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The Approx. Budget For Software...

by DesmondTan
6 replies
Hi Programming Experts!

I am totally new to programming and i have no idea what the average price is for to hire someone to code a software.

I need some help in terms of the average price it takes to

1) code a wordpress plugin
2) build a custom software/software site
3) the best outsourcing website to hire reliable programmers (nationality to hire)

I remember the internet marketing gurus always use hypey language and say they paid $25,000 to a russian programmer for a "fantabulous" piece of software, but i think that's just fairy tales.

Thanks for any help rendered!
#approx #budget #software
  • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
    That's like asking... how much does a car cost?

    It depends... do you want a used Honda, or a brand new Ferrari?

    Same thing with software... the price will vary GREATLY depending on many different factors, such as how complex the software is, who is developing it (ie how talented/experienced they are), and what the extent of their role is in the project (will they just handle the initial coding, or will they also take care of the beta testing / ongoing tweaking / etc. ?)

    If you want to get a general idea as to what you should pay for a particular project, then create a detailed project description for it (but don't mention what your budget is), then list it on a freelance site, and wait for the bids to come in. Immediately discard bids from any freelancers who don't have plenty of good feedback / high ratings. And then from the ones who are left, you should be able to get a "ballpark" idea as to what you should pay for the project.

    As per the "best outsourcing website"... there are plenty of good ones out there, but for significant-sized projects, I've always had the best luck at Guru.com. I've also hired good programmers right here at the WF.

    Elance and Odesk are 2 other popular options. Whichever one you go with though, I would recommend staying away from paying "hourly" rates for the project, because you never know how many hours the project is going to take to complete (and you can wind up paying a LOT more than you originally planned on, because of this). So, I recommend that you always hire based upon a fixed price for the entire project.

    And to be honest with you, a programmer's "nationality" means absolutely nothing, with regards to skill / competence. You can find excellent programmers from ANY country, and you can also find horrible programmers from ANY country (the latter being far more common, unfortunately). So don't pay any attention to "nationality"... just pay attention to feedback, ratings, and how qualified they are for the particular job.

    As per $25,000 development costs being a "fairy tale"? ... that is nothing for certain types of software programs. Complex programs can cost WAAAAAY more than that to develop. And really simple programs can cost as little as a couple hundred bucks. It just depends on what you need.
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    • Profile picture of the author DesmondTan
      Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

      That's like asking... how much does a car cost?

      It depends... do you want a used Honda, or a brand new Ferrari?

      Same thing with software... the price will vary GREATLY depending on many different factors, such as how complex the software is, who is developing it (ie how talented/experienced they are), and what the extent of their role is in the project (will they just handle the initial coding, or will they also take care of the beta testing / ongoing tweaking / etc. ?)

      If you want to get a general idea as to what you should pay for a particular project, then create a detailed project description for it (but don't mention what your budget is), then list it on a freelance site, and wait for the bids to come in. Immediately discard bids from any freelancers who don't have plenty of good feedback / high ratings. And then from the ones who are left, you should be able to get a "ballpark" idea as to what you should pay for the project.

      As per the "best outsourcing website"... there are plenty of good ones out there, but for significant-sized projects, I've always had the best luck at Guru.com. I've also hired good programmers right here at the WF.

      Elance and Odesk are 2 other popular options. Whichever one you go with though, I would recommend staying away from paying "hourly" rates for the project, because you never know how many hours the project is going to take to complete (and you can wind up paying a LOT more than you originally planned on, because of this). So, I recommend that you always hire based upon a fixed price for the entire project.

      And to be honest with you, a programmer's "nationality" means absolutely nothing, with regards to skill / competence. You can find excellent programmers from ANY country, and you can also find horrible programmers from ANY country (the latter being far more common, unfortunately). So don't pay any attention to "nationality"... just pay attention to feedback, ratings, and how qualified they are for the particular job.

      As per $25,000 development costs being a "fairy tale"? ... that is nothing for certain types of software programs. Complex programs can cost WAAAAAY more than that to develop. And really simple programs can cost as little as a couple hundred bucks. It just depends on what you need.

      Thanks for taking the time to give me a detailed introduction!

