Know what your time earns
Side hustle net hourly earnings calculator
Revenue only tells part of the story. Compare what is left after fees and costs, then include the time spent getting, preparing for, and finishing the work.
This is illustrative arithmetic using your assumptions. It is not an earnings forecast, a tax calculator, or a promise of available work.
Compare two scenarios
The starting numbers are made-up examples, not typical earnings. Use the same time period and currency for both scenarios. Blank fields count as zero.
Changes the label, not exchange rates.
Scenario A
Your first gig or current approach
Net per total hour · before tax
$15.50/ hr
- Platform fees
- $16.00
- All costs entered
- $36.00
- Net earnings, before tax
- $124.00
- Total time
- 8 hrs
Scenario B
An alternative gig or a different week
Net per total hour · before tax
$18.33/ hr
- Platform fees
- $0.00
- All costs entered
- $30.00
- Net earnings, before tax
- $110.00
- Total time
- 6 hrs
Your comparison
Scenario B has a $2.83 higher net hourly rate before tax, using the numbers entered.
A higher hourly rate does not guarantee more available work, a higher total income, or a better fit. Results exclude tax and any costs you haven't entered.
Calculations run in your browser. This tool does not submit or save the numbers you enter. Reloading the page resets the examples.
How the calculation works
Platform fees = gross revenue × platform fee percentage ÷ 100
Net earnings = gross revenue − platform fees − other expenses
Net hourly earnings = net earnings ÷ (paid hours + unpaid hours)
All results are before tax. We keep full precision during the calculation and round currency to two decimal places for display. A negative result means the costs you entered exceed revenue. Zero total hours leaves the hourly result undefined rather than inventing a rate.
Why the higher-paying offer can lose
Imagine Scenario A brings in $160 for six active hours. A 10% fee takes $16, and other expenses take $20. You keep $124 before tax. Add two hours of preparation and waiting, and the total commitment is eight hours: $15.50 per hour.
Scenario B brings in $140, has no percentage fee, and costs $30 to deliver. Five active hours plus one unpaid hour leave $110 over six hours: about $18.33 per hour. B earns less money in total but about $2.83 more for each hour committed. Neither result tells you whether more work will be available.
These are fictional US-dollar examples that explain the arithmetic. They do not describe any platform's actual rates or fees.
Count the hours that disappear from the invoice
Delivery and local work
Include waiting between jobs, travel you take specifically for the gig, shopping or pickup delays, and the return journey. Do not count the same minute as both active and unpaid time.
Freelancing and tutoring
Count pitches, trial calls, lesson preparation, revisions, invoicing, and client messages. Spread one-off profile setup across a realistic trial period rather than ignoring it.
Selling and creating
Include sourcing, photographs, listing, packaging, customer support, and returns. A sale can arrive quickly even when the product or audience took many hours to build.
Research and task sites
Include eligibility screening, looking for tasks, and required setup. Only enter compensation you reasonably expect to receive; an advertised maximum is not a completed payout.
If you run two apps at once, count the shared waiting time once when evaluating the whole session. Separate scenarios need consistent time allocation, or the comparison can exaggerate what one person could earn in the same hour.
Build a cost estimate you can defend
- Start before fees, or set the fee to zero. If you enter an already-reduced platform payout as revenue, do not subtract that same fee again. For mixed percentage fees, enter their actual combined amount in expenses and leave the percentage at zero.
- Match costs to the same period. Include supplies, packaging, postage you cover, fixed transaction charges, refunds, and other work-related costs. A monthly subscription should be allocated consistently when you compare one-week trials.
- Include more than fuel. Driving also uses tires and maintenance capacity, and can create parking or toll costs. Use your own reasonable cost allowance; avoid entering both a mileage-based allowance and the same underlying costs again.
- Keep startup costs visible. Test both a first-period scenario with the full cash outlay and an ongoing scenario with a realistic share of equipment costs. Spreading a purchase over imagined future jobs can hide the risk if those jobs never arrive.
- Keep tax separate. This tool does not determine taxable profit, deductions, tax owed, benefits, or employment status. The amount shown is not necessarily money available to spend.
Use it for a small, measurable trial
- Pick a defined period, such as one week, and record revenue, costs, active time, and unpaid time as they happen.
- Run a second scenario with a slower week: less revenue, the same fixed costs, and more waiting. Check whether the result still feels worthwhile.
- Compare the rate with your own minimum acceptable return and the hours you can actually give. Also weigh payout delays, schedule control, physical demands, and the chance of repeat work.
- Decide what evidence would make you continue, change your approach, or stop. Repeat with real results before committing to expensive equipment or a long subscription.
Choose what to compare
Use the side hustle directory to explore the work involved, then verify current terms on each platform before entering your assumptions.