Short answer
A US web developer on the BLS median salary of $92,650 costs an employer roughly $135,000 a year once benefits and payroll taxes are added, plus around $5,500 to recruit. In the UK, a £47,500 developer costs about £55,000 before recruiting, equipment and management time. A senior freelancer costs nothing when there's no work. Hire in-house when you have a full-time, ongoing workload; use a freelancer for projects, rebuilds and part-time needs.
I'm a freelance full stack developer, so you'd expect me to say "hire a freelancer". Sometimes that's the wrong answer, and I'll say so below. What I want to fix is the comparison most people make: a salary on one side, a freelancer's quote on the other. The salary is only part of what an employee costs.
Here's what the full number looks like in the US and UK, using current official figures, and how to decide.
What does an in-house web developer cost in the US?
Salary. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage for web developers at $92,650 (May 2025). The lowest 10% earned under $48,100 and the top 10% over $162,290 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). A senior developer will usually sit above the median.
Benefits and payroll taxes. BLS measures what employers actually spend per hour on compensation. For full-time private industry workers in June 2026, wages were 68.5% of employer costs and benefits the remaining 31.5%. Legally required benefits alone were 7.0% of total compensation (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation).
That legally required slice includes FICA. Employers pay 6.2% Social Security (on wages up to $184,500 in 2026) and 1.45% Medicare, so 7.65% on top of salary (IRS Topic 751).
Recruiting. SHRM's 2025 benchmarking puts the average cost per hire for non-executive roles at $5,475 (SHRM). Its median time to fill was 44 calendar days (SHRM). That's six weeks with nobody doing the work.
A worked US example
If wages are 68.5% of total compensation, a $92,650 salary implies about $135,250 in total yearly compensation cost. That's roughly $42,600 in benefits, leave and payroll taxes on top of the salary. Add the average $5,475 cost per hire and the first year comes to about $140,700.
That's an average-based estimate, not a quote. Your benefits package might be leaner or richer. But it's a much more honest starting point than the salary alone.
What does an in-house web developer cost in the UK?
Salary. UK figures vary a lot by source. IT Jobs Watch puts the median advertised permanent web developer salary at £47,500 for the six months to 14 October 2026 (IT Jobs Watch). Glassdoor's average from employee-submitted salaries is £35,880, with a typical range of £27,443 to £47,784 (Glassdoor UK). Indeed lists an average of £56,897 for senior web developers in London (Indeed UK).
Employer National Insurance. For 2026 to 2027, employers pay 15% Class 1 NIC on earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold. The Employment Allowance lets eligible employers reduce their NIC bill by up to £10,500 a year (GOV.UK rates and thresholds 2026 to 2027).
Pension. Under auto-enrolment, employers must pay at least 3% of qualifying earnings, the band between £6,240 and £50,270 (GOV.UK workplace pensions).
Holiday. Full-time workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year (GOV.UK holiday entitlement). You pay for those weeks, but no work gets done.
A worked UK example
For a developer on £47,500:
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Salary | £47,500 |
| Employer NIC (15% of £42,500 above £5,000) | £6,375 |
| Employer pension (3% of £41,260 qualifying earnings) | £1,238 |
| Total before recruiting, equipment and management | £55,113 |
If you're a small employer whose NIC is fully covered by the Employment Allowance, take off up to £6,375. If you use a recruitment agency, add their fee, which is usually a percentage of first-year salary. Ask for the exact percentage before you sign.
What costs don't show up on payroll?
These are real but vary too much for me to put one number on them, so I won't:
- Equipment and software. A capable laptop, a second screen, design tools, code editor licences, hosting and testing accounts.
- Management time. Someone has to write the brief, review the work, run one-to-ones and handle appraisals. If you're not technical, it's hard to judge whether the work is good.
- Ramp-up. A new hire needs weeks to learn your stack, your brand and your people.
- Idle time. Once the site is built, a full-time developer may not have a full-time workload. You pay the salary either way.
- Turnover. If they leave, you pay the recruiting cost and the six-week gap again.
