What’s a Good Rate?
In the EE forums, a simple question was posed:
How much does an Expression Engine Developer cost?
It was followed by a concern that $100/hour was “ludicrous” and too much money.
I’m not going to begin a discussion about what an hourly rate should be. I have no idea. It depends on so many factors: location, cost of doing business, skill set, experience, desired income and more. There’s no right answer.
John Fuller gave a nice run-down of considerations when looking at the cost of a developer:
Consider this developer may have to pay for an office, accounting services, business related tools, health insurance (perhaps for a full family,) the list goes on.
[…]
Consider that not all hours in a day are billable.
[…]
Think of the average wage of your area, double that wage, and then add something like another 20% for profit and you will get an idea of what developers can cost.
Also don’t forget that freelance developers and other self-employed developers have to pay increased taxes (it varies with your state and city). I can only speak for the United States, but a freelance developer definitely has to pay a self employment tax. That, plus possible state income taxes (if applicable), can easily add up to 30-40% of their income. So, if they’re charging you $100 an hour they only get to keep $60-70 of that money and that’s before factoring in costs of running the business. As John mentions, there are many associated costs: health insurance, office space, hardware, accountant fees and business insurance to just name a few.
There’s a good thread going in the EE Forums (it gets hijacked by people showing their expertise of the Sherman Act) and I hope you’ll chime in with your feedback.
Read the thread: How much does an Expression Engine Developer cost? -ExpressionEngine Community Forums
Posted on Jul 06, 2011 by Ryan Irelan
Share on Twitter
Steven Grant — 10:44 on 07.06.2011
It’s always something that will split opinion.
When I started out, I worked from my parents garage. I had nothing in the way of overheads and so I was happy taking what I now consider low payment for work.
Of course over time I’ve grown up, I moved out of my parents house, got married, bought a house and had kids and that money that I thought was great in my late teens now is quite pithy in comparison.
Some clients would prefer to have the teen at lower rates. OK may not be the greatest but perhaps meets their need.
In the end though, you get what you pay for.
Wolf — 10:46 on 07.06.2011
$100 an hour is more standard than ludicrous, but then again, it depends what you do in that hour.
Jez Swinscoe — 15:02 on 07.07.2011
$100/hr is only
Tom Stoecklein — 21:08 on 07.08.2011
Hey now! I didn’t hijack the thread; I merely took it for a slight tangent
Tom Stoecklein — 21:08 on 07.08.2011
Hey now! I didn’t hijack the thread to talk about Sherman; it was more a slight tangent than anything else :D.