Everyone asks the same question when they start freelancing: what do I charge? And the honest answer is that most new freelancers get this wrong in the same direction. They charge too little, justify it by saying they have no experience, take on clients who treat them accordingly, and then wonder why freelancing feels exhausting and underpaid.
Setting a rate with no portfolio or client history is genuinely hard. But it is not as random as most people make it. According to Upwork's 2024 Freelance Forward report, the average US freelancer earns $28 per hour, but new freelancers often undercharge by 40 to 60% in their first three months. There is a logical way to arrive at a number that is fair to you and not embarrassing to say out loud.
Quick Answer: To set a starting freelance rate with no experience, calculate the hourly equivalent of your minimum acceptable annual income, add 30% for taxes and self-employment costs, then research the market floor rate for your skill. Take the higher of those two numbers. Never quote a range. Give one number, say it clearly, and stop talking.
Why Does Setting a Freelance Rate Feel So Difficult at the Start?
The difficulty is not really about numbers. It is about uncertainty. When you have no previous clients to point to, no testimonials, and no finished work in your portfolio, the internal voice that says "who are you to charge that?" gets very loud. So people charge $10 per hour for work that should cost $50, call it a starting rate, and create a problem that compounds over time.
Here is the thing: clients do not pay for your experience in isolation. They pay for the outcome they need. A new graphic designer who produces a clean, usable logo delivers the same result as a five-year veteran who produces the same logo. The outcome is the same. The only difference is how long it took to get there, and that is a problem you manage with your own time, not by drastically discounting the rate.
You also cannot afford to underprice yourself for practical reasons. Freelancers pay self-employment taxes, cover their own health costs, buy their own tools, and have no paid sick days. A freelance rate of $20 per hour is not the same as a salaried job paying $20 per hour. It is significantly worse when you account for all the hidden costs. Any rate you set needs to survive those realities.
How Do You Calculate a Starting Freelance Rate From Scratch?
This is a math problem, not a confidence problem. Work through it in three steps.
Start With What Your Time Is Worth to You
Pick the minimum annual income you need to cover your actual expenses. Not your dream income. The number below which you cannot pay your bills and live reasonably. Divide that number by 1,000. That is a rough starting hourly floor.
For example: if you need $40,000 per year to survive, divide by 1,000 and you get $40 per hour as a starting floor. The reason for 1,000 instead of 2,080 (the standard work-hours-per-year number) is that freelancers do not bill every hour. A realistic freelancer bills 15 to 25 hours per week, not 40. The rest goes to client communication, admin, marketing, and unpaid gaps between projects. The 1,000-hour divisor accounts for that reality.
Add 30% for Taxes and Business Costs
Take your floor rate and add 30%. This covers self-employment tax, software subscriptions, equipment, and the simple reality that you will not always be fully booked. Using the $40 example: $40 plus 30% gets you to $52 per hour. Round up to $55 for simplicity.
Research the Market Rate for Your Skill
Search Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn for people offering your specific service. Look at mid-range providers, not the cheapest and not the most expensive. Reddit communities for your field, like r/freelance or r/forhire, often have rate discussions that are more honest than official platforms. What are real people with a year or two of experience charging for the same type of work? Once you have your rate set, the next challenge is actually getting clients to pay it. Finding high-paying freelance clients without a portfolio covers exactly how to do that without needing years of history.
Take your calculated floor and the market mid-range. Use whichever is higher. If your floor is $55 and the market mid-range is $45, charge $55 and explain your value. If the market mid-range is $75 and your floor was $55, charge $75. Never price below market just because you are new.
Should You Charge Hourly or Per Project as a Beginner?
Per project is almost always better for new freelancers, even though hourly feels safer. Here is why: hourly pricing penalizes you for getting faster. When you are new, a task might take you four hours that an experienced person completes in two. If you charge hourly, the client pays double for your learning curve, which is not a sustainable arrangement.
With project pricing, you quote a fixed number for a fixed deliverable. If it takes you longer than expected, that is your cost of gaining experience, not the client's problem. As you get faster, your effective hourly rate rises without changing what you quote.