      What i have learnt through trial testing of posting on freelance sites is that usually, the freelancers will often bid near to your budget set. If i set it at 1K, there will be bids near 1K.

      If i set it at 5K, there will be bids near that amount. As such, i often feel that i dont know the market rate for a certain piece of software.

      It's just like going to the flea market in another country. The merchant seeing that i am not local, will tend to charge me higher prices for what i want to buy unless i can demonstrate that i know what the cost of the merchandise i want to buy is.
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    • Profile picture of the author zombiehunter
      Banned
      Thanks Brandon. That was very useful and much needed wisdom considering I am about to venture into negotiating with software guys. Thanks for your time divulging such good info.

      Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

      That's like asking... how much does a car cost?

      It depends... do you want a used Honda, or a brand new Ferrari?

      Same thing with software... the price will vary GREATLY depending on many different factors, such as how complex the software is, who is developing it (ie how talented/experienced they are), and what the extent of their role is in the project (will they just handle the initial coding, or will they also take care of the beta testing / ongoing tweaking / etc. ?)

      If you want to get a general idea as to what you should pay for a particular project, then create a detailed project description for it (but don't mention what your budget is), then list it on a freelance site, and wait for the bids to come in. Immediately discard bids from any freelancers who don't have plenty of good feedback / high ratings. And then from the ones who are left, you should be able to get a "ballpark" idea as to what you should pay for the project.

      As per the "best outsourcing website"... there are plenty of good ones out there, but for significant-sized projects, I've always had the best luck at Guru.com. I've also hired good programmers right here at the WF.

      Elance and Odesk are 2 other popular options. Whichever one you go with though, I would recommend staying away from paying "hourly" rates for the project, because you never know how many hours the project is going to take to complete (and you can wind up paying a LOT more than you originally planned on, because of this). So, I recommend that you always hire based upon a fixed price for the entire project.

      And to be honest with you, a programmer's "nationality" means absolutely nothing, with regards to skill / competence. You can find excellent programmers from ANY country, and you can also find horrible programmers from ANY country (the latter being far more common, unfortunately). So don't pay any attention to "nationality"... just pay attention to feedback, ratings, and how qualified they are for the particular job.

      As per $25,000 development costs being a "fairy tale"? ... that is nothing for certain types of software programs. Complex programs can cost WAAAAAY more than that to develop. And really simple programs can cost as little as a couple hundred bucks. It just depends on what you need.
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      • Profile picture of the author danielepr
        You should follow the approach of Brandon.
        Remember most of the WP plugins cost around $300, but for a piece of software, e.g. a web application you need to invest in at least a 6 man-month project (application suites to generate complex web sites, video player generators, webinar platforms, subscription sites, analytic software etc.). Desktop software (e.g. Audio generator, pop up/banner creator) can start from 1 man-months.
        For web based applications you need to consider also the infrastructure. You need a server hosting databases (recommended Linux with Apache and MySQL).
        So when you ask for a work always verify the skills too.
        For example for a web-based application the programmer should know about PHP or Java and MySQL and also Linux.
        For a desktop application the programmer can maybe be skilled on Visual Basic.
        The nationality is really irrelevant.
        If you want to go towards a cheap path then you can check Replace Yourself In Your Business By Outsourcing To The Philippines

        Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author RichBeck
    Desmond,

    That is a tough one... There is no set answer.... It depends on a variety of factors including....

    How big the project is.....
    How much detail you put in your project definition....
    What tool is used....
    How much you budget for a Developer...
    How much you budget for testing......
    How much you plan on paying a Developer to provide ongoing support and bug fixes...


    The catch is..... If you use a lower quality Developer, you will end up spending more for testing and bug fixes.... Plus, if you have too many bugs, you will lose some customers ... Pay now or pay later...


    God Bless,


    Rich Beck
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    • Profile picture of the author lite_ws
      I already been employed by a big IT company (about 10000 employees) and they charge 400 € (without value added tax) for a day of work.
      Depending the project a wordpress plugin may take between 3 days 20 days to be done.

      For your case if you just want to hire someone it can be less than 60 $ a day.

      try to add your project on the website :freelancer.com
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