What your hourly rate as a freelance developer. The Right Way to Calculate It. Many freelancers set their rates based only on coding hours. But the real cost of freelancing includes planning, client calls, emails, proposals, admin work, and all the tools you pay for. When you add taxes, savings, and expenses into the equation, the hourly rate looks very different. The key is simple: track all your time, include every expense, and calculate based on the hours you can actually bill. That’s how you