through privacy-respecting Vercel Web Analytics. The longer guides under /guides are written by hand, with citations to the IRS, BLS, and Department of Labor where the numbers come from public data — not paraphrased from a chatbot.
A note on what this site is and isn't: it's an educational tool. The output is an estimate, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Your situation may include factors the calculator doesn't model — state income tax, dependents, an existing retirement account, an LLC vs. sole-prop election, a non-US tax residence. Use the number as a starting point for a conversation with a CPA or enrolled agent who knows your situation, not as a final answer.
If you spot a bug, want to suggest a feature (a project-based pricing version, a per-state tax estimator, a benefits-cost lookup), or just want to tell me the calculator was useful, the contact page has the email address. Real human reads them.
Read the deeper material:
- Freelance rate ranges by skill area — what designers, developers, copywriters, and marketers actually charge in 2026.
- Self-employment tax explained — the 15.3% number, why it exists, and the deduction nobody tells you about.
- Hourly vs. project vs. retainer — when each pricing model fits and when it kills your margins.
- Calculating your true business costs — the line items most freelancers leave off the spreadsheet.