What's my minimum hourly rate as a UK freelancer?
Take your target annual take-home, add tax and overheads, divide by the realistic billable hours you'll actually invoice (not the hours you'll work). This calculator does that in one go.
- Billable hours ≠ total hours. 25-30 billable hours per week is normal for a solo freelancer with meetings, admin, prospecting and project switching.
- Use the hourly rate as a floor. Project pricing and value-based pricing usually beat it on quality work.
Hourly rate calculator
When to charge hourly vs by project
Charge hourly when scope is genuinely unknown (support retainers, open-ended consulting, troubleshooting). Charge by project when scope is clear — hourly caps your upside while loading all delivery risk onto the quote. See project-based pricing and value-based pricing for the alternatives.