Freelancers undercharge by 30-40%. I built a tool that fixes the negotiation, not the math.

Every rate calculator I found does the same thing: you fill a form, it shows you a number. But the number was never the problem. The problem is what happens when you send it to a client and they reply "can you go lower?"

So I built RateForge (therateforge.com) with a different end goal: the output isn't a number, it's a shareable, itemized report you send to your client before the negotiation starts.

How it works:

• You enter your skill, country and experience (3 required fields, done in ~15 seconds)

• The AI pulls live market rate data for your skill and region at generation time, no static tables

• It factors in local taxes, overhead and unbillable hours

• If you describe the project, it builds an itemized quote with hour estimates per deliverable

• You get a clean link designed to be sent to the client

The core insight: a bare hourly rate is easy to argue with. A market-backed breakdown showing why the rate is what it is changes the conversation from "can you go lower?" to "when can you start?"

It's free, no signup, covers 60+ countries. Monetized with a discreet ad, hosted on Vercel's free tier, so it costs me nothing to run.

Would love feedback from freelancers here: would you actually send a pricing report to a client, or does that feel too formal? That's the assumption the whole product rests on.