How much should I bill for webdev?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17333383

by ixacto • 8 years ago

14 16 8 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I am working with some clients here in Seattle. I taught myself django + Angular + Linux/aws.

Min. 100. Python + JS + portfolio of multiple implemented sites? 100+ Anything below and you won't be considered marketable. US rates ofc.

godelmachine4• 8 years ago

I build websites using Wordpress on GoDaddy. How much do you reckon should I charge?

nomocrypto• 8 years ago

Whatever your therapy bill is plus $100 for a good bottle of scotch.

orliesaurus3• 8 years ago

Min $50/hour.

If you also build custom plugins in PHP/JS with jQuery and so then probably a more. It is not because you use a large prepackaged starting point that your skills are less valuable. In this scenario your ability to build anything on top of WP to get the job done is what differentiates you from the competition.

sebleon• 8 years ago

$100-$150/hr is very reasonable, $200-250/hr if the client is well funded and personally likes you.

godelmachine4• 8 years ago

Suppose I am developing websites using wordpress on GoDaddy. Would you still charge the same?

ohhellno• 8 years ago

Yes

byebyetech• 8 years ago

I am making $85/hour as Senior iOS Engineer in Los Angeles. My client has "sub-contracted" me for $120/hour to their clients in San Francisco that has $25mil+ funding. Do you think my client is charging low too? Its super competitive and I have not seen anyone charge > $150/hour.

theli0nheart• 8 years ago

It depends. Is this a 40 hour / week gig? If so, rates for those sorts of contracts can be commensurately lower than ad-hoc projects.

borplk• 8 years ago

Where do you find local clients?

ekkert• 8 years ago

I’d look at local and remote freelancers in the similar fields and add 10-25%.

dabockster• 8 years ago

If you're anywhere near Seattle (or any other tech hub for that matter), you really should be charging by the week. I've noticed through my own experiences that clients can get super micro-managey around here on hourly pay and try to renegotiate discounts if you're not doing something that's strictly "work". Weekly billing takes care of this as they're less likely to argue over the specifics of each day as long as you're making good progress.

As for pricing, seek around $5500/week. This is roughly $130/hr x 40 hours, plus an extra $300 for "crunch time insurance". Again, I don't anticipate clients being picky about this weekly fee as long as you're meeting their needs. Heck, you could probably knock off 4-5 hours a week (eg Friday afternoons off) and still be able to charge this if you were making good progress.

Lastly, since I'm assuming you're contracting, make sure that you're making the decisions about where you're working, what hardware/software you're using to write the actual code, etc. If a company wants you to work in their office on their machines as a condition of a contract, you risk losing your independent contractor status (and the business risks getting fined for avoiding L/I insurance by "subcontracting-but-not-really").

Hope this helps! Don't stress too much, it's summer in the PNW!

How much should I bill for webdev?

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