What we do
Foliumly.com | Finance tools built for US freelancers and self-employed workers is a focused finance toolkit for US freelancers, 1099 contractors, consultants, and self-employed individuals. We build calculators that account for the realities of self-employment — the 15.3% self-employment tax, state tax variation, billable utilization, the QBI deduction, retirement deductions — so the rate you walk away with is one you can plan a year around.
The plan over 2026 is a suite of 8–12 specialist calculators on a single domain, each surrounded by long-form content that goes deeper than the funnel pages currently dominating search results. Today's roster is the Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator; the 1099 tax estimator, take-home calculator, quarterly estimated-tax planner, and Solo 401(k) contribution calculator are in build.
Why we exist
Most freelance and 1099 calculators on the open web are funnels for a paid product. Their job is to capture an email, not to give you the right number. They skip self-employment tax. They use a single average state rate. They assume 100% billable utilization. The output is a number that's typically 20–40% too low — and the gap between the rate you charge and the rate you actually need is the gap between an income that works and one that quietly grinds you down.
We exist to close that gap. The site has no signup wall, no email gate, and no upsells. The calculators are free, the math is documented, and the data sources are cited.
How the math works (short version)
For each calculation we apply, in order: self-employment tax (12.4% Social Security up to the wage base, 2.9% Medicare uncapped, 0.9% additional Medicare above the filing-status threshold), Adjusted Gross Income (subtracting the deductible half of SE tax, retirement, and self-employed health insurance, and adding any other income for bracket placement), the Section 199A QBI deduction (lesser of 20% of qualified business income or 20% of taxable income, capped conservatively at the SSTB phase-out threshold), federal income tax (current-year IRS bracket schedule for your filing status), and state income tax (none / flat / progressive depending on the state).
A binary-search solver inverts that stack to produce the revenue figure that lands on your target take-home. Read the full methodology on the calculator page or the dedicated methodology hub.
Data sources
- Federal brackets, standard deductions, the Social Security wage base, additional Medicare thresholds, and the QBI threshold — IRS Revenue Procedure for the current tax year, plus IRS Topic 560 (SE tax), Schedule SE, and Form 8995 / 8995-A (QBI).
- State brackets — each state's department of revenue, with the Tax Foundation's annual state income tax summary as a cross-check.
- Industry billable-utilization defaults — Bonsai, Payoneer, and Upwork freelancer reports, supplemented by US Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational data.
- Tax constants verified annually each January when the IRS Revenue Procedure and state DOR releases land.
Who's behind it
The toolkit is maintained by Avery Mitchell, an independent finance writer who has covered self-employment, small-business taxation, and personal finance for the better part of a decade. Avery is not a Certified Public Accountant, an Enrolled Agent, or a tax attorney; calculators on this site are checked against real-world tax-prep tools but they are explicitly not tax advice. For decisions that affect your return, see a licensed professional.
Editorial corrections and methodology improvements come from readers all the time — spotted an error? Let us know.
What you'll never see here
- Email-gated calculators or paywalls.
- Pop-ups, interstitials, or sticky banners that cover the calculator while you're using it.
- Tracking cookies that follow you across the web.
- Affiliate links without a clearly labeled disclosure on the same page.
Contact
Reach us via the contact page. We read and answer every good-faith email.