Filipino VAs are undercharging and the tools aren't helping.
Over 2 million Filipino VAs are in the market and most are undercharging because they have no tool built for their actual situation. Generic freelance rate calculators assume Western expenses, Western platforms, and Western living costs. When a VA in Cebu uses a tool calibrated for a freelancer in San Francisco, the output is useless and often actively harmful.
Common workarounds that fail:
Asking in Facebook groups and copying what others charge
Using US-market calculators and guessing a conversion
Picking a number and hoping for the best
"I was charging $4/hr for social media work for two years. This calculator showed me my expense floor alone demands $6.50/hr."
User feedback
The Solution
Three actionable numbers. Real negotiations.
Rei is a 4-step rate calculator that takes a Filipino VA's actual monthly expenses, niche, platform, and engagement type and outputs three actionable numbers they can use in real negotiations.
rei.aleanadeleon.com/calculator
Social Media VA · Upwork
Your Rate Summary
Based on ₱26,620/mo expenses · 20 hrs/wk · Retainer
Survival
$6.10
Fair
$8.40
Ask for this →
$9.24
How It Was Built
Lightweight, fast, and standalone.
Layer
Choice
Why
Frontend
HTML / CSS / Vanilla JS
No framework needed, fast load
Static Site
Jekyll
Blog + pages from markdown
Hosting
GitHub Pages
Free, zero infra overhead
Fonts
Custom brand type
Distinctly not generic
Core Logic
Expense floor calculation
User inputs monthly PHP expenses (rent, food, internet, transport, savings goal). These are converted to USD at current rate, then divided by billable hours not total hours. A utilization factor is applied: 90% for retainers, 70% for project-based. This becomes the true floor rate before any platform gross-up.
Platform fee gross-up
Each platform has different fee structures. Upwork takes 20% on the first $500/client, then 10%. Fiverr takes a flat 20%. OnlineJobs.ph takes 0% from freelancers. The calculator knows which platform is selected and grosses up the floor rate accordingly so the net always covers expenses.
Three-rate output model
Survival = floor rate with no buffer the minimum to not lose money.
Asking = fair rate + a confidence buffer (roughly 10–15%), calibrated per niche. This is what you quote. It builds in room to negotiate down without going below fair.
Niche benchmarks
9 niches were manually researched using current PH VA job boards, agency rate cards, and community survey data. Each niche has its own floor and ceiling: General Admin sits at $3–8/hr while Executive VA goes $10–20/hr. Rates are reviewed and updated twice a year.
Key Features
PHP-first output
USD for client conversations. PHP projections for real life. Both shown prominently.
Three-rate output
Survival, fair, and asking not one number. A range you can actually negotiate with.
Utilization factor
Freelancers don't bill every hour. Retainers vs. project-based get different rates.
9 PH niche benchmarks
Each niche has its own base range grounded in actual PH market data not US figures.
Results
It's working.
These are outcomes from real VAs who shared their results after using the calculator.
+63%Average rate increase reported by users
4 minAverage time to get a usable rate
2M+Filipino VAs in the addressable market
What I Learned
What worked, what I'd change.
What Worked Well
The three-rate output model resonated immediately. Users didn't want one answer they wanted a range so they could walk into a negotiation with confidence rather than a single fragile number.
What I'd Do Differently
I'd build in a shareable results link from day one. The most organic sharing moment sending your rate breakdown to a client happened anyway, but users were taking screenshots. A link would have been far more powerful.
Key insight: The blog became an unexpected distribution channel. Articles on platform comparisons and rate negotiation scripts drove more traffic than any direct product mention.