Data

The Rate Database — 2026

72 platform-by-region hourly-rate combinations (12 platforms × 6 regions, freelancer and agency tiers, low/median/high) — the same table our own estimation engine reads at calculation time, sourced from 8 public rate benchmarks and calibrated against 600+ project quotes and public rate benchmarks.

Data version: 2026-07-16· All rates in USD/hour · CC BY 4.0

Quick Answer

Web developer hourly rates in 2026 range from $8/hr (South/SE Asia, freelancer low) to $406/hr (US, agency high) across our Rate Database of 72 platform-region combinations spanning 12 platforms and 6 regions, sourced from 8 public rate benchmarks and calibrated against 600+ project quotes and public rate benchmarks. Average published freelancer medians: US $108/hr, UK $95/hr, Australia $95/hr, Western Europe $84/hr, Eastern Europe $43/hr, South/SE Asia $26/hr — agencies bill 1.68x2.16x the paired freelancer median (average 1.83x) for the same platform and region. Sourced from Upwork, Clutch, WebFX, GoodFirms, Tapflare, VOCSO, Arc.dev, and Index.dev.

Cite this dataset · free (CC BY 4.0)

The 2026 Rate Database is free to cite, quote, and republish under Creative Commons BY 4.0 — just link back. Machine-readable JSON: /api/cost-data (hourly_rate_database key).

Project Cost Estimator, “Rate Database 2026”, projectcostestimator.com/rate-database (CC BY 4.0).

The 2026 rate spread, in one paragraph

Across the 72 platform-region combinations in our Rate Database, the widest gap sits between a Wix or Squarespace freelancer in South/SE Asia (published low of $8/hr) and a Shopify Plus agency in the United States (published high of $406/hr) — a roughly 51x spread from the cheapest quoted hour to the most expensive. Averaged across all 12 platforms, the freelancer median runs $108/hr in the United States against $26/hr in South/SE Asia, a 4.22xgap that tracks closely with the 4.1x geographic multiplier spread (0.35x to 1.45x) already published in our Cost Index — two independently structured tables in the same engine landing on the same regional economics. Agencies bill 1.68x2.16x the paired freelancer median (average 1.83x) at every platform and region we track, not just in the expensive markets. The full 72-row table is published at projectcostestimator.com/rate-database and as machine-readable JSON at projectcostestimator.com/api/cost-data, free to cite and republish under Creative Commons BY 4.0.

Which platform commands the highest hourly rate?

Shopify Plus carries the highest average freelancer median in our Rate Database at $101/hr, followed by Magento 2 / Adobe Commerce at $94/hr — both require deeper, scarcer specialist skill than a templated build, and both price highest in every one of the 6 regions we track. Wix and Squarespace sit lowest at $47/hr average freelancer median, with PrestaShop the next-cheapest in every region, since configuration-only platforms need less specialist time than custom code. WordPress and WooCommerce, the largest freelancer pools in the database, land in the middle at $72/hr average. The top and bottom of the ranking hold in every region; the middle tier reorders slightly region to region from independent rounding in the source data. Even at the priciest platforms, Eastern European and South/SE Asian freelancers still bill 74%79% below their US and Western European counterparts on the identical platform, so region and platform compound rather than offset each other.

