About WhatToCharge

Updated July 2026

Almost everyone who works for themselves is underpriced, and the reason is simple: nobody ever tells them what the work is actually worth. WhatToCharge exists to answer one question honestly. How much should you charge for your work?

What we do

We build free tools for the self-employed across hundreds of trades, from house cleaning and pressure washing to wedding planning, bookkeeping, and freelance writing. Start with the pricing calculator for a defensible rate range with the reasoning behind it. But the number is only half the job, so we also built What to Say, an AI that writes the reply when a client pushes back on price, plus a rate grader, a freelance rate calculator, and an invoice generator. Anyone can put a number in a box. We help you actually get paid it.

How we build the ranges

Every range starts from published market rate data and the pricing model that actually fits the trade, hourly, per job, per unit, per square foot, or a monthly retainer. We layer in pricing psychology that professionals really use: anchoring high, charm pricing, and tiered packages that move clients up.

• Real ranges, not averages. A single average hides the low end and the premium end. We show the spread so you can place yourself in it.
• Transparent multipliers. The calculator adjusts for experience and region with multipliers you can see in the result, not a black box.
• Reviewed and dated. Pages are regenerated and reviewed on every update, and each one shows when it was last reviewed.

The rules we hold ourselves to

The whole point of this site is to be the honest answer, so we will not fake precision we do not have. We do not publish per-city pricing, because we do not have verified per-city data and a made-up number is worse than none. We do not invent statistics or sources. When something is a judgment call, we say so. The figures here are typical ranges to inform your decision, not a guarantee. Your market, your skill, and your costs always have the final say.

Who it is for

Service providers, freelancers, and makers, the people who do real work and have to put a price on it. If you have ever quoted a job and then wondered whether you left money on the table, this is for you.

Contact

Questions, corrections, or a trade you want us to cover? Email hello@getwhattocharge.com. We read every message and we fix what is wrong.