Project price calculator

Figuring out how much you should charge for your services isn’t that complicated, but our quote calculator makes it even easier. It gives you a reliable service estimate based on real costs, delivery time, and your desired profit margin, so you can price your projects fairly.

In just a couple of minutes, you’ll see recommended pricing, minimum project price, profit, and effective hourly rate, all in one place.

You begin by picking the currency you invoice in—USD, EUR, or GBP—and then choose the type of service you’re pricing. That service type can be:

• Fixed-price project, which is a one-time delivery project with a set price.
• A monthly retainer, which is an ongoing engagement you bill for each month.
• Hourly billing, in which you charge for the time worked.

This step sets the foundation for an accurate service estimate.

In this step, you need to indicate who’s working on your project. You select one of the two options:
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• Just me. This option is perfect for freelancers or solo workers.
• I have a team. Select this option if you have a service business or multiple contributors.

If it’s just you, you should enter your real hourly cost. If you’re not sure what to enter, estimate it by dividing your target monthly income by your workable hours. Then add estimated delivery hours: the total time it takes to deliver the project, including meetings, admin, messages, and revisions (not just billable hours). For monthly retainers, these hours are per month.

If you have a team, add each team member’s name, their actual hourly cost (including salary, taxes, benefits, and overhead), and estimated delivery hours. Again, for monthly retainers, estimated delivery hours are per month.

This step ensures your service estimate reflects the true cost of delivering your project.

As you know, not all project costs are just time. If your project has additional expenses, like contractors, software, travel, or ad spend, you can add them here to get the most accurate service estimate.

Depending on the type of your project, you first select Yes or No when asked “Do you have costs beyond your time — like contractors, software, travel, or ad spend?

If you chose Yes, you need to enter the amount of these additional project costs in your chosen currency. These are internal, project-specific costs that are not billed to the client separately. Examples include hiring contractors, travel for meetings, or project-only software and tools.

If you chose No, just skip this step and continue, and your estimate will still reflect your or your team’s time and desired margin.

Now, there’s also an option for advanced costs. When you click the Advanced cost options, you can add:

• Pass-through expenses. These are the costs you pay on behalf of the client and bill back 1:1, so these do not affect your profit. Think of the money that you use for ad spend, client-specific software, or hosting fees.
• Shared project costs. These are a portion of general company expenses allocated to this project, like office rent, company-wide subscriptions, or utilities.

Adding these costs ensures your estimate covers everything you actually spend on the project. That way, you’ll get the real picture behind your recommended project price, minimum price, and effective hourly rate.
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Now it’s time to decide how much profit you want to earn on top of your total project costs. This step ensures your service estimate covers costs and reflects the value of your work.

So, you enter the percentage you’d like to earn. We have some options laid out for you:

• 20%. This number is a reasonable margin that covers costs and gives a modest profit.
• 30%. This percentage is a strong margin that rewards your effort and ensures you stay competitive.
• 40%. This percentage is a higher margin for projects where your expertise or uniqueness justifies premium pricing.

Just keep in mind that choosing the right margin helps you understand the value of your time and ensures you’re not undercharging for your services.

After defining your desired profit margin, you need to enter a Risk/scope creep buffer. Here, you add a percentage to protect against unexpected or extra work that may pop up during the project. This safety buffer is a must-have, as it keeps your final price realistic; thanks to this buffer, you don’t lose profit if the project takes longer or costs more than planned.

Once your margin and buffer are set, you can move on to calculating your project price. And if you want to start over at any point, you can also click Reset all fields to clear the calculator and enter new numbers.
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Once you click the Calculate project price button, you get 2 clear groups of data: your project pricing and your cost breakdown. Keep in mind that, depending on the service type you selected, the language adjusts automatically. For example, you get “Recommended monthly retainer” for ongoing work or “Recommended project price” for fixed-price projects.
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This section shows the numbers that matter most for deciding what to charge.
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First, you get the Recommended project price, which is the final price the quote calculator suggests for your project. It’s calculated as (Labor + Extra + Shared) × (1 + Margin) × (1 + Buffer), and ensures you cover costs, earn your desired profit, and protect against unexpected risks.

Now, let’s break down this price, step by step, using a random example, so you’re clear on how it’s calculated.

Let’s imagine that you entered the following data:

• Your hourly cost: $100
• Estimated delivery hours: 40h
• Additional project costs: $50
• Profit margin: 30%
• Risk buffer: 20%

In that case, you first calculate labor cost using the formula Labor = Hourly cost × Delivery hours, which lands at $4,000. You then add extra and shared costs, and since you only have extra costs here (no shared ones), the total project costs end up being $4,050.

