About Plainfigure · 2026
The honest number.
Plainfigure makes plain-English tools for the tax decisions that actually cost self-employed people money — built to show you the real figure, not a sales pitch.
Every other calculator is selling something
Most S-corp and small-business tax calculators are built by payroll companies and CPA firms. Their job is to make the answer look like yes, because a "yes" turns into a customer. So they quote the gross savings and quietly skip the parts that shrink it: the Social Security wage-base cap that limits what you actually save, the real cost of running payroll and filing a separate business return, and the QBI deduction you give up when you pay yourself a salary. The number you walk away with is smaller than the number they showed you.
What this does differently
Plainfigure tools subtract the things the others leave out and show the net — the figure after the costs, not before them. Sometimes that figure is good. Sometimes it's a few hundred dollars. Sometimes it's negative, and the tool says so plainly. A calculator that's willing to tell you don't bother is the entire point. The neutrality isn't a feature bolted on the side; it's the reason the tool is worth trusting.
How it's built
Nothing leaves your device
Every number you type stays in your browser. No account, no upload, no server storing your income.
One verified set of numbers
The yearly tax figures come from a single source checked against the IRS and SSA, and refreshed every year.
Estimates, not advice
These tools estimate the numbers for planning. They aren't tax, legal, or financial advice for your situation.
Plain, not corporate
No jargon wall, no urgency, no upsell pressure. Just the math, shown the way you'd want it shown to you.
Who it's for
Freelancers, consultants, contractors, and one-person businesses — the people who get handed structure decisions with real dollars attached and no neutral place to run the numbers. If you've ever read "you could save thousands with an S-corp!" and wondered whether it was actually true for you, that's the gap this is built to close.
What's here, and what's coming
Right now there's one tool: the S-corp election calculator — it tells you whether electing S-corp is worth it for your income, after everything. More decision tools are on the way for the choices that move the most money for a business of one: what a reasonable salary actually is, solo 401(k) versus SEP-IRA, and the true cost of a first hire. Each one built to the same rule — show the real figure, even when it isn't the exciting one.
Run your own number
Find out whether electing S-corp is actually worth it for your income — honestly.
Open the S-corp calculator