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Oh guys.. I'm a senior web developer (working on a leading position in a company which runs 3 startups), I speak natively Rails, PHP.. fluent in SQL and still i

by xytop 11y ago

Oh guys.. I'm a senior web developer (working on a leading position in a company which runs 3 startups), I speak natively Rails, PHP.. fluent in SQL and still i get.. $25/h.. I'm in Europe though.. but when I look at your numbers I want to cry. That's very a lot to my taste. Edit: did calculations.. even $24/h ($46800/year)

candeira 11y ago
I'm not going to complain about rates, but I can tell you that you can't just compare currencies without comparing also your cost of life. It depends where in Europe you live, and what are your other costs. I'm Spanish, and in Spain I can go to the doctor and (for now) not have to pay at the front desk. In Australia, my local doctor charges an $30 Australian (20 Euro) co-pay per visit. Coffee and churros in Madrid is 1.70 Euro ($2.50 Australian). Coffee alone in our neighbourhood in Australia is never under $3 Au (2 euro). Thanks to the Coles/Woolworths duopoly, I reckon Aussie supermarket prices in general are from 1.5 to 3 times more expensive in Australia than in Spain. Only beef is consistently cheaper in Australia, and milk is the same price, being a loss leader. And the real estate bubble continues in Australia, so house prices and rents keep going up. This is why I asked Aussie devs to share their rates: they are working in the same market, but also they are paying for food, housing, healthcare etc. in the same market. Also, remember that if you are a full time employee you are accruing other benefits, and your pay is calculated taking into account you lower risk of unemployment and higher severance in case of dismissal (especially in the many European countries with very strict labor laws favouring employees, like Spain). I reckon $50-$60/h is the freelance-equivalent rate of $46800/year full time salary in Europe. And if you work on 3 startups, you may be giving up some salary in exchange for equity. If you don't get equity, well, your problem is not your salary.
- xytop 11y ago
  Yeah, im working full-time, but remotely. Company is based in UK and im living in Moldova. Although rate is pretty good for Moldova (life here is very cheap) I still need more and work part-time at Toptal for $30/h.. so constantly overworking to get to the better living. I have a wife and 2 children, soon 3rd one will born and I want to start building a house and I cant say I have enough money for this but family requires so. I/family spend about $1500-$2000 a month for current needs, like food, clothing etc.. then we usually have 1-2 trips a year to rest somewhere. And after all I have about $5-$10k a year in savings. To build a house I need to have about $120-$150k. Which will be in 10 years in best case. Also to add here, I don't pay fees to government, working unofficially because again I dont want to lose any money there (like about 20%) that maybe risky but most of people in my area work like that.
  - zerr 11y ago
    As I remember, Toptal charges fixed $3200 (full-time) and $1600 (part-time) per WEEK to the client, in addition to your tiny $30/hr rate... Why didn't you ask $XXX/hr for toptal client? That is the norm there.. Please increase your rate as soon as possible. Do not believe toptal personnel if they try to convince you to keep rates such low...
    - xytop 11y ago
      No, they're flexible here.. they charge as much as they can from a client. So, from some they charge $80/h as you say, but some of them pay just $45/h. Toptal's lowest rate for companies is $40/h
      - zerr 11y ago
        Well, and what are obstacles for you to charge 3-figure per hour? I'm as well from eastern Europe, and as you mention, it is possible to live with $xx/hr rate (if the work is enough), but do we only want to live month-to-month or maybe we also want to buy some new apartment? build a private house, and another country-side house? $xx/hr is just not enough.
ausdevthrowaway 11y ago
Is that full-time? At my last full-time job I was paid $80,000 a year, after taxes I took home about $1,000 a week. So that's $25 an hour.
- xytop 11y ago
  Yeah full time, but consider it a net salary. I dont pay fees.
shirro 11y ago
Australia is a ridiculously expensive place to live and the major cities even more so. You possibly live a lot better on that income than an Australian developer could on one far higher.

by xytop 11y ago

candeira 11y ago

I'm not going to complain about rates, but I can tell you that you can't just compare currencies without comparing also your cost of life. It depends where in Europe you live, and what are your other costs. I'm Spanish, and in Spain I can go to the doctor and (for now) not have to pay at the front desk. In Australia, my local doctor charges an $30 Australian (20 Euro) co-pay per visit. Coffee and churros in Madrid is 1.70 Euro ($2.50 Australian). Coffee alone in our neighbourhood in Australia is never under $3 Au (2 euro). Thanks to the Coles/Woolworths duopoly, I reckon Aussie supermarket prices in general are from 1.5 to 3 times more expensive in Australia than in Spain. Only beef is consistently cheaper in Australia, and milk is the same price, being a loss leader. And the real estate bubble continues in Australia, so house prices and rents keep going up. This is why I asked Aussie devs to share their rates: they are working in the same market, but also they are paying for food, housing, healthcare etc. in the same market. Also, remember that if you are a full time employee you are accruing other benefits, and your pay is calculated taking into account you lower risk of unemployment and higher severance in case of dismissal (especially in the many European countries with very strict labor laws favouring employees, like Spain). I reckon $50-$60/h is the freelance-equivalent rate of $46800/year full time salary in Europe. And if you work on 3 startups, you may be giving up some salary in exchange for equity. If you don't get equity, well, your problem is not your salary.

xytop 11y ago
Yeah, im working full-time, but remotely. Company is based in UK and im living in Moldova. Although rate is pretty good for Moldova (life here is very cheap) I still need more and work part-time at Toptal for $30/h.. so constantly overworking to get to the better living. I have a wife and 2 children, soon 3rd one will born and I want to start building a house and I cant say I have enough money for this but family requires so. I/family spend about $1500-$2000 a month for current needs, like food, clothing etc.. then we usually have 1-2 trips a year to rest somewhere. And after all I have about $5-$10k a year in savings. To build a house I need to have about $120-$150k. Which will be in 10 years in best case. Also to add here, I don't pay fees to government, working unofficially because again I dont want to lose any money there (like about 20%) that maybe risky but most of people in my area work like that.
- zerr 11y ago
  As I remember, Toptal charges fixed $3200 (full-time) and $1600 (part-time) per WEEK to the client, in addition to your tiny $30/hr rate... Why didn't you ask $XXX/hr for toptal client? That is the norm there.. Please increase your rate as soon as possible. Do not believe toptal personnel if they try to convince you to keep rates such low...
  - xytop 11y ago
    No, they're flexible here.. they charge as much as they can from a client. So, from some they charge $80/h as you say, but some of them pay just $45/h. Toptal's lowest rate for companies is $40/h
    - zerr 11y ago
      Well, and what are obstacles for you to charge 3-figure per hour? I'm as well from eastern Europe, and as you mention, it is possible to live with $xx/hr rate (if the work is enough), but do we only want to live month-to-month or maybe we also want to buy some new apartment? build a private house, and another country-side house? $xx/hr is just not enough.

ausdevthrowaway 11y ago

Is that full-time? At my last full-time job I was paid $80,000 a year, after taxes I took home about $1,000 a week. So that's $25 an hour.

xytop 11y ago
Yeah full time, but consider it a net salary. I dont pay fees.

shirro 11y ago

Australia is a ridiculously expensive place to live and the major cities even more so. You possibly live a lot better on that income than an Australian developer could on one far higher.