Software Development is a fairly complex service, and many elements affect the end price for a project and custom software development hourly rates for developers. If you are looking to hire a software engineer or a software development company, you want to ensure you get the best value for your money.
While hiring the cheapest partner can cost you more in the long run, paying top dollar doesn’t necessarily mean that you will get a quality product. To avoid stumbling into this trap, it’s essential to know the market rates and choose a company based on its reputation, not just its price tag.
In this post, I’ll give you a comprehensive picture of what affects the price and how you can select or avoid pitfalls when choosing a software development company.
Developer Cost Per Hour: General Overview
The cost per hour for a developer depends on several factors, and the most important ones are:
- Experience level: The more experienced your developer, the higher their hourly rate will be.
- Scope of work (what kind of software they’re working on): A simple website will cost less than an enterprise-level application that needs to integrate multiple systems and databases across different platforms.
- The methodology used (Agile or waterfall): Agile methods tend to require more hours because they involve collaboration with other team members and stakeholders throughout each stage of development.
- Research time needed (before writing code): It may take longer for a developer who specializes in UX design to research user experience best practices or usability issues if they don’t already have extensive knowledge in this area.
What Determines An Hourly Rate For a Software Developer?
The hourly rate of a software developer can vary greatly depending on the developer’s experience, location, and company.
The average annual salary for a Software Engineer II ranges from $67,946 – $86,025, with an average hourly wage of $30.83 per hour, according to Indeed.com.
If you’re looking for a junior-level software engineer with 0-1 year of experience, you should expect to pay anywhere between $50 -$65 per hour for their services. If you hire someone with more than ten years of experience in this field, expect to pay anywhere from $70 -$85 per hour or more, depending on your budget and requirements.
Hiring A Freelancer vs. A Software Development Company
When it comes to hiring a freelancer or software development with team extension, you must consider the following:
- A freelancer can be hired for a specific project. For example, if you need an application built and released by a particular date, choosing a freelance developer is the best way to ensure this happens.
- A freelancer can be hired for their skills. For example, if you are looking for someone who has experience building Android apps and needs help with your next app idea, then hiring an Android developer may be your best option.
- A freelancer can also be chosen based on their technology knowledge (e.g., Swift vs. Java), platform expertise (e.g., iOS vs. Android), or even language proficiency (e.g., NodeJS vs. Elixir).
Software development hourly rates by country
While several factors determine the hourly rate of a software developer, the average is $95 per hour.
To hire a freelancer, you can expect to pay between $25 and $280. Hiring multiple freelancers will cost less money on an hourly basis than hiring one full-time employee.
When hiring a company, your budget will determine how much you pay them per hour. In general, outsourced companies charge more than local ones because they have higher overhead costs (like office space) and require less time from their employees than local firms (who spend all their time traveling back and forth between clients).
Top 4 Criteria For Choosing A Software Company
When choosing a software company, you’ll want to consider these four criteria:
Experience
It’s always better to work with an experienced team than a new one, and they will be able to anticipate problems and offer solutions.
Reputation
A good reputation indicates quality work done by the team and customer satisfaction throughout their history of projects. If you find out that your prospective partner has been involved in several failed projects or has a poor reputation among clients, it may not be worth taking them on board for yours, either.
Positive Reviews
Check online review websites like Yellow Pages and Google Reviews for positive feedback about your prospective partner’s services before signing any contracts with them; this way, you can rest assured that they’re reputable enough before starting any work together!
Offshore Software Development Rates By Country
India is the cheapest to get quality work done for offshore software development. At $9-15 per hour, it’s more than 20% cheaper than China and over 50% cheaper than the United States.
“China and India are the two most common choices for offshoring, but they’re not the only options. If you’re looking for a different location (or want to compare your own company’s costs), checking out our Offshore Software Development Cost Guide can help you make an informed decision about where to outsource your project,” says Slava Vaniukov, expert and CEO of Softermii.
If you need help deciding which provider is right for you and how much it will cost, Altamira is here! Our experienced team has completed hundreds of projects around the world—including many here in India—and we’ll be happy to advise what would work best for your team’s needs.”
Conclusion
This article presents a comprehensive overview of software development pricing, which should help you understand the process and make an informed decision. While it’s great to choose from such a wide range of options, the abundance of choices can easily lead to confusion.
Whether you bet on outsourcing or hiring in-house developers, you must start by setting your goals and budget. Then consider all your options carefully before making a final decision: whether it will be more beneficial to hire in-house developers or outsource development services? Last but not least — find a reliable partner who will help you build your product successfully.
