

Ask HN: Experienced php/LAMP developers, what is your hourly rate? - zaidf

I have been charging $45/hr for the past couple of months since I restarted consulting aggressively. I feel I am leaving money on the table. My clients are almost exclusively non-local. I'd love to know what fellow php devs are charging.
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Travis
I've charged rates from $60 (totally spec'd out product with full page designs
and everything how he wanted it) to around $100 (lots of hand holding).

Depends on location and type of work. I'd say that $45 is a bit low.

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zaidf
Yes, I am figuring that out now:) Though it did help me get going when
projects were dry.

That is interesting. I have a system where I give a flat quote if the specs
are clear or hourly if they are not clear. You seem to take it a level further
and only do hourly. How has your experience been with that? With hourly, how
do you take any deposit before starting(or do you?)? Sorry for inundating with
questions.

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zackattack
i did LAMP consulting in college to help pay for "cigarettes". i quoted $60 to
$85 an hour, depending on how much i thought my client would be willing to
pay. i would refuse to do flat-rate jobs, though i would provide an estimate,
and i almost always finish quicker than i estimated.

i would always start with a $1500 retainer, payable via check.

<https://s3.amazonaws.com/zack_public/Invoice+-+Template.doc>
[https://s3.amazonaws.com/zack_public/default_contracting_agr...](https://s3.amazonaws.com/zack_public/default_contracting_agreement.doc)

~~~
zaidf
Awesome! Thank you.

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patio11
You solve problems for business owners that prevent them from making money,
right? That gives you a very different comparable than php code monkey, which
is an implementation detail they do not understand anyway.

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EGreg
That really depends on where you are and if you can offer specialized value to
the company.

Here in NYC I can comfortably charge my clients $80/hour ... but I do more
than just PHP development.