You then apply your 30% profit margin. You add total project costs and multiply by (1 + 0.30), so it ends up being $5,265. You then apply your risk buffer (20%) by multiplying $5,265 by (1 + 0.20) and get the final result: $6,318.

So, instead of just adding a flat margin, you’re stacking real costs, desired profit, and buffer.
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Depending on whether you work alone or have a team for this project, the language will adjust automatically. If you work alone, you will see the Minimum project price; if you have a team, the project price calculator will show you the Total project costs.

Although the language differs, the formula remains the same, and it’s Labor + Extra + Shared costs. It’s the sum of all labor, extra, and shared costs.

Continuing with our previous example, where your hourly cost is $100, the project takes 40 hours, and you also have $50 in additional project costs, the minimum project price is $4,000 + $50, or $4,050.

This means that $4,050 is your break-even point. Anything below that, and you’re losing money; everything above it is where your profit begins.

Now, let’s imagine another case. You selected a monthly retainer service type, and you have a team member, John, working for you on this project:

‍• John’s hourly cost: $100
• Estimated delivery hours (per month): 40h
• Extra project costs: $200
• Pass-through expenses: $50 (these do not affect profit)
• Shared project costs: $100
• Profit margin: 30%
• Risk buffer: 20%

So, first you calculate labor using the formula Labor = Hourly cost × Delivery hours, and get $4,000. Then, you include extra and shared costs (excluding pass-through expenses here). So, total project costs are 4,000 + 200 + 100 = $4,300.

​Now, you may be wondering how the service pricing calculator handles pass-through expenses. Since they do not affect profit but do affect the invoice, the calculator shows the Final invoice amount, calculated as Recommended price + Pass-through expenses. For the previously mentioned example, in which John works for you, the recommended monthly retainer is $6,708 per month, and the Final invoice amount is $6,758 per month.
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Your target profit shows how much you’ll actually earn from the project after covering all your costs. It’s a simple way to see if your pricing truly works for you. The formula is simple: Price − Total project costs.

Let’s use the monthly retainer example. In that case, you have:

‍• Recommended monthly retainer: $6,708
• Total project costs: $4,300 (labor + extra + shared, excluding pass-through expenses)

So, Target profit = $6,708 − $4,300 = $2,408.

So, each month, you’re earning $2,408 in profit, after covering all your real delivery costs.
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Your effective hourly rate shows the real value of each hour spent delivering the project. It helps you understand what you’re actually earning for your time, not just what you charge on paper. The formula is: Price ÷ Total delivery hours.

Using the monthly retainer example:

‍• Recommended monthly retainer: $6,708
• Total delivery hours: 40 hours per month

So, the effective hourly rate is $6,708 ÷ 40, or $167.70/hour. Meaning that even though the base cost of the work is $100/hour (John’s cost), your effective hourly rate is $167.70/hour. That difference covers your profit margin (30%), risk buffer (20%), and all additional project costs.

Since this number gives you a clear answer to how much you’re really earning per hour after everything is factored in, keep in mind that:

1. If it’s too close to your cost, you’re underpricing.
2. If it’s strong, your pricing is healthy and sustainable.
3. If it’s very high, you may have room to stay competitive or increase profit.
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Here, you see the details behind the recommended price laid out:

‍• Labor cost. Your labor or your team’s labor cost, depending on what you selected.
• Profit margin. The percentage you chose for your profit.
• Risk buffer. The percentage added to protect against scope creep or unexpected delays.
• Recommended price. Repeated here for clarity alongside the other numbers.

Using the example with the monthly retainer, here’s how the Cost breakdown looks:‍‍

As you can see, instead of guessing your price, you can clearly see how each part contributes to the final number. This makes your service estimate easier to trust, adjust, and justify to clients if needed.

Now, we at Memtime know that projects don’t always go exactly as planned. That’s why we added a “tip section” that helps you see the impact of a 20% increase in delivery hours. It goes something like this:

If your project stretches from X hours to Y hours, your margin drops to Z%.

A thinner margin means less profit and higher risk, and that the project could become dangerously underpriced.

For the monthly retainer example, the tip is:

⚠️ What if the project takes 20% longer? If delivery stretches to 48 delivery hours instead of 40, your margin drops to 24.0%. Your buffer keeps you comfortable.‍‍