# Freelance Rate Calculator: Your Minimum Hourly Rate > Freelance rate calculator: start from the take-home you want, add expenses, a buffer and tax under 44ADA, and get your minimum hourly and day rate. Source: https://trykosh.com/tools/freelance-hourly-rate-calculator Free tool - Business and GST # Freelance hourly rate calculator Work backwards from the income you want to the rate you need to charge. The calculator adds your business costs, a buffer for lean months and income tax, then divides by the hours you can actually bill. Rules checked 25 October 2026Free - no sign-upRuns in your browser Your minimum hourly rate INR 1,728 INR 19,00,000 a year over 1,100 billable hours Day rate (8 hours)**INR 13,824** Monthly billing**INR 1,58,333** Income tax**INR 0** Take-home **INR 15,00,000**Buffer **INR 1,50,000**Expenses **INR 2,50,000** Take-home you want INR 15,00,000 \+ Buffer (10%) INR 1,50,000 \+ Business expenses INR 2,50,000 \+ Income tax INR 0 Billing needed for the year INR 19,00,000 / 1,100 billable hours INR 1,727.27 an hour Only billable hours earn money. Sales calls, admin, invoicing and learning eat into the week, which is why 25 billable hours is a full week for most freelancers. ## Upload your statement and Kosh does this for you. Upload your bank statements and Kosh separates business from personal spending and keeps your tax and GST dates in view. [Start free](/signup?via=tool-freelance-hourly-rate-calculator) ## How the freelance rate calculator works Start with the take-home you want for the year, the money you'd spend and save if this were a salary. Add a buffer, because freelance income is uneven and there's no employer paying for leave, health cover or PF. 10% to 20% is a sensible range. Add the costs of running your practice: laptop and phone, software subscriptions, internet, coworking, travel, accounting fees and health insurance. These come out of your billing before anything reaches you. Then the calculator adds income tax. Most freelancers in India use 44ADA, where half of receipts is taxed as profit, so it estimates tax on that basis under the new regime and finds the billing that leaves your take-home after tax. Above INR 75 lakh of receipts, it switches to tax on actual profit. Finally it divides by your billable hours: hours a week you actually charge for, times working weeks. Most freelancers bill 20 to 30 hours in a 40 to 50 hour week, and lose 6 to 10 weeks a year to leave, holidays, illness and gaps between projects. The result is your floor, the least you can charge and still hit your target. Hourly rate = (take-home + buffer + expenses + income tax) / (billable hours a week x working weeks) ## Worked example: Karan, a full-stack developer in Delhi Karan wants INR 24 lakh a year to live on, plus a 15% buffer of INR 3.6 lakh. His tools, coworking desk and health cover cost INR 3.5 lakh. Under 44ADA, billing of INR 32,38,839 leaves him that after INR 1,28,839 of tax. He bills 28 hours a week for 45 weeks, 1,260 hours, so his floor is INR 2,571 an hour, or INR 20,568 for an eight-hour day. He's above INR 20 lakh, so he must register for GST and add 18% for Indian clients. Your minimum hourly rate INR 2,571 INR 32,38,839 a year over 1,260 billable hours At INR 32.39 lakh a year you cross the INR 20 lakh GST threshold: add 18% GST for Indian clients (INR 3,034 an hour on the bill). Exports go out GST-free under a LUT. Day rate (8 hours)**INR 20,568** Monthly billing**INR 2,69,903** Income tax**INR 1,28,839** Take-home **INR 24,00,000**Buffer **INR 3,60,000**Expenses **INR 3,50,000**Tax **INR 1,28,839** Take-home you want INR 24,00,000 \+ Buffer (15%) INR 3,60,000 \+ Business expenses INR 3,50,000 \+ Income tax INR 1,28,839 Billing needed for the year INR 32,38,839 / 1,260 billable hours INR 2,570.51 an hour Only billable hours earn money. Sales calls, admin, invoicing and learning eat into the week, which is why 25 billable hours is a full week for most freelancers. [Load this example into the calculator ->](?target=2400000&expenses=350000&buffer=15&hours=28&weeks=45#calculator) ## Good to know - Quote by project or by week where you can: clients compare hourly rates more harshly than outcomes. - Revisit your rate every year. Inflation alone erodes a fixed rate by 5% to 6% a year. - Foreign clients pay without GST under a LUT, and without Indian TDS, so set aside advance tax from each payment. - Don't forget unpaid work: proposals, revisions beyond scope and chasing payments. Price scope changes explicitly. ## Frequently asked questions How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate? Add up the yearly take-home you want, your business expenses, a buffer and income tax, then divide by the hours you can bill in a year. Billable hours are usually 1,000 to 1,400 a year, far fewer than the 2,000 or so of a salaried job. How many billable hours should a freelancer plan for? Plan for 20 to 30 billable hours a week over 42 to 46 weeks. The rest of your time goes on finding work, admin, learning and breaks. Planning on 40 billable hours a week usually leads to underpricing. Should my rate include GST? Quote your rate before GST. If you're registered, add 18% on invoices to Indian clients; the GST isn't your income. Exports of services under a LUT carry no GST. How does tax affect my freelance rate? Under 44ADA only half your receipts is taxed, so tax is modest until receipts pass about INR 24 lakh. Above that, each extra lakh billed adds tax at your slab rate on half of it. The calculator includes this automatically. ## Sources and assumptions - [Income Tax Department](https://www.incometax.gov.in/) Rules and rates last checked on 25 October 2026. Results are estimates for planning and education, not tax, legal or investment advice. Kosh is an educational financial planning tool by Primedepth Labs. It is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser and does not offer personalised investment advice, hold your money or execute trades. Markets carry risk; read scheme documents carefully and consult a registered adviser before acting.