[moshmosh]

Your rate would be about normal for someone just starting out in their career, in a 3rd- or 4th-tier city with a local employer. On salary, not contract. So give them another, oh, $15-20K/yr to account for 7.5% employer-paid FICA and benefits.

IOW it is very, very low for a contracting rate just about anywhere in the US. It's under normal for a junior in flyover country. If you're getting a bunch of free time out of this gig, consider going part-time without changing what you're asking. $6k/m is what you could charge for a per-week commitment of 10-20 hours (depending on your experience, stack, et c). Then either officially slack off during your down time since you're not "on the clock" at all, or take other gigs. Or jump ship. You can easily beat that rate somewhere else, with a remote job, and probably locally unless you live nowhere near anything resembling a city. Most jobs that'd pay you double that (or more) won't have you killing yourself with work, either, though your workload might be higher than it is now.

[misterremote]

Thanks! I had a call with the startup today about my price (see my full comment above).

But basically they said they don't have any more money and we should all work with what is possible right now.

Wat...