Costs & rates
Costs & rates
What developers cost by stack and engagement type, and what a build will cost before you commit.
Calculators & tools
CalculatorMVP cost calculatorWhat it costs to build six common product types with freelancers, US agencies or offshore teams.CalculatorContract rate calculatorEstimate a contractor's rate by stack, experience and state, or what you should charge.ToolW-2 vs 1099 vs C2CCompare the true cost and take-home of each engagement type side by side.
Contract rates by stack
Click a column to sort.
| Stack | Contract rate | W-2 equivalent | Hiring difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scala | $111–136/hr | $177,200 | Severe |
| Terraform | $101–124/hr | $161,800 | Severe |
| Kubernetes | $99–121/hr | $157,900 | Severe |
| Go | $99–121/hr | $157,900 | Severe |
| Elixir | $99–121/hr | $157,900 | Low |
| Ruby | $96–118/hr | $153,500 | High |
| Rust | $96–118/hr | $153,100 | High |
| DevOps | $96–118/hr | $153,500 | |
| Kotlin | $94–116/hr | $150,900 | High |
| Android | $94–116/hr | $150,900 | |
| AWS | $93–115/hr | $149,200 | Severe |
| Swift | $92–113/hr | $147,400 | High |
| PostgreSQL | $92–113/hr | $146,500 | High |
| iOS | $92–113/hr | $147,400 | |
| AI/ML | $91–112/hr | $146,000 | |
| Docker | $90–111/hr | $144,800 | High |
| Python | $88–108/hr | $140,300 | Severe |
| Java | $88–108/hr | $140,300 | Severe |
| React | $88–108/hr | $140,300 | High |
| TypeScript | $88–108/hr | $140,300 | High |
| Django | $88–108/hr | $140,300 | Moderate |
| Next.js | $88–108/hr | $140,300 | Moderate |
| Node.js | $86–105/hr | $136,800 | High |
| C++ | $82–101/hr | $131,600 | Severe |
| Angular | $82–101/hr | $131,600 | Low |
| Vue | $81–99/hr | $128,900 | Low |
| .NET | $77–94/hr | $122,800 | Severe |
| PHP | $72–88/hr | $114,900 | High |
Contract (C2C/1099) rates = W-2 hourly × 1.3–1.6. W-2: BLS May 2025 software developer median adjusted per stack with Stack Overflow 2025 pay data. Also see rates by state and by database.
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