Freelance pricing: hourly rates, discounts and tests

Calculate your rate instead of adopting a CHF 100 rule

One minimum hourly rate does not fit every self-employed activity. Your annual funding requirement, genuinely billable time and service scope matter. A market rate can complement your calculation, not replace it.

Planning formula:

Required annual revenue excluding VAT ÷ annual billable hours = calculated hourly rate

Include operating costs, desired compensation, appropriately budgeted social insurance and pension provision, and a reserve. Do not assume personal taxes are already covered if your target is take-home income. Avoid double counting: if holidays already reduce billable hours, do not add the same allowance again.

A transparent fictional calculation

These are freely chosen assumptions, not Swiss salary or industry recommendations:

With the same revenue requirement but only 1,000 billable hours, the rate rises to CHF 120. At 1,500 hours it would be CHF 80. This explains the difference better than a supposed nationwide minimum tariff.

Estimate billable time realistically

Start with available days and subtract holidays, public holidays at your workplace, an illness buffer and training. Then allow for administration, acquisition and idle gaps. A general 60–70% ratio is not a measurement of your business.

For several weeks, record paid delivery, unpaid project work, acquisition and administration separately. With project prices, revisions and meetings count towards actual effort. Reassess hours when moving into full-time self-employment. The working-days guide provides a calendar framework, not your utilisation.

Use the official AHV/IV/EO scale in leaflet 2.02, 2026 edition. The full rate is 10% from CHF 60,500 assessable income; lower incomes and special circumstances have different rules. Contributions are not simply 10% of every invoice. Budget separately for insurance and pension provision.

Four approaches to pricing

• Cost basis: does the engagement cover variable costs, allocated fixed costs and your time? Contribution margin helps assess work.
• Market comparison: compare public offers with the same scope and ask genuine prospects about alternatives. Do not pose as a buyer to solicit work you do not intend to commission.
• Customer value: which problem do you solve? What benefit can you justify without guaranteeing revenue or savings?
• Capacity: what does this engagement displace? A high total price with high effort can be worse than a smaller, well-costed job.

A profession-based price table without a traceable survey is not a reliable market study. Record date, scope, region, tax basis and experience level for actual comparable offers. A blanket Zurich surcharge is not established.

Project prices, packages or retainers?

A project price fits clearer deliverables with limited revisions. Hourly billing fits open-ended effort. A hybrid can combine a fixed core with approved extra hours. See project versus hourly pricing.

Packages should differ in actual services, not merely create an artificial price anchor. There is no guarantee that 60% of customers choose the middle option. A retainer needs defined capacity, services, treatment of unused hours, additional work and cancellation. Monthly payments alone do not guarantee long-term income.

Discounts: consider changing scope instead

A discount reduces not just revenue but what remains after costs. Assumption: a job costs CHF 700 internally and is offered at CHF 1,000. A CHF 100 discount reduces the calculated surplus from CHF 300 to CHF 200. Here, a 10% price cut removes one third of the surplus.

Consider a smaller delivery, fewer revisions, flexible timing or a clearly limited extra service. Bonuses also take time. Instalments change payment timing and default risk, not the work. If granting a discount, record the amount, reason, validity period and subsequent regular price.

Test prices and announce increases

Do not change prices randomly on every quote. Compare similar engagements and record scope, price, response and rejection reason. Immediate acceptance does not automatically prove underpricing; rejection may reflect timing or scope.

For existing customers, a message might read:

“For new services from date, my hourly rate will be CHF amount. Already confirmed work remains unchanged. For specific new scope, I will send an updated quote in advance.”

Respect existing agreements instead of changing prices retrospectively. Explain scope and conditions rather than using unsupported comparison prices. After completion, compare estimated and actual hours. A clear invoice implements the agreed price; it cannot repair an unclear quote.

Planning examples are assumptions, not market statistics. As of 1 November 2026.