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AiTechWorlds
AiTechWorlds
Work out your break-even floor rate, compare hourly, day-rate, fixed, value-based and retainer pricing, add risk premiums, and build three tiered options to offer the client.
Find the number you can defend: your break-even floor, the premium the job's conditions deserve, and three options to offer.
The rate below which this business loses money. Everything else is judged against it.
Almost nobody bills 100% of their week. Sales calls, admin, marketing, learning and dead time between projects are real work that no client pays for 50โ65% billable is typical for a solo freelancer.
Revenue needed
$101,333
before tax + expenses
Billable hours / year
1056
44 working weeks
Floor hourly rate
$95.96/hr
Floor day rate
$768
8-hour day
Clients prefer certainty and will often pay more for it. You keep the upside of working efficiently and carry the overrun risk, so price the buffer in.
You are not pricing the work alone you are pricing the conditions attached to it.
You are pricing 19% below your break-even rate
After fees, unbillable time and tax, this job pays you the equivalent of 78 an hour against a floor of 96. Taking it at this price means the rest of your year has to subsidise it.
Base price
$5,714
before premiums
Quote this
$6,286
includes +10% risk premium
Effective rate
$78.57/hr
floor is $95.96/hr
After waiting to be paid
$77.80/hr
$62 cost of 30-day terms
A single number invites a yes/no. Three invites a which and the middle one is usually chosen.
Essential
$4,086
Core deliverable only, fewer revision rounds, standard timeline, no ongoing support.
The safety net makes saying "yes" easy for a hesitant budget.
Recommended
Pick me$6,286
Full scope as quoted, normal revision rounds, launch support included.
Where you want them to land. Mark it clearly as recommended.
Complete
$10,686
Everything in Recommended plus strategy input, priority turnaround, and 1โ3 months of aftercare.
The anchor it makes the middle tier feel measured rather than expensive.
Presentation tip: quoting $6,497 instead of $6,286 reads as a considered figure rather than a round guess. Above roughly five figures, round numbers signal confidence instead use your judgement on which fits the client.
Carry these numbers straight into the next tool no retyping.
Why a floor rate matters: hourly rates are usually copied from other freelancers, not calculated. Working backwards from what you need to earn is the only way to know whether a project is worth taking.
Value-based pricing ties your fee to the outcome added revenue or cost saved rather than hours spent. It has the highest ceiling, but only works if you and the client agree on the number the work is worth before you quote.
100% in-browser your income goals and client numbers never leave your device.
Proposal Pricing Calculator works out your floor rate the hourly rate below which you lose money once tax, business expenses, time off and unbillable hours are counted and judges any proposal price against it. It supports hourly, day-rate, fixed-price, value-based and retainer models, adds risk premiums for conditions like rush deadlines, vague scope, committee approval or net-60 terms, accounts for platform fees and the cost of waiting to be paid, and generates three tiered package options.
Set your floor rate
Take-home goal, expenses, tax, weeks off, hours worked and billable share.
Choose a pricing model and fill in its inputs
Hourly, day rate, fixed, value-based or retainer.
Tick the risk factors that apply to this job
Each one adds a premium with an explanation of why.
Read the verdict and the three tiers
Then send the numbers straight into the proposal or contract tool.
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Last reviewed on September 14, 2026 by the AiTechWorlds Tools Team. All processing runs locally in your browser.