There are exceptions. Consulting, coaching, and ongoing retainer work where scope is genuinely unpredictable tends to suit hourly or day-rate pricing. But for defined deliverables like articles, designs, websites, or videos, always quote per project.
How Do You Avoid Undercharging When You Have No Portfolio?
The instinct to underprice is understandable but counterproductive. Clients do not trust a rate that is dramatically below market. If ten designers are charging $800 for a logo and you charge $150, most clients will assume something is wrong with your work rather than concluding they found a deal. Pricing is a signal of quality whether you intend it to be or not.
Instead of cutting your rate, reduce the scope of what you offer. A new copywriter should not offer a full content strategy, blog writing, and social copy all at once. Offer one thing you can do well and price that thing at market rate. A focused service at a real price is more credible than a full suite at a discounted price.
Build a portfolio before you quote anyone. Write three to five spec pieces, design three to five samples, or build one small project and document it well. Potential clients need something to evaluate. A single good sample at market rate beats a hundred cheap samples. You can create spec work in a weekend. If you write for clients, using AI tools to speed up your freelance writing can cut your production time in half, which means you can take on more work at your real rate without burning out.
What Do You Say When a Client Pushes Back on Your Rate?
Clients pushing back on rates is normal. How you respond tells them more about your confidence in your work than anything else you say.
The first rule: do not drop your rate immediately when asked. A client asking "can you do it for less?" is not a rejection. It is a negotiation opening. The correct response is to explain what your rate includes and ask what their budget actually is. Sometimes the budget is fine but they always ask. Sometimes the budget is genuinely lower, and you can adjust the scope instead of the rate.
If they say the budget is $300 and your quote was $500, do not do the $500 project for $300. Offer a reduced version. "At $300, I can deliver X without Y. If you need Y included, the full project is $500." This keeps your rate intact while giving them a real choice.
Some clients will say no. That is fine. A client who cannot afford your rate is not a client you can build a sustainable working relationship with. Taking underpaid work creates resentment on your side and sets a precedent on theirs. Walk away from work that does not meet your floor rate. It frees up time to find work that does.
When Should You Raise Your Rates?
Raise your rates every time you complete five to ten projects successfully, when you have more inquiries than you can handle, or every six months regardless of how busy you are. Scope creep in existing client relationships is a sign you should have raised rates already.
Raising rates on new clients is straightforward. You just quote higher on the next proposal. Raising rates on existing clients requires a conversation with advance notice. Give them 30 to 60 days of warning and keep the explanation simple: your rates have increased, and this is the new rate for ongoing work. Most clients who value your work will accept it. The ones who do not were probably clients you were underserving anyway.
The goal is to reach a rate within your first year that you feel proud to say, not apologetic about. That number is different for every skill and every market. But the direction is always the same: up, consistently, as you prove your value through delivered work.
FAQ
What should a beginner freelancer charge per hour?
Calculate the hourly equivalent of your minimum acceptable annual income using the 1,000-hour divisor, then add 30% for taxes and business costs. Compare this to the market rate for your skill. Use whichever number is higher. Never price yourself below the market floor, regardless of experience level.
How do I set a freelance rate with no portfolio?
Create three to five spec pieces first so you have something to show, then price at market rate for your skill. Do not discount heavily because of inexperience. Instead, reduce the scope of what you offer until you have real client work to reference. A focused service at a real price is more credible than a full service at a discount.
Should a new freelancer charge hourly or per project?
Per project is almost always better for new freelancers. It removes the penalty for working slower while learning, lets your effective hourly rate rise as you get faster, and gives clients a predictable cost. Reserve hourly pricing for consulting or genuinely unpredictable scope work.
What do I say if a client says my rate is too high?
Do not drop your rate immediately. Ask what their budget is. If it is lower than your quote, offer a reduced scope at your rate rather than the same scope at a lower rate. This protects your pricing while giving the client a real option. If they refuse, walk away. Clients who cannot meet your floor rate are not sustainable relationships.
Written by Aryx K. | ARYX Guide