ChargeWhat
Freelance rate calculator that accounts for SE tax
Launched a UK version of the calculator this week — chargewhat.app/freelance-rate-calculator-uk/
It handles the full UK tax picture: Income Tax bands for both England/Wales/NI and Scotland's 6-band system, Class 4 NI (Class 2 was abolished in 2024), student loan repayments across all five plans, pension contributions, and a VAT threshold warning when projected gross approaches £90,000.
The backwards-calculation approach is the same as the US version: you tell it your target take-home, and it works out the hourly and day rate you actually need to charge to hit that number after tax.
UK freelancers tend to be surprised how much higher their rate needs to be once NI and income tax are factored in properly. That's the whole point.
Just launched ChargeWhat — a free freelance rate calculator that does the math most calculators skip.
The problem: most rate advice tells you to divide your target salary by 2,080 hours. That ignores self-employment tax (15.3% on top of income tax), the fact that you can't bill every hour you work, and expenses like health insurance that employees never pay out of pocket. Freelancers using that method end up charging $50/hr when they actually need $90+.
ChargeWhat works backwards from your target take-home, accounts for SE tax, your state income tax, realistic billable hours, health insurance, business expenses, and a profit buffer for slow months.
Free, no signup, live at chargewhat.app. Would love any feedback from freelancers here.
1 Comment
This is useful because it fixes the part most freelance calculators ignore: freelancers do not need a “salary divided by hours” estimate, they need to know what rate actually protects their take-home after tax, non-billable time, expenses, and slow months.
The backwards-calculation angle is the strongest part. It makes the tool feel practical instead of generic advice.
One thing I’d pressure-test is the brand frame. ChargeWhat is clear and friendly, but as you add country-specific tax logic, VAT thresholds, student loan plans, pension inputs, and more serious financial modeling, the product starts feeling bigger than a simple calculator.
Beryxa .com would fit better if you want this to become a broader freelance pricing and income-planning platform, not just a rate calculator. It gives the product more room to feel credible as the financial logic gets deeper across the US, UK, and possibly more markets.
The product already helps freelancers make a serious money decision. The brand should carry that seriousness before users even start entering numbers.