Freelance vs. Full-Time Comparator

How to use this calculator

Fill in the freelance side first: the income you bill in a year, the percentage you set aside for tax, and what the business costs you each month. Business expenses are subtracted before the tax percentage is applied, which mirrors how most self-employed people think about deductible costs — though whether a specific cost is deductible where you live is between you and your accountant.

Then price the job. Gross salary and your estimated tax rate on it are straightforward. The benefits fields are where the comparison earns its keep, and they're deliberately user-entered: only you know what your employer's plan is worth to you.

For health insurance, enter the employer's annual contribution, or what an equivalent policy would cost you to buy alone. For paid time off, enter the number of paid days and the daily rate you would otherwise have earned freelancing — that product is the real cash value of being paid while not working. For the retirement match, enter the employer contribution in dollars, not the percentage.

What the output means

The headline shows which option leaves you better off in a year and by how much, using your assumptions. Below it, each side is broken down so you can see where the gap comes from. It is common for a freelance income that looks dramatically larger to shrink to near parity once expenses, a higher set-aside and unpaid holiday are all accounted for — and equally common for a modest-looking salary to win outright once benefits are priced honestly.

Treat the result as a like-for-like cash comparison, not a verdict. Several things it can't weigh: the risk profile of one income versus many, the value of choosing your own hours and clients, unpaid time spent finding work, the ceiling on each path three years out, and how much you enjoy the work itself. A $4,000 annual advantage rarely decides a career; a $30,000 one usually does.

The most useful way to run this is twice. First with today's real numbers, then with the freelance income you think you could reach in a year at your current rate and utilisation. The gap between those two scenarios tells you whether the decision is about money now or about patience.

Finally, remember that the tax rates are the ones you typed. This tool never asserts a bracket, never applies self-employment surcharges, and never guesses at deductions. Comparing the two sides using rates you haven't checked is the fastest way to get a confident, wrong answer.