💼 Freelance Rate Calculator for £45,000
What should you charge as a freelancer? Calculate your minimum rate.
Quick answer
To clear £45,000 a year as a freelancer (after unbilled time, holidays and admin) you need to charge around £45.00 per hour — assuming roughly 1,000 billable hours per year.
- 800 billable hrs: £56/hr
- 1,000 billable hrs: £45/hr
- 1,200 billable hrs: £38/hr
- Daily rate (7.5h): £338
In detail: Freelance Rate Calculator for £45,000
To clear £45,000 after the realities of freelancing — holidays, sick days, admin, chasing invoices, business expenses, and the self-employed tax and NI burden — you need to charge around £45/hour assuming 1,000 billable hours a year. That's a genuinely workable year of about 20 billed hours per week on average, not 40.
At this income level, consider whether a Limited Company structure saves tax vs. sole trader. Above about £50k in profit, the combination of Corporation Tax + dividends typically beats sole-trader Income Tax + Class 4 NI by a few thousand a year — though the admin is heavier.
Don't forget to price in unbilled work: proposals, rework, professional development, and the gap between finishing a project and starting the next one. A realistic freelancer bills 50–60% of their "working" hours — if you're new to freelancing, quote toward the high end of your range until you know your utilisation.
What this tool helps with
Minimum hourly and daily freelance rate
What you can enter
- Target annual income (£): 45000
- Billable hours per week: 25
- Weeks off per year: 6
Why this page is useful
What should you charge as a freelancer? Calculate your minimum rate. This page loads fast, gives a direct answer, and then expands with useful context instead of burying the result under filler.