Gig & freelance

Freelance pricing fails in one predictable way: the hours you cannot bill swallow the hours you can. Quotes get built on delivery time alone, while intake calls, revisions, admin, platform cuts, and tax set-asides quietly take a third of the check. These calculators force the invisible hours into the quote, so the rate on paper is the rate you actually keep.

• Price the whole job, not the deliverable: intake, revisions, file prep, and follow-up are billable time whether you count them or not.
• Set a floor rate from your real costs first (rent, software, taxes, slow months), then quote projects against it, never below it.
• Retainers feel safe but scope creep eats them. Recheck your effective hourly rate every month against actual hours.
• Platform fees are a percentage of gross, not profit. A 20 percent cut on a thin-margin job can take half your take-home.