Price your work

Freelance Project Quote Calculator

Price a project with a buffer, costs and a deposit, and see what the quote really pays you per hour. Free, no sign-up.

A quote isn't just hours × rate

Multiplying your hourly rate by an hours estimate looks precise, but it skips the parts of a project that eat time without counting as billable labour — scope questions, revision rounds, client delays, and the risk the job runs long. That's what the buffer and deposit fields are for: they turn a bare estimate into a quote that still pays you properly if the project doesn't go exactly to plan.

How to use this

Estimate how many hours the project will take.
Enter your hourly rate and any costs you'll pass through.
Add a buffer for surprises — see what the quote really pays you per hour.

Quote to send

—

Labour (hours × rate): —
Buffer for surprises: —
Costs passed through: —
Discount: —
Deposit to ask for upfront: —
You earn per hour, on plan: —
You earn per hour, 25% over: —

Estimated hours

hrs

Break the job into tasks and add them up. Include calls and revisions. Your hourly rate

Not sure? Use the Hourly rate tab. Costs to pass through

Stock assets, subcontractors, licences, travel.

Buffer

Discount

Deposit

Turn this into an invoice →

How the quote is built

Labour is hours × rate. A buffer is added to labour, then any pass-through costs, then the discount comes off the total. The last two rows show what you actually earn per hour, before and after the job overruns.

Why add a buffer?

Projects rarely run exactly to estimate. A buffer of 10 to 20 percent of labour is a common starting point. Set it higher when the scope is vague or the client is new.

What does a discount really cost me?

Watch the "on plan" hourly figure as you raise the discount. Every point comes straight out of your pay, not out of your costs.

What if the client says it's too expensive?

Before lowering the number, check what's actually driving it — usually the hours estimate or the buffer. If the price still doesn't fit their budget, cut scope instead of cutting the rate: fewer revisions, a smaller deliverable, or a longer timeline. Dropping the price while keeping the same scope means doing the same work for less, which is exactly what this calculator is meant to help you avoid.

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