How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Front-end Developer?

Factors Affecting the Cost-Fronted Developer Cost

When it comes to determining the average cost of hiring front-end developers, multiple factors come into play, such as:

1. Experience level

Usually, front-end developers fall under three categories:

• Junior front-end developers have entry-level skills and typically charge around $50,000 to $70,000 annually. The hourly rate at the entry-level ranges from $ 10-$30.
• Intermediate front-end developers have moderate experience and can write reasonably clean codes. Their typical annual fee ranges from $80,000 to $90,000. The mid-level hourly range spans from $30-$50.
• Senior front-end developers have excellent collaboration and problem-solving skills. They are well-versed in frameworks like jQuery and can compose code. They create websites with version control, responsive designs, and performance optimization. The hourly rate at this level is $50-$100. One can expect to pay around $110,000 to $125,000 per year to hire these developers.

2. Location

The geographic location of the outsourcing companies or front-end developers affects the hourly rates. Businesses often prefer to outsource developers due to the high pricing of local front-end developers and the better availability of seasoned developers at comparatively low rates in remote areas. For instance, the hourly rates of front-end developers in countries like Canada, Australia, and the USA are the highest worldwide.

3. Hiring Model

You can explore different hiring models to find the one that meets your budget and project requirements.

Freelancers are self-employed programmers who sign contracts with companies for various projects, from maintaining your sites to writing codes in multiple languages. If you are on a tight budget and are not planning to develop your site from scratch, you can hire them full-time or part-time.

Hiring an agency is recommended if you want a dedicated developer with proper knowledge of multiple programming languages and technology stacks. Part-time freelancers can cost you around $16, whereas a dedicated developer hired through an agency can cost you around $50 to $150. Hourly rates for freelance developers can range from $30 to $150, depending on location, expertise, and project requirements. Similarly, for agency-hired developers, hourly rates can range from $50 to $250 or more, again depending on mentioned factors.

4. Project Complexity and Scope

Do you want to engage a developer to quickly set up your landing page or gather email subscriptions for your product launch? The complexity and scope of the project are significant factors in ensuring it is done perfectly. Do you want long-term support, or do you want someone to develop the client side of your site from scratch with an emphasis on maintenance, performance, and scalability? The technologies, languages, and frameworks your front-end developer uses will decide the cost. If you want to monetize an existing site, it would cost less than creating a dynamic SPA (single-page application) from scratch.

5. Technology Stack Requirement

The programming languages, frameworks, and libraries required to develop the front end of your site would also impact the overall development in the following way:

Experience Level of Front-end Developers	Description	Average Per/Hour Rate
Basic Front-End	These developers have mastered the fundamental web skills of Javascript, HTML, and CSS. They can also work with CMSs such as WordPress and libraries like jQuery.	Around $10-$30
Intermediate to Advanced Front-end	If you want developers with knowledge beyond fundamentals, opt for Intermediate or Advanced Front-end developers. They can work with frameworks such as AngularJS, CSS frameworks such as Bootstrap, and CSS preprocessors like SASS/LESS.	$30-$50
Full Stack Developer	If you want solution STACKS such as LAMP or MEAN, you would need a full-stack developer. These developers can work well with server-side technologies as well such as Ruby, ASP.NET, or Python.	$50-$100

Average Salary Ranges

Let us break down the average salary of front-end developers based on their overall work experience:

Type of Front-end Developers	Average Hourly Rate
Junior Front-end developers	$50000 to $65000$
Mid-level Front-end developers	$65000 to $100000
Senior Front-end developers	$10000 to $15000

The location of front-end developers influences the overall cost, which makes it essential to decide whether to outsource developers or opt for local ones. Let us understand the cost differences better based on the different geographical locations and time zones through the following table:

Countries	Average Hourly Rate
USA	$35 to $200
Canada	$30 to $200
Latin America	$20 to $80
Western Europe	$50 to $210
Eastern Europe	$25 to $65
India	$20 to $80
China	$20 to $70
New Zealand and Australia	$25 to 140
Africa	$10 to $70

Hourly Rates for Freelancers

The cost of hiring freelancers for front-end development can vary greatly, from $40 to $150 or more, depending on where they are, how much they know, and how complex your project is.

