Freelance Contract Rate Converter
Convert a freelance rate between hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, annual and fixed-project figures using your real billable capacity.
About this tool
Freelance Contract Rate Converter
Convert a freelance rate between hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, annual and fixed-project figures using your real billable capacity.
The Freelance Contract Rate Converter moves a freelance rate between hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, annual and fixed-project figures by routing all of them through one anchor: billable hours a year, calculated as hours a day × utilisation × days a week × weeks actually worked. Because it uses working weeks rather than 52 and applies a utilisation percentage to unpaid admin and pitching time, the annual figure it shows is the one you could really bill. It also converts billings into take-home after business costs and tax, and works out the rate needed to replace a salaried package.
How to use Freelance Contract Rate Converter
- 1
Open Freelance Contract Rate Converter on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
- 2
Under Your rate enter the Rate figure, pick Quoted per and Currency, and add Hours in the fixed-fee project if you want a project fee back.
- 3
Set Billable capacity — Hours a working day, Days a week, Weeks worked a year (52 minus leave) and Utilisation (% of hours that are billable), or tap one of the utilisation percentage chips below those fields.
- 4
Read Equivalent hourly rate with the Per day, Per week, Per month, Per year and Fixed project fee rows, then fill What you actually keep and Rate needed to replace a salary before pressing Copy rates or Reset.
Why use Freelance Contract Rate Converter
Capacity, not 2,080 hours
Uses weeks you actually work and a utilisation rate, so holidays and unbilled admin are priced in.
Every basis at once
One rate produces hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, annual and project figures that stay consistent.
Take-home, not just billings
Applies business costs and tax on profit to show what lands in your account.
Common use cases
- Turn a client's offer of a monthly retainer into the hourly rate it really represents.
- Price a fixed-fee project from your hourly rate and an honest estimate of the hours.
- Check whether a day rate leaving a permanent job actually replaces the salary plus employer contributions.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert an hourly rate to an annual rate?
Multiply the hourly rate by your billable hours a year, not by 2,080. At 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and 46 working weeks that is 1,840 hours at 100% utilisation, so a rate of 50 an hour is 92,000 a year before costs and tax if every billable hour is actually billed.
What utilisation rate should a freelancer assume?
Between 60% and 80% of scheduled hours is realistic for most independents, because selling, admin, invoicing and learning are unpaid. Assuming 100% is the single most common reason a freelance rate turns out not to cover the year.
How do I set a day rate from an hourly rate?
Multiply the hourly rate by the billable hours in a day, which is your scheduled hours times utilisation — 8 hours at 70% gives 5.6 billable hours, so 50 an hour is a 280 day rate. Many freelancers instead quote a full 8-hour day and cover admin by raising the hourly figure.
What hourly rate replaces a salary?
Add the employer contributions and benefits you now fund yourself, plus your business costs, then divide by billable hours. Replacing a 60,000 salary with 15% on-costs and 9,000 of business costs needs 78,000 of billings, which is about 42 an hour across 1,840 billable hours at 100% utilisation — assume less than that and the hourly figure rises.
Embed this tool on your site
Add the Freelance Contract Rate Converter widget to your blog or website — free, responsive, no signup. Just keep the “Widget by AltFTool” credit link visible.
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