A public day-rate calculator and editorial resource for freelance video professionals. It makes the costs behind a sustainable rate visible, along with the math used to reach it.
Visit therateguide.com ↗The Problem
Freelance video crew rarely have a reliable point of comparison for their rates. Newer freelancers are especially likely to undercharge because the numbers are usually discussed in private.
The Rate Guide accounts for self-employment tax, health insurance, billable days, and profit margin. Every line of the formula is visible, so a freelancer can see the rate required to sustain the business and understand how it was calculated.
Take-home goal → health insurance → self-employment tax → profit margin → billable days → day rate
Current Scale
Derek designed and built the full product — calculator logic, 15 editorial guides, programmatic state-by-discipline location pages, and a Supabase-backed dashboard for saved rate scenarios — in Next.js, TypeScript, and Tailwind, deployed on Vercel.
The Build
Derek designed and built The Rate Guide end to end: product design, full-stack engineering, editorial structure, and technical SEO. It shows how Grain & Thunder approaches digital and interactive work—understand the user, make the information clear, and own the build through launch.