
Ask HN: Standard freelance web development rates - kiraken
	I&#x27;ve been a freelance web developer for a while now, just something i do alongside college to help myself out. I&#x27;ve been getting work through freelancer all this time which i noticed is way too cheap comparing to the real thing. I was getting ready for a while now to start an online portfolio and start getting work through it, but i have no idea how much web developers usually charge, and no idea either where to get clients. So any help is appreciated
I create:<p>-Website templates<p>-E-commerce websites<p>-Wordpress&#x2F;Joomla themes<p>-Some SEO from time to time<p>-Adding responsiveness to websites<p>-Website designs<p>-Dynamic websites<p>If any experienced web developer could tell me how much they usually charge for any of those services i&#x27;d be very grateful
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IpV8
I charge whatever I can get! Rates also have to do with where you are, who you
know, reputation, and what other offers you have on the table. That being
said, here is what I would estimate each at:

-Website templates I buy all of mine from themeforest for like $30. I don't see why anyone would do otherwise unless they needed something really custom. I don't like designing website templates, so I would charge $200/hr (a.k.a. I'll never do this)

-E-commerce websites $75/hr

-Wordpress/Joomla themes Again buy themes from themeforest cheap. Wordpress site maintenance and installation seems to go for $20-$50/hr around here.

-Some SEO from time to time Experts will charge as much as $100/hr, basic stuff like putting meta tags in or running a google ads campaign could go as low as $20/hr

-Adding responsiveness to websites Nowadays this often means starting from scratch. I try to quote for the whole project on something like this, but to give you an idea I would say around $40 an hour (give or take 20)

-Website designs Same as above. ~$40

-Dynamic websites I'm assuming this means webapp? I charge around $85/hr for webapps. Usually using angular. I also have started putting the webapps through cordova/phonegap, which is an easy upsell.

And to icpmacdo's point: -remote backend development Same as webapps, around
$85/hr seems to be the magic number. This is VERY dependant on who you know
and where they are located.

Note: All of my rates may seem high for people who find projects online, not
in person. They may seem low for experts in their given field. Also, I find
the larger the company, the higher the rate. For backend work you could
probably get double that if you are an expert in large corporation java work.

~~~
BlakePetersen
Can you provide information as to where you are located? These rates seem
pretty low IMO, and you speak to location being an important variable, it
would be helpful to know what region you're referencing.

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IpV8
I am in New England (USA). These rates are a reflection of what I've seen
companies are willing to pay, not necessarily what I'll accept. For example, I
have not found an effective way to get more than about $40/hr for Wordpress
maintenance, so I have shifted to more backend and webapp work. Also, these
rates are more of an average. Depending on the length, stability, and
enjoyability of the project, I may be willing to work for more or less money.

~~~
Jhsto
Where do you find work?

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IpV8
Local tech meetups, friends, and family, and local tech meetups.

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BlakePetersen
I used to charge different rates for different things, but then I realized my
time is what's valuable, not so much the task I'm doing. So I switched to
$200/hr and stopped wasting time and energy figuring out whether I should be
clocked in for this rate, or "that task really falls under that category", or
classifying tasks/justifying rates. It's all so much more simple and the
client really doesn't care either way I've come to find.

Also, I am based in the SF Bay Area and most of my freelance clients are in
California for reference.

~~~
TamDenholm
This is the right attitude, i dont know why people's time differs in value
depending on the task they are performing, you're still paying that person for
their time. I understand that some tasks have a lower general market rate, but
if the client specifically wants YOU, then you charge YOUR rate.

Whether the client wants you to create a complicated application doing
statistical analysis, make a wordpress site, or sweep the floors, if they want
YOU to do it, then they pay YOUR rate.

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dingodoo
It depends on what your portfolio looks like, honestly. If you've got a bang-
up portfolio, by all means do the $150-$200/hour people are recommending.

If your portfolio needs a little more polish, charge lower to get the
experience.

When I started freelancing, I would purposefully undercharge and over-deliver,
and let the client know that.

If you need to turn work down while you wait for those kinds of higher-paying
gigs to come along, you can always sharpen and hone your skills by creating
ecommerce templates for theme stores, and make money off of those sales.

It may not be the _most_ profitable, but it will keep you in practice in-
between clients. The most important thing is that you remain prolific in your
work and create a large body of content.

Not for them, but for your own skill set.

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egeozcan
Near Stuttgart, prices are around 1000€/day (+/-500€, depending on the
experience), billed by quarter-day increments.

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pauletienney
I work in Paris, France. I charge 500 € / day for web dev. I charge 600 € /
day for consulting.

~~~
slamus
Same Here, just finished my studies and I work usually for around 60€ / Hour
for quick jobs (less than a Week). But I prefer to charge for full projects
than by hour, since my work is more finally more of an web agency than a
standard developer.

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AdrianRossouw
I worked backwards from my target salary, divided by the amount of workdays in
a year, with an added 15% contracting rate modifier.

So if I wanted to make 90k/y, my day rate would be :

> (90000 / 230) * 1.15 = $450 per 8-hour day.

PS: I don't like selling time in less than 4 hour batches either.

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gk1
I wouldn't recommend doing this.

What does your target salary have to do with the value of your work?

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charlesnw
Um. You work for money. Generally one should have a target amount of money in
mind (based on a budget). I rather like the calculation. I'll use it next time
I do consulting.

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jnbiche
Do you think this is how companies price their goods?

I mean, sure you should calculate a bare minimum rate. But you should charge
as much as the market will bare.

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cweagans
I don't do any visual design work, but I'll convert designs to HTML/CSS,
though. I specialize in backend development and prefer taking that work when I
can. For that, I charge $175/hr.

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mlmonkey
Not to hijack the thread, but: what are typical rates for Machine Learning
freelancing gigs?

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nfriedly
I haven't freelanced since starting my current position, but I was charging a
flat $125/hr for the previous couple of years. I mostly do JavaScript/Node.js
stuff and turn down the majority of the work that comes my way.

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icpmacdo
To add to this I would be interested in know what the standard rate is for
remote backend development, I know PHP and Node. Also is there much work
online for hybrid app development? That's what I have the most experience
with.

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cpursley
I tell clients that I charge $150 per hour as an anchor. But most of the time
price out projects as sprint based deliverables, not hours.

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mngutterman
Kiraken mentioned not knowing how to get new clients. That's something I tend
to have issues with as well. Any suggestions?

