Day rate calculator
Most freelancers price from a salary. That is the mistake.
A £50,000 salary is not a £50,000 freelance income. You fund your own holiday, your own sick days, your own pension and your own software, and you can only invoice for a fraction of the days you work. This works backwards from the life you want to the rate that pays for it.
Your circumstances
After income tax and National Insurance. The money that actually reaches your bank account.
Nobody is doing this for you. Tax relief means the real cost is lower than this figure.
Employees get about 33 days including bank holidays. You have to fund your own.
There is no sick pay. Budget for the days you cannot work.
Pitching, invoicing, admin, marketing and gaps between contracts are not billable. Most freelancers land between 60% and 75%.
Software, accountant, insurance, equipment, phone, training, travel.
Only used to convert your day rate into an hourly one.
The rate that pays for it
You need to charge
£433
per day, about £58 an hour
- Invoiced across the year
- £67,256
- Business costs
- −£4,000
- Taxable profit
- £63,256
- Income tax
- −£12,734
- Class 4 National Insurance
- −£2,522
- Pension
- −£3,000
- In your pocket
- £45,000
2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Sole trader, no other income.
How this is worked out
Billable days. A year holds about 260 working days. Take off your holiday and the days you expect to lose to illness, then apply your billable share, the portion of what is left that a client actually pays for. The rest goes on pitching, invoicing, admin, and the gaps between contracts.
Working backwards. Starting from the take-home you want, the calculator solves for the profit that survives income tax and Class 4 National Insurance, adds your business costs, and divides by your billable days.
Why your rate feels high. It should. A day rate is not a daily wage. It is buying the unbillable days, the time off, and the benefits an employer would otherwise cover.
What it leaves out. These figures assume a sole trader with no other income, using England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates. They exclude student loan repayments, dividends, VAT, and running through a limited company, all of which can move the answer. Treat the result as a floor to negotiate up from, not a final number.