Setting a freelance rate is hard when your clients live in one country, you live in another, and you may move again next month. This guide shows how to find a rate that covers your costs, fits your clients’ market, and still pays you after fees and taxes. The guide uses one simple formula and a worked example. By the end, you will have a number you can quote.
How to Set Your Freelance Rate in Six Steps
1. Work Out Your Minimum Rate
The minimum rate is the lowest price that still covers your bills, your taxes, and your business costs. The other steps build on it.
The formula has four inputs.
Rate = (take-home pay ÷ (1 minus tax rate) + business costs) ÷ billable hours
- Take-home pay: the yearly amount you want to keep after tax and costs.
- Tax rate: the share of income you set aside for tax. The right share depends on your passport and where you live. Separate guides cover taxes for US citizens, UK tax rules, Canadian tax rules, and Australian tax rules.
- Business costs: health insurance, software, bank fees, and a coworking membership if you use one.
- Billable hours: the hours you can charge for. According to Everhour, solo freelancers commonly plan for 1,200 to 1,500 billable hours a year. Moda says solo freelancers usually bill 50% to 70% of their working hours, so a 40-hour week gives 20 to 28 billable hours.
Here is an example. Say you want to keep $36,000 a year, set aside 25% for tax, and have $6,000 in business costs. Divide $36,000 by 0.75 to get $48,000, then add the costs to reach $54,000. With 1,300 billable hours, the minimum rate is about $42 an hour.
Billable hours move the result a lot. Moda notes that planning for 35 billable hours a week instead of 25 changes the rate you need by 40%. Using the lower number is safer when the real figure is unclear.
2. Price for Where Your Clients Live
Where you live sets your costs. Where your clients live sets how much they can pay. A nomad in Chiang Mai who works for London clients should compare prices with freelancers who serve London. Those clients know what a local hire costs.
MBO Partners reports that many nomads live in low-cost places while their employers sit in higher-wage countries. Freelancers can use the same idea with their clients.
- Clients in a high-income market: use that market as your main benchmark.
- Clients in your own region: local rates may be lower, so check that they still cover the minimum rate from Step 1.
- A mix of both: set separate prices for different client types, since a small startup and a large company have different budgets.
If your minimum rate is higher than clients in your region can pay, look for clients in higher-paying markets. Employees face a similar question when a company adjusts pay by location. A separate guide explains how to negotiate a remote salary after a move to a cheaper country.
3. Check What Others Charge in Your Field
Market rates keep your price realistic. Ruul suggests using three methods together. The minimum rate sets the base, market rates act as a check, and the value of the result supports a higher price.
A useful comparison is specific.
- Same skill and level: compare with freelancers who have similar experience.
- Same client type: consumer, small business, and large company clients pay different amounts.
- Same client location: use the market you picked in Step 2.
Ranges can be wide. Hello Bonsai reports that experienced freelance graphic designers often charge $65 to $150 an hour, while newer designers often charge $25 to $50. A list of real profiles in your niche helps more than a single average. Charging exactly the market median puts you in an average position, so clear results and a narrow specialty can support a higher price.
4. Add Platform Fees and Payment Costs
Fees come out of your pay, so the price you quote needs to cover them. To find the price, divide the rate you want to keep by 1 minus the fee. The fee figures below were checked in October 2026 and can change.
- Upwork: the freelancer fee has been variable since May 2025, from 0% to 15% per contract. The rate appears before you send a proposal. Some guides say most freelancers pay about 10%. Older guides describe a flat 10% fee or a tier system of 20%, 10%, and 5%. The fee on your own proposal screen is the one to trust.
- Fiverr: Fiverr keeps a flat 20% of each order. Buyers pay their own service fee of 5.5% on top.
- Currency conversion: Upwork pays in US dollars and converts at its own rate if you choose another currency, according to Wise. Wise suggests receiving dollars and converting them inside a Wise account.
Here is the math. To keep $50 an hour after a 10% fee, quote about $55.56. After a 20% fee, the quote is $62.50.
Wise offers local account details for USD, EUR, GBP, and AUD, so clients can pay you with no receiving fee. Some platforms may not pay out to certain Wise account details, so a small test payment is a good first step. The guide on how to open a bank account without local residency compares other options. Fees are also one reason to compare freelance platforms before choosing one.
5. Pick Hourly, Project, or Value-Based Pricing
How you charge is a separate question from how much you charge. Each method suits a different kind of work.
- Hourly: simple to explain and a good fit when the scope may grow. Income is limited by the hours you can work.
- Project fee: your hourly rate times the estimated hours. Project pricing rewards speed, since finishing early raises your effective hourly pay.
- Value-based fee: the price depends on what the result is worth to the client. The client needs to agree on the goals before work starts.
- Retainer: a fixed project rate makes it easier to ask for an up-front retainer, according to Stride.
Plutio suggests starting with hourly pricing, then moving to project fees after you have estimated 10 to 20 similar projects accurately. Value-based pricing can follow once clients see your work as an investment.
6. Track Real Hours and Adjust the Rate
A rate is an estimate until real work tests it.
- Log all time: record billable and non-billable hours for two to three months. Harvest says non-billable time is often 30% to 50% of working time.
- Compare with Step 1: if real billable hours fall below your plan, recalculate the minimum rate with the lower number.
- Review after big projects: note how long the work took against your estimate, and use the result when quoting the next one.
Two Mistakes That Lower Your Income
Two errors show up often when freelancers price from the road.
- Giving a location discount: some clients ask for a lower price after learning where you live. According to Ruul, a client who cannot meet your minimum rate is likely not the right client. Offering fewer deliverables for a lower fee keeps your hourly rate intact. Plutio notes that a detailed proposal moves the talk from your rate to the scope.
- Planning for 40 billable hours a week: Plutio says real hourly earnings then end up 40% to 50% lower than the invoice rate. The example in Step 1 uses about 25 billable hours a week for this reason.
Pick Your Rate, Then Plan Your Next Base
A good rate starts with your costs and adjusts for your clients’ market. The same rate also covers fees and tax, which leaves you room to pick a base you enjoy. You can then compare cost of living, wifi, and visa rules for each option. When you are ready to move, search flights to your next destination on FlyBibe and book the trip.
This article gives general information. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Please talk to a qualified professional about your own situation.