Business & Work
Freelance Project Cost Calculator
Turn your hours, costs and buffers into a project price that still hits your profit margin after platform and payment fees.
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A fixed project price has to cover more than the hours you expect to work: revision rounds, software and other direct costs, subcontractors, a buffer for the parts that take longer than planned, and the cut a platform or payment processor keeps. Leave any of those out and your effective hourly rate quietly drops.
This calculator adds them up and works out the client price that leaves your chosen profit margin after fees. Because fees are taken from what the client pays, the price is grossed up for them - not just marked up by the fee percentage - and the formula is shown with your numbers.
How this tool works
Enter your time
Estimated hours, revision hours and your hourly rate.
Add direct costs
Fixed costs, software and anything you pay other freelancers or team members.
Set buffers and pricing
Contingency %, platform or payment fee %, and your desired profit margin.
Read the price
Suggested client price, the fees, profit and your effective hourly rate.
How it works
Labour is (estimated hours + revision hours) × hourly rate. Direct costs are fixed costs + software + subcontractor costs. Contingency is a percentage of labour and direct costs together.
Project cost before fees is labour + direct costs + contingency. Fees and profit are both percentages of the client price, so the price must satisfy: price − fee% × price − cost = margin% × price. Solving gives price = cost ÷ (1 − fee% − margin%).
Effective hourly rate is what you receive after fees divided by total hours. A second figure also takes out direct costs, since that money passes straight through to suppliers.
Common use cases
- Quoting a fixed price for a design, development, writing or video project.
- Checking what a marketplace or payment fee does to your real hourly rate.
- Pricing a project that includes subcontracted work.
- Comparing an hourly quote with a fixed-price quote for the same job.
Why adding the fee percentage does not work
Fees are charged on the price, including the part you added to cover the fee. Adding 10% to $1,000 gives $1,100, but a 10% fee on $1,100 is $110 - leaving $990, not $1,000. Dividing by (1 − 10%) instead gives $1,111.11, and 10% of that is exactly $111.11, leaving the full $1,000.
The same applies to margin: it is a share of the price, not a mark-up on cost. A 20% margin on a $1,000 cost needs a $1,250 price (a 25% mark-up).
Formula
Labour
(hours + revision hours) × hourly rate
Direct costs
fixed + software + subcontractor
Contingency
(labour + direct costs) × contingency %
Suggested price
(labour + direct + contingency) ÷ (1 − fee % − margin %)
Fee % + margin % must be under 100%.
Fees
price × fee %
Profit
price − cost − fees = price × margin %
Effective hourly rate
(price − fees) ÷ total hours
Worked examples
A 40-hour website build
40 hours plus 5 revision hours at $50 is $2,250 of labour. With $450 of direct costs and 10% contingency ($270), cost is $2,970. For a 20% margin after a 5% fee: $2,970 ÷ 0.75 = $3,960. Fees are $198, profit $792, and the effective rate is $3,762 ÷ 45 = $83.60 an hour.
A small job through a platform
20 hours at $60 is $1,200. With a 10% platform fee and a 30% margin, the price is $1,200 ÷ 0.6 = $2,000. The platform keeps $200, profit is $600, and you net $90 an hour.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between margin and mark-up?
Margin is profit as a share of the price; mark-up is profit as a share of cost. A $1,000 cost sold for $1,250 has a 20% margin and a 25% mark-up. This calculator uses margin.
Is my hourly rate already profit?
It is your pay for the hours worked. The margin here is extra on top - it covers unbilled time such as sales and admin, gaps between projects, and building savings. Set it to 0% if your rate already allows for those.
How much contingency should I add?
Many freelancers add 10-20%, more for unfamiliar work or vague briefs. A clear scope and a set number of revision rounds reduce how much you need.
Why must fee and margin be under 100% together?
Both are taken out of the price. If they add up to 100% or more, nothing is left to cover your costs, whatever price you set.
Does this include tax?
No. Add VAT, GST or sales tax on top of the price where it applies, and set aside income tax from your profit separately.