$ ./rate-calculator live
What hourly rate do you need as a freelancer in Germany?
For freelancers and the self-employed in Germany. Enter what you want to have left to live on; the calculator adds income tax, health and care insurance, pension, business costs and unbilled hours, and shows where every euro of the rate goes.
$ cat features.md
- Counts your working days for 2026 or 2027 per Bundesland: public holidays (including Easter-based ones), vacation, sick and training days, and a share of unbilled time for admin and sales.
- Income tax with the 2026 tariff of § 32a EStG, Splitting for married couples, Solidaritätszuschlag and optional church tax (8 % or 9 % by state).
- Statutory health and care insurance for voluntary members with the 2026 minimum base and ceiling, Zusatzbeitrag and childless surcharge; private insurance or Künstlersozialkasse as alternatives.
- Pension through the Deutsche Rentenversicherung (18.6 % or Regelbeitrag) or your own monthly amount; Gewerbesteuer with Hebesatz and the § 35 EStG credit for Gewerbetreibende.
- Shows hourly and day rate net and with 19 % VAT, a bar of where every euro goes, a slider to test other rates, and the Kleinunternehmer limits (§ 19 UStG).
- Every 2026 figure is listed with its official source. Runs in your browser; inputs stay in your browser or in a share link.
$ cat why.md
Every freelancer I know started with a rate that looked good and turned out to be far too low once health insurance, tax and the unbilled hours came in. Most rate calculators ask for a gross salary or hide their assumptions, so I wrote one that starts from what you want to live on and shows every number with its source. It is also the step before an invoice, which is why it links to my invoice tool.
$ self-host-it
- Requirements
- Static files, no build step and no dependencies. Any web server works; tests run with Node.js 20+ (node --test tests/).
- Built with
- HTML, JavaScript
- License
- MIT