Sukie is a working freelancer and the writer behind FreelanceRateLab. After years of pricing her own projects — and watching talented friends quietly undercharge — she got obsessed with one question: what number actually keeps a freelance business solvent once taxes, downtime, and overhead are real?
She built FreelanceRateLab to answer that without spreadsheets and folklore. Every guide here comes from setting rates in the real world: losing money on a badly scoped project, raising prices and bracing for clients to leave (they didn't), and slowly learning that a rate is a business decision, not a self-esteem test.
Sukie is not a licensed accountant or financial advisor, and nothing on this site is formal financial or tax advice. It is practical, experience-based guidance to help you make a defensible decision — then check the specifics with a qualified professional for your situation.
Articles by Sukie
Use a freelance rate calculator automotive pros trust. Real hourly ranges by specialty, hidden expenses, and a worked rate-floor example for auto work.
Freelance completion rate benchmarks by platform and industry. Learn how delivery rate differs from completion rate—and how both affect what you can charge.
A working writer's honest take on freelance writer expenses: what to spend on tools, the 10-15% overhead rule, a real annual budget, and what pays for itself.
There are 4 freelance retainer structures and each works differently. Learn which fits your client type before you sign anything.
Learn how to stop undercharging as a freelancer with a rate floor formula, 5 warning signs, and a 4-step plan to raise your rate this week.
Freelance day rate vs hourly rate, compared side by side. See the math, when each model protects you, and how to set a day rate clients will accept.
Project-based vs hourly rate explained: how each model works, who carries the risk, and which one actually protects your margin. With real dollar examples.
Realistic billable hours per day for most freelancers sit at 4 to 6, not 7 or 8. See why the daily target matters, the math, and how to raise it sanely.
A typical freelance expenses list with realistic annual USD ranges for software, hardware, insurance, fees, and more, so you can benchmark your own overhead.
Monthly retainer pricing for part-time freelancers: how to size hours around a day job, price evenings higher, and avoid over-committing time you don't have.
A freelance editing retainer guide for editors and writers: price by word count or hours, with worked math, sample tiers, SLAs, and scope-creep protection.
Calculating freelancer ROI from both sides: how to frame your fee as a client return, and how to measure your own ROI on tools, niches, and rate hikes.
Follow the freelance rate calculator formula step by step with one real example: a UX designer turning an $85,000 take-home goal into an hourly rate.
Billable hours for freelancers are never the same as hours worked. See the real week, the efficiency math, and what it does to your rate.
Freelance hourly rate by industry for 2026: low, mid, and high ranges for writing, design, dev, marketing, VA, and consulting, plus how to adjust them.
Retainer pricing for freelancers, made simple: a decision framework for when to offer one, which structure to use, and how to price it off your hourly rate.
Hourly vs project pricing isn't about which is better. It's about which protects your margin in a given job. Here's the framework, with worked numbers.
How to raise freelance rates the calm way: a readiness checklist, a step-by-step playbook, and two copy-paste email scripts for new and existing clients.
A freelance business expenses checklist, organized by category, so your rate funds every real cost instead of quietly paying for them out of your take-home.
Freelance tax basics for beginners, answered in plain language: self-employment tax, quarterly payments, set-aside math, and deductions that actually help.