Ask HN: Standard freelance web development rates

IpV8 · on March 5, 2015

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.

moron4hire · on March 5, 2015

>> Rates also have to do with where you are, who you know, reputation, and what other offers you have on the table.

Rates have nothing to do with where you are. I don't live anywhere near any of my clients. They get charged the same rate, regardless.

I also don't change my rate for different types of work. I'm not a different person doing the work. I don't care if $100/hr is ludicrous to make a WordPress theme. If <theoretical client> wants me to make that WordPress theme, it'll be $100/hr. If <theoretical client> doesn't like that, they shouldn't ask me to make WordPress themes for them. That simple.

Moral of the story: you charge the rate that gets you out of bed in the morning. If the only rate that got me work was $5/hr, then I'd not be in this business. I like programming, so I will probably always do it for myself in some capacity, but I work as a programmer only in so much as it pays.

Who you know is correct, which is why going through eLance- or Odesk-like sites don't work. You make the big money in consulting by getting in some where and delighting the hell out of your client, to the point that they want to hire you as an employee but you stick to your guns and say "no, but I am jacking up my rates on you."

The three pillars of sales are: 1) get customers in the door, 2) get them to buy, 3) get them to come back again. You make the most money, in consulting, on the 3rd pillar. You can successfully ignore #1 and #2 for most of your career if you get lucky with a good client and continue to hit #3.

BlakePetersen · on March 5, 2015

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.

IpV8 · on March 5, 2015

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 · on March 5, 2015

Where do you find work?

IpV8 · on March 9, 2015

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

mathgeek · on March 5, 2015

" so I would charge $200/hr (a.k.a. I'll never do this) "

Just to emphasize how much rates can vary for many reasons, $200/hr was my base rate when I freelanced circa 2012.

pan69 · on March 5, 2015

Doing "what" located "where"? An hourly rate is totally subjective to what you do and where you do it.

mathgeek · on March 5, 2015

Standard freelance development, as that's what was requested in the OP. All located in the US.

Gustomaximus · on March 6, 2015

Out of interest how long does it take to implement a template website? I guess this is a 'how long is a piece of sting' but assume standard small business brochure and/or eCommerce website and a client that knows what they want and organizes content upfront so not huge amounts of revisions.

I ask as I have paid for a few websites at complete project rate and I'm curious the workload involved.

kiraken · on March 7, 2015

Implementing a template should take less than an hour. Creating it however is a different thing

BlakePetersen · on March 5, 2015

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 · on March 5, 2015

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.

dingodoo · on March 5, 2015

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.

egeozcan · on March 5, 2015

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

pauletienney · on March 5, 2015

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

slamus · on March 5, 2015

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.

ovi256 · on March 5, 2015

Another Parisian here. Email's in profile info, don't be afraid to write or add me on LinkedIn. Cheers.

ritonlajoie · on March 5, 2015

Hi ! I am also in Paris. Would you mind dropping me an email ? my info are in my contact page. Thanks !

AdrianRossouw · on March 5, 2015

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.

gk1 · on March 5, 2015

I wouldn't recommend doing this.

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

midnightmonster · on March 5, 2015

It's also a really naive calculation in that it assumes you will be able to fill nearly every working day out of the year with a full day's worth of paying work. When are you going to pursue leads, develop your sales funnel, learn new tech, and file your taxes?

charlesnw · on March 5, 2015

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.

jnbiche · on March 5, 2015

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.

gk1 · on March 5, 2015

Of course you should have a budget, but what does that have to do with the value you're providing as a consultant?

If you're asked why your hourly rate is $X, are you going to reply "because I have expensive hobbies?"

cweagans · on March 5, 2015

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.

mlmonkey · on March 5, 2015

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

nfriedly · on March 5, 2015

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.

icpmacdo · on March 5, 2015

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.

cpursley · on March 5, 2015

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.

mngutterman · on March 5, 2015

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