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Topic: [Question] What is the general price to hire a developer? (Read 876 times)

hero member
Activity: 672
Merit: 500
Alright, thanks! But isn't it generalising that prices differ per area of i.e west and east Europe? Or is this really true?

It is generalising, but it's also true in most cases. Just take a look at this list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_wage and sort it by gross income and then you'll see Ireland, UK and Germany on the opposite side of the list than Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.

Ah, alright. Thanks a bunch! I'll have to do some saving, but I got a great idea so I hope the investment will be worth it! Wink.
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 522
Alright, thanks! But isn't it generalising that prices differ per area of i.e west and east Europe? Or is this really true?

It is generalising, but it's also true in most cases. Just take a look at this list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_wage and sort it by gross income and then you'll see Ireland, UK and Germany on the opposite side of the list than Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.
hero member
Activity: 672
Merit: 500
A great developer costs $100k/y + perks assuming he's not in SV or NY (where you need to pay more, add some equity and/or provide opportunity to work on a really exciting project and with a great team). For freelancers hired for short/mid-term projects, add 50-100%, because lot of their time is not billable and they have to account some risks in their rate. That sets you anywhere between $70 and $150 per hour. For Central/Eastern Europe based developers, slash that in half as you can find great Ukrainian or Polish programmers at $30-70 per hour if you know where to look.

I don't claim that you have to spend that much. You can find some decent developers for half of this rate (that is $30-50 in the US/Western Europe and $15-25 in Eastern Europe) and they may deliver a great and bulletproof product, but it's always a gamble as they are more likely to deliver buggy software than the top developers. And if we're talking handling bitcoin and hot wallets, you need to answer yourself if you'd like to gamble.

You can also find some Asian developers (especially from India or Philippines) working for just a fraction of these rates, but it's not even a gamble and more like a russian roulette, as 9 out of 10 extremely cheap developers will deliver complete shit. I am not discriminating here based on location, it's more about the rate. Those who have the skills and are smart enough to work for abroad clients, they know how much to charge. I worked with some brilliant Asian developers but they charged almost European rates. So I'm talking here about $5-10/h developers who may be good for installing wordpress and some plugins, but will most likely deliver shit if they need to actually write some software.

Again, I don't claim that $10/h developers can't deliver great software for you (in fact I hired once a brilliant developer at this rate, who did a great job despite some communication issues), but in this business, in 80% cases you get what you pay for. And if you don't have the skills to find one of 10% great developers among those with mid rates or one of 1% great developers among those with low rates, you either pay top rates or gamble.

Alright, thanks! But isn't it generalising that prices differ per area of i.e west and east Europe? Or is this really true?
newbie
Activity: 40
Merit: 0
A great developer costs $100k/y + perks assuming he's not in SV or NY (where you need to pay more, add some equity and/or provide opportunity to work on a really exciting project and with a great team). For freelancers hired for short/mid-term projects, add 50-100%, because lot of their time is not billable and they have to account some risks in their rate. That sets you anywhere between $70 and $150 per hour. For Central/Eastern Europe based developers, slash that in half as you can find great Ukrainian or Polish programmers at $30-70 per hour if you know where to look.

I don't claim that you have to spend that much. You can find some decent developers for half of this rate (that is $30-50 in the US/Western Europe and $15-25 in Eastern Europe) and they may deliver a great and bulletproof product, but it's always a gamble as they are more likely to deliver buggy software than the top developers. And if we're talking handling bitcoin and hot wallets, you need to answer yourself if you'd like to gamble.

You can also find some Asian developers (especially from India or Philippines) working for just a fraction of these rates, but it's not even a gamble and more like a russian roulette, as 9 out of 10 extremely cheap developers will deliver complete shit. I am not discriminating here based on location, it's more about the rate. Those who have the skills and are smart enough to work for abroad clients, they know how much to charge. I worked with some brilliant Asian developers but they charged almost European rates. So I'm talking here about $5-10/h developers who may be good for installing wordpress and some plugins, but will most likely deliver shit if they need to actually write some software.

Again, I don't claim that $10/h developers can't deliver great software for you (in fact I hired once a brilliant developer at this rate, who did a great job despite some communication issues), but in this business, in 80% cases you get what you pay for. And if you don't have the skills to find one of 10% great developers among those with mid rates or one of 1% great developers among those with low rates, you either pay top rates or gamble.
Great post. Literally what I tell people about my prices.
hero member
Activity: 616
Merit: 522
A great developer costs $100k/y + perks assuming he's not in SV or NY (where you need to pay more, add some equity and/or provide opportunity to work on a really exciting project and with a great team). For freelancers hired for short/mid-term projects, add 50-100%, because lot of their time is not billable and they have to account some risks in their rate. That sets you anywhere between $70 and $150 per hour. For Central/Eastern Europe based developers, slash that in half as you can find great Ukrainian or Polish programmers at $30-70 per hour if you know where to look.

I don't claim that you have to spend that much. You can find some decent developers for half of this rate (that is $30-50 in the US/Western Europe and $15-25 in Eastern Europe) and they may deliver a great and bulletproof product, but it's always a gamble as they are more likely to deliver buggy software than the top developers. And if we're talking handling bitcoin and hot wallets, you need to answer yourself if you'd like to gamble.

You can also find some Asian developers (especially from India or Philippines) working for just a fraction of these rates, but it's not even a gamble and more like a russian roulette, as 9 out of 10 extremely cheap developers will deliver complete shit. I am not discriminating here based on location, it's more about the rate. Those who have the skills and are smart enough to work for abroad clients, they know how much to charge. I worked with some brilliant Asian developers but they charged almost European rates. So I'm talking here about $5-10/h developers who may be good for installing wordpress and some plugins, but will most likely deliver shit if they need to actually write some software.

Again, I don't claim that $10/h developers can't deliver great software for you (in fact I hired once a brilliant developer at this rate, who did a great job despite some communication issues), but in this business, in 80% cases you get what you pay for. And if you don't have the skills to find one of 10% great developers among those with mid rates or one of 1% great developers among those with low rates, you either pay top rates or gamble.
Vod
legendary
Activity: 3668
Merit: 3010
Licking my boob since 1970
what is the general price to hire a developer to make a medium sized game?

Probably a medium amount of bitcoins. 
hero member
Activity: 672
Merit: 500
Hey there!
I have a question, what is the general price to hire a developer to make a medium sized game (online, bitcoin gambling site), and secure this too? Graphics and suchs apart, just the programming it and securing it and willing to maintain for bug fixes. How much does such thing generally cost?
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