⚡ 60-Second Quote Sanity Check

Freelance Quote Calculator

Calculate your real before-tax hourly rate, net take-home earnings, platform fee deductions, and hidden hours scope risk before sending a fixed-price proposal.

Quick Presets:

Project & Fee Inputs

Proposed Fixed Quote ($)Client lump sum
Delivery Hours (h)Design/coding time
Non-Delivery Hours (h)Meetings, revisions, admin
Direct Project Costs ($)Fonts, assets, hosting
Platform/Payment Fee (%)Enter the percentage charged by your payment or platform provider
Fixed Transaction Fee ($)e.g. $0.30 processing fee
Minimum Target Hourly Rate ($/h)Your financial floor
Calculation Breakdown✓ SAFE QUOTE
REAL BEFORE-TAX HOURLY RATE
$41.13 / hr
Target: $35.00/hr (+$6.13/hr buffer)
Net Take-Home
$1645.00
Suggested Min Quote
$1727.78
Total Project Hours
40 hrs
Total Deductions
$355.00
Quote Breakdown ($2000)Where your money goes
Take-Home ($1645)
Direct Costs ($150)
Fixed Fee ($5)
Fee % ($200)
Scope Risk & Hidden Hours Tolerance

You can absorb up to 7.0 additional hidden hours (revisions, meetings) before your rate drops below your target of $35/hr.

Work out your minimum sustainable hourly rate before checking a fixed-fee project quote.

Open Freelance Rate Calculator →

Important Notice & Tool Boundaries

• Before-Tax Estimate: All outputs are net before-tax estimates calculated directly from your entered assumptions.

• No Financial/Tax Advice: This tool does not recommend market rates, guarantee project profitability, or provide tax, legal, or accounting services.

• 100% Client-Side Privacy: No client, project names, or calculations are saved to any database or server.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is the Real Before-Tax Hourly Rate calculated?
We deduct direct project expenses, fixed transaction fees, and percentage platform fees from your fixed-price quote to get your net before-tax amount. We then divide that by your total project hours (delivery hours plus non-delivery hours like client communication, revisions, and admin work).
Q: Why should non-delivery hours be included in project quotes?
Client meetings, onboarding, scope discussions, revisions, and project management take real time. Ignoring these non-delivery hours inflates your perceived hourly rate and often leads to working below your financial bottom line.
Q: How does the Suggested Minimum Quote formula work?
It calculates the exact quote required to ensure your net earnings equal your minimum target hourly rate multiplied by total project hours, accounting for direct costs, fixed fees, and percentage fee deductions: (Target Rate × Total Hours + Direct Costs + Fixed Fee) ÷ (1 − Percentage Fee Rate).
Q: Is any client or project data saved to a server?
Calculations run in your browser. Calculation inputs are not sent to Google. If you allow statistics, Google receives sanitized usage events; you can refuse or withdraw in statistics settings.

Calculations stay in your browser. If you allow statistics, Google receives sanitized usage events, never calculation inputs. You can refuse or withdraw in statistics settings.