Add your own numbers for these. They're often what tips the decision.
What does a senior freelancer cost instead?
You pay for the work, not the year. There's no payroll tax, no pension, no benefits, no holiday cover, no recruiting fee and no equipment to buy. When the project is done, the cost stops. With me, you get a fixed project price agreed upfront, and you can see typical scopes on my packages page.
The trade-off is that a freelancer's day rate is higher than an employee's salary divided by 260. It has to be: it covers my own equipment, software, insurance, tax, gaps between projects and the hours spent on admin. Comparing a freelance day rate to a salary day rate is comparing two different things.
What you should be buying is senior-quality work without the overhead: someone who has already solved the problem you have, many times. I've been doing this for 7+ years, building and fixing sites for clients in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Europe from Dubai. The time difference is useful. I'm working while you sleep, and changes are often ready by your morning.
For example, I built the websites for PnL Accountants, an accounting firm in London, and for Ascend Group, a UK marketing agency. For Thames Hedging I built a set of landing pages, one each for hotels, restaurants, bars, malls and offices (like this one for hotels). I did all of it remotely from Dubai. It's the same work an in-house developer would do.
When does an in-house hire make more sense?
I'd tell a client to hire in-house when:
- There's a full-time workload, every week, for the foreseeable future. For example, a product team shipping features, or an ecommerce business running constant campaigns and landing pages.
- The developer needs deep, daily product knowledge that takes months to build up and is lost if they leave.
- You need someone in the room, sitting in on daily meetings, working closely with sales or support, or handling sensitive internal systems.
- You already have technical leadership who can hire well and manage the work.
If that's you, a good in-house developer is worth every penny of that loaded cost. Plenty of my clients have both: an in-house team for the day-to-day, and me for a rebuild, a performance overhaul or a specialist piece of work.
When is a freelancer the better choice?
- A defined project: a new website, a redesign, a migration or a Shopify build. If you're weighing platforms, see Shopify vs WooCommerce.
- Ongoing but part-time work: updates, fixes, security and speed. My guide to what website maintenance costs breaks that down.
- You need a specific skill quickly, like technical SEO, a CRM integration or a performance fix, without a six-week hiring process.
- You're not sure yet. Start with a project and see whether the workload really justifies a full-time role.
If you're deciding between a builder and a custom site before you hire anyone, read AI website builder vs custom website first. And if you're a UAE business, I've written a separate guide on hiring a freelance developer in Dubai vs a full-time employee.
How do I decide?
Work out three numbers:
- The loaded yearly cost of an employee, using the figures above plus your own equipment and management estimate.
- The hours of development work you actually have over the next 12 months. Be honest.
- The freelance cost of that same work, as a project price or a monthly retainer.
If the work fills a full-time role, hire. If it doesn't, you're paying for empty hours.
Want a second opinion? Tell me what you need built and I'll tell you honestly whether I'd hire for it or do it as a project. You can also look at my packages or past work in my case studies.
FAQs
How much does it cost to employ a web developer in the US?
The BLS median salary for web developers is $92,650. BLS data shows wages are 68.5% of total compensation for full-time private sector workers, which puts the total yearly cost at about $135,000, plus an average $5,475 to recruit.
How much is employer National Insurance on a developer's salary in the UK?
For 2026 to 2027, employers pay 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year. On a £47,500 salary that's £6,375, although eligible employers can reduce their total NIC bill by up to £10,500 with the Employment Allowance.
Is a freelance web developer cheaper than an employee?
For project work and part-time needs, usually yes, because you pay only for the work done, with no payroll taxes, benefits, recruiting or idle time. For a genuinely full-time, ongoing workload, an employee is often better value.
Why are freelance day rates higher than an employee's salary per day?
A freelancer's rate covers their own equipment, software, insurance, taxes, holidays and gaps between projects. An employer pays those costs separately for an employee, so the salary alone understates the real cost.
Can I use a freelancer and an in-house developer together?
Yes, and many businesses do. The in-house developer handles day-to-day work, and a freelancer takes on rebuilds, specialist work or overflow without adding another full-time salary.
