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Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?

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Re: Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#31

Post by brk »

My wife handles NetSuite and some Salesfoce outside developers as part of her role. She says they pay agencies $180-$230/hr for devs, depending on the person, seniority level, task, etc. I know that many times the developers are in India, or other countries with lower wages, and often they need a lot of oversight.

IMO your rates are too low, assuming that you are talking about US-based customers and you are US-based as well. $150-$175/hr would probably be palatable to your customers.

Re: Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#32

Post by honkdaddy »

kevinsky wrote: post #13

In Canada contractors who work for the recruiters who supply resources to the Canadian government can expect these kind of rates: Experienced DBA ~$80/hour System Analyst/Platform Analyst ~100/hour Security Assessor or Practitioner from $115 to $125/hour Front end developers who know a JavaScript framework, Power BI developers and anyone with cloud experience are in demand at top rates. Then there are the gold ring j…

What would application or full-stack engineers expect to charge? I'm Canadian and have often wondered about who's behind the broad spectrum of quality in our country's online offerings.

Re: Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#33

Post by nonameking2026 »

tdehnel wrote: post #28

It used to be $225/hr. But I don’t have an hourly rate anymore and I basically never will. You need to understand that as a contractor clients value more than just your time and the work you do. They value flexibility in staffing, getting an outsider’s opinion, their own time, working with a true expert, and making progress on projects which they can show off to their boss. That’s why for all my work I scope project…

Are you working in a specialized field or going on reputation mostly ?

Re: Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#34

Post by arbitrage »

tdehnel wrote: post #28

It used to be $225/hr. But I don’t have an hourly rate anymore and I basically never will. You need to understand that as a contractor clients value more than just your time and the work you do. They value flexibility in staffing, getting an outsider’s opinion, their own time, working with a true expert, and making progress on projects which they can show off to their boss. That’s why for all my work I scope project…

Hi, some people need health insurance for themselves and their family, a retirement plan, and predictable financial stability in their lives.

> You are full of it. Anyone can do this.

Your part to whole fallacy aside, in the real world, there are different constraints on people and family units other than trying to make the most amount of money all the time.

Re: Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#36

Post by TbobbyZ »

tdehnel wrote: post #28

It used to be $225/hr. But I don’t have an hourly rate anymore and I basically never will. You need to understand that as a contractor clients value more than just your time and the work you do. They value flexibility in staffing, getting an outsider’s opinion, their own time, working with a true expert, and making progress on projects which they can show off to their boss. That’s why for all my work I scope project…

When should I have a monthly retainer? How do I sell it to my client?

Re: Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#37

Post by devoutsalsa »

TbobbyZ wrote: post #26
0x5345414e wrote: post #8

My rate is 165 USD/hr, but I’ll drop it as low as 135 for a long contract (6 months+). I do custom software for the refrigeration industry (mostly simulations, sensor data logging, a lot of web apps, etc.). But yeah like another poster mentioned, I just raise it every time I work with a new customer. Imo hourly rates are kind of bogus because not every hour is the same and hours can’t determine value. Generally I neg…

How do I get into your work?

You have to be pretty cool.

Re: Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#38

Post by tdehnel »

arbitrage wrote: post #34
tdehnel wrote: post #28

It used to be $225/hr. But I don’t have an hourly rate anymore and I basically never will. You need to understand that as a contractor clients value more than just your time and the work you do. They value flexibility in staffing, getting an outsider’s opinion, their own time, working with a true expert, and making progress on projects which they can show off to their boss. That’s why for all my work I scope project…

Hi, some people need health insurance for themselves and their family, a retirement plan, and predictable financial stability in their lives. > You are full of it. Anyone can do this. Your part to whole fallacy aside, in the real world, there are different constraints on people and family units other than trying to make the most amount of money all the time.

I have all of that. I buy it with the money I make.

Re: Ask HN: Contractors, what is your hourly rate?

#40

Post by tdehnel »

nonameking2026 wrote: post #33
tdehnel wrote: post #28

It used to be $225/hr. But I don’t have an hourly rate anymore and I basically never will. You need to understand that as a contractor clients value more than just your time and the work you do. They value flexibility in staffing, getting an outsider’s opinion, their own time, working with a true expert, and making progress on projects which they can show off to their boss. That’s why for all my work I scope project…

Are you working in a specialized field or going on reputation mostly ?

There are probably a half million people who do what I do. I go on reputation and sales ability. Anyone can learn to improve both for themselves.
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