Full rate table — sortable

72rows · click a column header to sort · all figures $/hour, USD

Web developer hourly rates ($/hr, USD) by platform and region, freelancer and agency tier, low/median/high — sortable, click a column header to sort.
BigCommerceEastern Europe$26$45$72$55$82$130
BigCommerceWestern Europe$50$82$130$95$142$218
BigCommerceUnited Kingdom$58$90$145$110$165$247
BigCommerceUnited States$65$105$168$116$185$283
BigCommerceAustralia$58$90$145$110$165$260
BigCommerceSouth / SE Asia$14$27$47$30$49$85
Custom / full-stackEastern Europe$29$52$95$65$105$168
Custom / full-stackWestern Europe$65$105$168$116$185$283
Custom / full-stackUnited Kingdom$72$120$190$130$202$319
Custom / full-stackUnited States$88$135$218$145$232$385
Custom / full-stackAustralia$72$120$190$130$202$334
Custom / full-stackSouth / SE Asia$16$31$62$36$63$109
Magento 1Eastern Europe$29$52$88$65$98$160
Magento 1Western Europe$65$98$160$110$172$268
Magento 1United Kingdom$72$112$182$124$195$290
Magento 1United States$80$128$203$138$225$363
Magento 1Australia$72$112$182$124$195$312
Magento 1South / SE Asia$16$31$57$36$59$104
Magento 2 / Adobe CommerceEastern Europe$29$52$95$65$105$175
Magento 2 / Adobe CommerceWestern Europe$65$105$175$116$185$290
Magento 2 / Adobe CommerceUnited Kingdom$72$120$196$130$210$319
Magento 2 / Adobe CommerceUnited States$88$135$218$145$240$406
Magento 2 / Adobe CommerceAustralia$72$120$196$130$210$334
Magento 2 / Adobe CommerceSouth / SE Asia$16$31$62$36$63$114
PrestaShopEastern Europe$18$32$58$44$68$110
PrestaShopWestern Europe$44$72$116$80$128$196
PrestaShopUnited Kingdom$50$82$130$88$142$218
PrestaShopUnited States$58$90$145$102$158$247
PrestaShopAustralia$50$82$130$88$142$225
PrestaShopSouth / SE Asia$10$19$38$24$41$72
ShopifyEastern Europe$26$45$80$58$90$138
ShopifyWestern Europe$50$82$138$95$150$232
ShopifyUnited Kingdom$58$98$160$110$172$260
ShopifyUnited States$65$105$190$124$195$319
ShopifyAustralia$58$98$160$110$172$276
ShopifySouth / SE Asia$14$27$52$32$54$90
Shopify PlusEastern Europe$36$60$102$72$112$174
Shopify PlusWestern Europe$72$112$174$124$195$290
Shopify PlusUnited Kingdom$80$128$203$138$217$319
Shopify PlusUnited States$95$142$232$160$247$406
Shopify PlusAustralia$80$128$203$138$217$348
Shopify PlusSouth / SE Asia$20$36$66$40$67$113
SquarespaceEastern Europe$15$26$44$32$52$80
SquarespaceWestern Europe$32$52$88$58$98$145
SquarespaceUnited Kingdom$36$60$95$65$105$168
SquarespaceUnited States$44$68$110$72$120$190
SquarespaceAustralia$36$60$95$65$105$175
SquarespaceSouth / SE Asia$8$16$29$18$31$52
WebflowEastern Europe$22$36$65$50$75$124
WebflowWestern Europe$50$82$130$88$142$218
WebflowUnited Kingdom$58$90$145$102$158$247
WebflowUnited States$65$105$175$116$185$290
WebflowAustralia$58$90$145$102$158$254
WebflowSouth / SE Asia$12$22$42$28$45$81
WixEastern Europe$15$26$44$32$52$80
WixWestern Europe$32$52$88$58$98$145
WixUnited Kingdom$36$60$95$65$105$168
WixUnited States$44$68$110$72$120$190
WixAustralia$36$60$95$65$105$175
WixSouth / SE Asia$8$16$29$18$31$52
WooCommerceEastern Europe$22$42$72$50$82$130
WooCommerceWestern Europe$50$82$130$95$140$215
WooCommerceUnited Kingdom$58$90$145$105$165$245
WooCommerceUnited States$65$105$175$120$185$290
WooCommerceAustralia$58$90$145$105$165$260
WooCommerceSouth / SE Asia$12$25$47$28$49$85
WordPressEastern Europe$22$42$72$50$82$130
WordPressWestern Europe$50$82$130$95$140$215
WordPressUnited Kingdom$58$90$145$105$165$245
WordPressUnited States$65$105$175$120$185$290
WordPressAustralia$58$90$145$105$165$260
WordPressSouth / SE Asia$12$25$47$28$49$85

Source: src/config/marketRates.json, the same table our estimation engine reads at calculation time. Freelancer = solo/independent developer. Agency = team-based delivery with project-management overhead (1.68x2.16x the paired freelancer median, average 1.83x, across every platform and region row).

