How to Price Your Freelance Work in 5 Simple Steps

Pricing your freelance work should not feel like guesswork. With the right structure and a clear overview of your finances, setting your rate becomes a lot easier and a lot more confident.

Here is a simple five-step approach that actually works.

1. Get a clear view of your costs

Your price needs to cover more than just rent and groceries. Think business tools, taxes, subscriptions, insurance, and savings.

If you do not know exactly where your money is going, pricing will always feel uncertain.

With a bunq Business Account, freelancers can create up to 25 separate Bank Accounts to organize their money properly. You can set aside VAT, income tax, operating costs, and savings in separate accounts, all visible in real time. Combined with bunq Money Insights and automatic expense categorization, you always know your true monthly costs without spreadsheets or manual tracking.

2. Decide how much you want to work

Freelancing is not eight billable hours a day. There is admin, emails, client calls, and marketing.

Be realistic:

• How many days per month do you want to work?

• How many of those hours are actually billable?

bunq helps you understand this balance. With real-time notifications and clear income insights, you can see how many paid hours your business realistically supports and adjust your workload or pricing accordingly.

3. Calculate your minimum rate

Now do the math.

Take your total monthly costs and divide them by your realistic billable hours. That number is your minimum rate. The lowest rate you can charge without losing money.

Example: If your monthly costs are €2,500 and you work 100 billable hours, your minimum rate is €25 per hour.

Because bunq shows your income and expenses in real time, this calculation is always based on current data. No outdated numbers, no assumptions. Just clear financial reality.

4. Choose a pricing model that fits your work

Hourly pricing is common, but not always ideal.

Depending on your work, you might choose:

• Daily rates for ongoing projects

• Project pricing for clear deliverables

• Monthly retainers for stable income

bunq supports every pricing model. You can schedule recurring requests for retainers, and receive Instant Payments so you get paid faster. With integrations for popular bookkeeping tools, your admin stays minimal even as your pricing evolves.

5. Review and raise your rates regularly 

Your rate today should not be your rate forever.

Costs go up. Skills improve. Experience grows.

Set a reminder to review your pricing every six to twelve months. With bunq Insights, you can quickly see trends in income, expenses, and savings. This makes it easier to decide when a rate increase is necessary and sustainable.

Banking built for freelancers

Confident pricing starts with financial clarity. When your accounts, expenses, taxes, and income are organised in one place, setting your rate becomes a logical decision instead of an emotional one.

That is why thousands of freelancers choose bunq. It is fast to open, easy to manage, and built to support the way you actually work.

Open your bunq Business Account in 5 minutes and start your freelance career with confidence.