How to price your freelance work in India (without underselling)

Step 1: find your floor

Decide how much you want to earn in a month from this work, and how many hours you can really give it. Divide one by the other. That is your floor, the hourly rate below which a job isn’t worth it.

Example: you want ₹20,000 a month and can work 40 hours. Your floor is ₹500 an hour. A logo that takes 6 hours should not go below ₹3,000.

Step 2: price the job, not the hour

Customers think in jobs: “a logo”, “fix the tap”, “edit 5 reels”. A clear job price is easier to accept than an hourly rate with an unknown total. Work out the hours, multiply by your rate, and round to a clean number.

Step 3: say exactly what’s included

• Number of revisions (for example, two rounds)
• What you deliver: files, formats, sizes
• Parts or materials: included or extra
• Timeline, and what a rush job costs

Step 4: grow your price with your reviews

Your first few jobs buy you reviews. Once you have five to ten good ones, raise your price by 10–20% and watch whether you still win most jobs. If you win almost everything, you are probably still too cheap.

A note on tax

Earnings from freelance and gig work are taxable income. GST registration is generally needed only once your yearly turnover from services crosses the threshold (₹20 lakh in most states). Rules change, so check with a CA when you start earning regularly.