Calculate your true freelance income after platform fees, taxes, and overhead. Know your real hourly rate and plan your monthly revenue accurately.
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Start with your desired annual income. Add 25-30% for self-employment taxes, 15-20% for business expenses and tools. Divide by billable hours per year (typically 1,000-1,500 for freelancers). Add platform fees (5-20%) on top.
True Hourly Value (THV) is what you actually earn per hour after subtracting: platform fees, self-employment taxes, unpaid admin time, software costs, and other overhead. It's always lower than your advertised hourly rate.
Upwork charges freelancers: 20% on first $500 with a client, 10% on $500-$10,000, and 5% above $10,000. So if you charge $100/hour, you keep $80 on a new client. Fees decrease as you earn more with the same client.
Self-employed freelancers in the US pay: Self-employment tax (15.3% on net earnings), plus federal income tax based on bracket. As a rough estimate, set aside 25-30% of gross income for taxes. Exact amounts vary by income level and deductions.
A $100/hour freelance rate after taxes and expenses often earns similar to a $65,000 salaried job when you factor in benefits, paid leave, employer tax contributions, and the stability premium. This calculator helps you compare fairly.