Agency hourly rate calculator
This agency hourly rate calculator answers one question: what must you charge per hour so the team pays for itself? It derives your minimum rate from payroll costs, overhead, realistic billable utilization and your target margin — for most agencies that means 65 to 75 percent utilization and a 15 to 25 percent margin. Enter your numbers above and the break-even and recommended rates update as you type.
Result
€0/h
Minimum break-even rate
Team & Payroll
Count part-timers proportionally (e.g. 2 half-time = 1 FTE)
Employee gross salary; employer contributions are calculated separately
Typical: 20–22% on gross salary (health ~7.3%, pension ~9.3%, care ~1.8%, unemployment ~1.3%, plus levies)
Overhead
Rent, software, hardware, marketing, insurance etc., Pistacio benchmark: 30–60% of payroll for small agencies
Utilization & Working Hours
Share of working time billed directly to clients. Pistacio benchmark: 65–75% for agencies.
260 working days minus ~30 days holiday/public holidays/sick leave = ~230 days typical
Target Margin
Pistacio benchmark for agencies: 15–25%. Below 10%: critical.
My Current Hourly Rate
Optional: compare against your current rate
Result
Minimum Rate (Break-Even)
64 € / h
Cost Breakdown
| / Month | / Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | 24,400 € | 292,800 € |
| Overhead | 9,760 € | 117,120 € |
| Total costs | 34,160 € | 409,920 € |
| Target revenue (20% margin) | 42,700 € | 512,400 € |
Available Hours
Sensitivity
If utilization drops by 5% (65%):
→ Break-even rate rises to: 69 € / h
Disclaimer
This calculator is for guidance purposes only and does not replace professional financial advice.
All benchmarks and calculations are based on data available in 2026 and are not legally binding.
Utilization: the lever most agencies get wrong
Most agencies plan with 70 percent utilization and actually deliver 55 to 60 — internal meetings, acquisition, admin and context switching eat the difference quietly. Because billable hours sit in the denominator, every lost five points push the break-even rate up sharply: in the example above, a drop from 70 to 65 percent raises it from 63 to about 68 euros. Plan with your measured utilization, not your hoped-for one. Pistacio shows you the real number automatically from tracked time.
Hourly rate versus fixed project price
A fixed project price is just an hourly rate in disguise: your quote divided by the hours you planned. That works while the scope holds — every unbilled change request quietly lowers the effective rate you actually earn. So treat every Festpreis as a rate calculation: estimate hours honestly, divide the price, compare it against your minimum rate, and check the effective rate again after delivery using the actual hours. If it repeatedly lands below break-even, either the quote or the estimation needs fixing.
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