Freelance & Solopreneur Rate Calculator: India
What you'd need to charge as a freelancer, consultant, or solopreneur to match your current salary, after GST, taxes, and the costs your employer used to absorb.
Last updated: Maintained by Notwen Editorial
₹15,00,000
Share of working hours you actually bill
Adjusts utilization default and shows a peer benchmark
Why isn't it just CTC / 2080?
2080 = 40 hours per week x 52 weeks, the standard "annual working hours" shortcut for converting a salary to an hourly rate.
Six factors separate your salaried take-home from what you must bill as a freelancer. Four are assumptions you can override (look for the icon); two are fixed by Indian tax law (). Edits update the rate instantly.
Paid leave and holidays
A salaried employee gets ~30 paid days off per year between vacation, sick leave, and public holidays. Freelancers do not. That is roughly 12% of the working year unbilled, and your rate must absorb it.
Employer hidden costs
Your CTC is not what hits your bank. Employer EPF contribution (12% of basic), gratuity (~4.81% of basic, vested over 5 years), and group insurance are part of CTC but never appear in your salary slip. As a freelancer, you would buy comparable cover yourself. We assume 14.4% across these categories.
Bench time
Most freelancers bill 60 to 75% of available hours. The remaining 25 to 40% is sales calls, scoping, admin, learning, and gaps between projects. Your rate must absorb this. Beginners often bill less than 50%; veterans with steady pipelines push 80%+. Default is 70% but the role dropdown adjusts.
Business overhead
Solopreneurs and consultants pay for software (Notion, Figma, Adobe), coworking, accountant fees, branding, banking, and tools that salaried employees expense at work. Add 5 to 10% for these recurring costs you used to bill back to your employer.
GST on services
18%If your annual turnover exceeds ₹20 lakh, you must register for GST and charge 18% on top of your services rate. The client pays it; you remit it to the government. The cash flow drag, monthly return filing, and the sticker shock for clients seeing your rate plus 18% are all real costs of doing business.
Section 44ADA presumptive tax
50%Section 44ADA lets eligible professionals declare 50% of receipts as profit, taxed at slab rates. Generous, but you still pay slab tax on that 50%. For ₹15 lakh receipts under the new regime, expect roughly ₹70,000 in income tax. Above ₹75 lakh in receipts, 44ADA stops applying and you fall under regular taxation.
Your rate card
What the client pays, what you keep, after 44ADA tax and overhead.
An invoice at this rate
This is exactly how Notwen would format it for a real client, including GST handling and payment terms.
Demo invoice. No data is saved. Sign up to send a real one.
Like what you see? Skip the spreadsheet. Send your first invoice in 30 seconds.
Send your first invoiceFree. No credit card required.
Frequently asked questions
About this calculator
Last updated: 2026-05 (FY 2025-26 tax slabs).
Method: Reverse-engineers freelance gross revenue from your salaried take-home, factoring in Section 44ADA, GST, EPF and gratuity, and bench time. Editable assumptions throughout.
Disclaimer: Estimates only, not tax advice. Surcharge for income above ₹50 lakh, professional tax, and individual deductions (80C/80D, HRA, home loan interest) are not modelled. Consult a CA for your specific situation.
Calculating from a different country?
Each version models the local tax model and currency from the ground up.