Freelance vs Employee Calculator
Enter a job offer and a freelance alternative. See which one actually puts more money in your pocket — after SE tax, FICA, employer benefits, 401k match, and state taxes.
Verdict
Employee wins by $1,268/yr
Effective hourly: $34/hr employee vs $39/hr freelance (+$5/hr)
Job Offer
Freelance Alternative
Employee
Freelance
Numbers never leave your browser · Not financial or tax advice
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W-2 vs 1099 Calculator
Same gross pay, wildly different take-home. See exactly how W-2 and 1099 offers compare after self-employment tax, FICA, and employer benefits — then get the break-even number that tells you exactly what to negotiate.
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Calculate your Form 1040 Line 17 health insurance deduction as a self-employed person. Covers health, dental, vision, and LTC premiums. Shows deduction cap at net SE income, federal and state tax savings, and effective monthly premium cost after the government subsidy.
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Freelance Rate Sanity Check
Is your freelance rate actually competitive? Enter your category, years of experience, location tier, and specialization level to see your rate percentile, market low/median/high for your segment, the dollar gap to market rate, and what raising to median means annually. Benchmarks from BLS OES, Upwork, and Toptal 2024.
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W-2 vs 1099 Calculator
Same gross pay, wildly different take-home. See exactly how W-2 and 1099 offers compare after self-employment tax, FICA, and employer benefits — then get the break-even number that tells you exactly what to negotiate.
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SE Health Insurance Deduction
Calculate your Form 1040 Line 17 health insurance deduction as a self-employed person. Covers health, dental, vision, and LTC premiums. Shows deduction cap at net SE income, federal and state tax savings, and effective monthly premium cost after the government subsidy.
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Freelance Rate Sanity Check
Is your freelance rate actually competitive? Enter your category, years of experience, location tier, and specialization level to see your rate percentile, market low/median/high for your segment, the dollar gap to market rate, and what raising to median means annually. Benchmarks from BLS OES, Upwork, and Toptal 2024.
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The 1.4× rule — a 1099 rate needs to be at least 40% higher than a W-2 salary to break even after taxes and benefits. So a $100k salary job needs a ~$140k contract rate to net the same.
Common Questions
You're paying both sides of FICA (15.3% vs 7.65% for W-2 employees) plus no employer benefits — no health insurance, no 401(k) match, no paid time off. The calculator accounts for all of this to show true take-home.
Generally 1.4× the W-2 equivalent — so a $100k salary job would need a ~$140k contract rate to net the same after SE tax, self-paid benefits, and the loss of employer contributions.