$500/day is about $62/hr, assuming 8 hrs/day. That’s in the median range for US freelancers. You can find people charging quite a bit less on sites like Upwork

$500/day is about $62/hr, assuming 8 hrs/day. That’s in the median range for US freelancers. You can find people charging quite a bit less on sites like Upwork and Fiverr (many of them in low cost-of-living countries). $250+/hr is at the high end, though I know freelancers getting that rate, and I sometimes get that rate for specialized or emergency work. Freelancers I know with similar experience/skills (I have 40 years programming experience) get $100-$200 per hour consistently with US companies. One friend specializes in server/network security and gets $225/hr consistently. I find I get better-quality customers with a higher than median rate. Depending on the niche you specialize in you have to find a rate that advertises your competence without going so high you exclude most customers. I prefer not to work hourly, and I never take on big fixed-fee projects. My niche is taking over the big fixed-fee projects that fail (as they seem to most of the time). I charge by deliverable unless the customer can’t handle that and wants to go hourly. Even when they want to pay hourly I’m giving them binding estimates for specific deliverables and tasks so it works out the same. I have worked through a US-based agency since 2014, they take care of contracts/legal, billing and payment, and marketing for 15% of gross. They get better rates than I was getting on my own before signing up with them so it works out.