Leaving a salaried job for freelancing is not a like-for-like swap: you take on the employer contributions, the equipment, the insurance and the unbilled days. This puts a number on the gap.
Salary to freelance rate calculator
Convert an employee salary into the freelance day rate that leaves you no worse off.
Equivalent day rate
CHF 560.00
Equivalent hourly rate
CHF 70.00
True annual cost to replace
CHF 112,000.00
Uplift over the gross salary
40%
Calculated instantly in your browser · no data sent
How it works
- 1Enter the gross salary, not the net you received.
- 2Add what the employer paid on top: contributions, pension, insurance.
- 3Count only the days a client will actually pay for.
Who it's for
- •Deciding whether to go freelance
- •Answering “what would you charge?” with a number
- •Comparing a job offer with your current rate
Pro tips
- The uplift is usually 40 to 80 percent. A rate equal to your old salary divided by 220 is a pay cut.
- Paid holiday disappears. That alone is about 10 percent of the year.
Related tools
Freelance day rate calculator, free
Work back from the income you want to the day rate you must charge, taxes and expenses included.
Profit margin calculator
Calculate net profit, margin, markup and break-even revenue from your sales and costs.
Freelance hourly rate calculator
Work out the hourly rate you need to hit your yearly income target, with taxes, days off and expenses built in.
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