Junior front-end web developers are new developers who work on making your websites look better, changing the background colors, designing the visuals, and helping with technical issues.

These developers usually charge $20 to $60 per hour and collaborate with senior and intermediate developers.

Intermediate freelancers write and maintain codes, perform QA tests, create quality assurance procedures, and maintain your site. Depending on their experience, the technology stack required, and their location, they can charge $50 to $80 per hour.

Senior freelancers review designs to ensure they comply with usability standards, test new features, write codes in different programming languages, and maintain the site. Depending on the technology stack required and the complexities involved in the project, they can charge $80 to $120.

Agency Costs

Employing a front-end developer through a development form or agency allows you to create user-centric websites from the ground up and oversee the entire development process. The expense of employing an agency for front-end development projects can vary from $50 to $150 or even more, contingent on the developer’s location and level of expertise.

Pros of hiring a front-end developer through an agency or development firm:

• Access to a diverse pool of talented developers with varied skill sets and experience levels allows you to find the right developer for your project based on your specific requirements and preferences.
• A rigorous vetting process for hiring developers assures you that the selection of professionals has the required skills and experience to deliver high-quality work.
• Agencies often connect you to a team of developers with complementary skills, such as UI/UX designers, back-end developers, and QA testers. This enables seamless, effective, and efficient collaboration.
• Agencies typically provide project management services, overseeing the development process from start to end. This includes critical tasks such as scheduling, resource allocation, and communication to streamline the development process.
• Agencies can efficiently scale their team up or down based on your project’s needs.
• Partnering with an established agency can help mitigate risks associated with project delays, developer availability, and technical challenges by providing contingency plans that are already in place.
• Many agencies extend ongoing support and maintenance services after the initial development phase. This generally includes troubleshooting, bug fixes, updates, and so on.

Cons of hiring a front-end developer through an agency or development firm:

• The difference between the price of working with an independent freelance front-end developer and an agency developer is vast, so small businesses and start-ups’ budgets might suffer significantly.
• Lesser accessibility to the agency developer might make it difficult for you to have direct input into the hiring process or the ability to choose specific developers you prefer to work with.
• Due to the language barrier and differences in time zones based on the agency’s location, miscommunications or delays might hamper the project’s progress.
• Standard workflow and processes followed by different agencies limit your development approach to the specific project needs.
• You might need to depend on the availability of developers according to the agency’s schedule, which could significantly hamper your project timeline.
• The loyalty or commitment of agency developers might not be at par with that of full-time or freelance developers, and so there might be frequent disruptions to workflow and project continuity.
• Working with an agency might result in less individual attention than hiring an independent freelancer. Agencies often have multiple projects in the queue, so your project might receive less focused attention.

Frontend Developer Cost-Saving Strategies:

Using the right strategies can help you reduce the development cost for your front-end project, some of which are:

1. Outsourcing to Lower-Cost Regions or Countries

Hiring developers from your location can be extremely expensive if you are a business based in North America. Instead, you can outsource front-end developers from lower-cost regions like Latin America, Eastern Europe, or Asia.

2. Hiring Remote Developers

Hiring remote developers would allow you to choose from various time zones and geographic locations that align with your front-end development requirements. Suppose you are based out of North America; you can explore South American countries like Colombia or Asian countries like the Philippines and India to hire developers at a reduced cost.

3. Utilizing Freelance Platforms or Job Boards

You create a job description on job boards or freelance platforms to seek all developers looking for jobs that match your requirements. You can decide based on your overall experience, past projects, and knowledge of the programming languages of these freelancers.

4. Considering Entry-Level or Mid-Level Developers for More Straightforward Projects

You can bring in entry-level developers if you are trying to be savvy with expenses or juggling smaller front-end development projects. They are proficient in technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. They can assist in developing basic front-end projects without much coding, which would cost you less.

Mid-level developers are the sweet spot between quality and cost. They bring an efficient skills and technology stack without breaking the bank.

Conclusion

As discussed in this article, multiple factors impact the cost of front-end development services. You can hire front-end developers in remote work mode to reduce development costs effectively or outsource to lower-cost areas. On average, the hourly rate of front-end developers usually ranges from $20 to $80 but can go up to $200 depending on the complexities involved in the project.