Methodology — how this table is built

Every hourly figure above is read from src/config/marketRates.json, generated by an automated pipeline (/api/scrape-rates) that queries 8 independent public sources: Upwork, Clutch, WebFX, GoodFirms, Tapflare, VOCSO, Arc.dev, Index.dev. Four of the eight (Upwork, Tapflare, Arc.dev, Index.dev) supply hourly-rate benchmarks directly; the other four (Clutch, WebFX, GoodFirms, VOCSO) supply project-cost data used elsewhere in our engine and for cross-validation. The four hourly sources are averaged, then a per-platform ratio (in the committed table, Shopify Plus prices roughly 1.40x a base WordPress listing; Magento 2 roughly 1.30x) and a per-region multiplier (Eastern Europe 0.50x, United Kingdom 1.10x, United States 1.30x, Australia 1.20x against a Western Europe 1.00x baseline) are applied to produce the 72-row table. The pipeline's agency figures are the freelancer figure × 1.8 at generation time; the currently committed table's agency/freelancer median ratio runs 1.68x2.16x across rows (average 1.83x) once independent rounding at the low, median, and high tier is accounted for — we report the real committed spread here rather than the generator constant alone.

This is a blended, mid-level-skill benchmark — not a survey of our own clients and not a claim about tracked invoices. The calculator behind projectcostestimator.com stores no completed transactions; nothing here is derived from app usage. When the scraper re-runs and a genuine change lands in the committed JSON, the “data version” date above moves; it has not moved since 2026-07-16 because no revision has landed since then, and we say so rather than implying continuous change that did not happen. Full engine methodology: /methodology.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Rate Database?

The Rate Database is a free, CC BY 4.0-licensed table of 72 web developer hourly-rate combinations — 12 platforms (WordPress, Shopify, Shopify Plus, WooCommerce, Magento 2 / Adobe Commerce, Magento 1, PrestaShop, BigCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, Custom / full-stack) across 6 regions, each with a freelancer and an agency low/median/high figure in USD. It is calibrated against 600+ project quotes and public rate benchmarks and is the same table our engine (src/config/marketRates.json) reads at estimate time.

What is the hourly rate range in the database?

Rates span $8/hr (Wix or Squarespace, South/SE Asia, freelancer low end) to $406/hr (Shopify Plus, United States, agency high end) — a 51x spread across the full matrix. The middle of the range is where most quoted work actually lands: a mid-level freelancer building on WordPress in Western Europe has a published median of $82/hr; the same build in the US has a published median of $105/hr.

Does the Rate Database break rates down by seniority (junior/mid/senior)?

No — and we say so directly rather than implying otherwise. The underlying file models one blended "mid-level developer" tier per platform and region, split only by freelancer vs agency (agency = a team with project-management overhead, not a more senior individual). We do not publish a junior/mid/senior breakdown because we do not have one; inventing one would be a fabrication.

How is the Rate Database different from the Cost Index?

The Cost Index (projectcostestimator.com/cost-index) publishes project cost bands — what a whole landing page, ecommerce store, or web app costs to build, by project type and market. The Rate Database publishes the hourly input to those bands — what a developer bills per hour, by platform and region, freelancer vs agency. They are calibrated from the same 600+ project quotes and public rate benchmarks but answer different questions: "what will the project cost" versus "what does an hour of this developer's time cost".

Where does the hourly rate data come from and how often is it refreshed?

Eight independent public sources: Upwork, Clutch, WebFX, GoodFirms, Tapflare, VOCSO, Arc.dev, Index.dev. An automated scraper (/api/scrape-rates) re-pulls all eight and regenerates this table; when a genuine revision lands, the "data version" date on this page moves. As of this page's last real data review (2026-07-16), the published table had not required a revision beyond the existing benchmark — we state that plainly rather than claiming a refresh that did not happen.

Can I cite or republish this data?

Yes. The Rate Database is free to cite, quote, and republish under Creative Commons BY 4.0 — link back to projectcostestimator.com/rate-database. The same figures are also available as machine-readable JSON at /api/cost-data (hourly_rate_database key).

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