The Average Salary of a Web Developer: A Practical Guide

The Average Salary of a Web Developer: A Practical Guide

You Googled “average salary of a web developer.” You saw a number.

Let's cut to the chase: In the UK, data from Glassdoor or Payscale probably told you it's somewhere between £35,000 and £70,000.

Now, I want you to take that number and throw it in the bin.

As a business owner, that statistic is not just useless; it's dangerous. It's a trap.

It's like asking for the “average price of a vehicle” and getting a figure that blends a £2,000 moped with a £200,000 HGV lorry. You've learned nothing, but you feel like you have.

This article isn't about that “average” number. It's about what you actually want to know: “How much is this going to cost me, and how do I avoid getting ripped off?”

Let's dismantle the “salary” question and build a proper framework for budgeting.

The “Average” Salary: What the Data Says (And What It Hides)

Okay, first, let's satisfy the query. If you're looking for the numbers, here they are. But they are not the answer.

These are salary figures. This means full-time employees, not project costs.

By Experience Level (The Biggest Factor)

• Junior Web Developer Salary (0-2 years): £25,000 – £35,000. This is someone who needs constant hand-holding. They are a cost centre and require a senior developer to manage and fix their work.
• Mid-Level Web Developer Salary (2-5 years): £35,000 – £55,000. This is your “workhorse.” They can handle most tasks independently but may lack deep architectural or strategic insight.
• Senior Web Developer Salary (5+ years): £55,000 – £90,000+. This person leads projects, mentors juniors, and makes high-stakes decisions. They are (or should be) a profit centre.

By Location (The “London Tax” is Real)

• London: Expect to add 15-30% on top of the above figures.
• Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh: These are strong tech hubs, but salaries are closer to the national average.
• Fully Remote (UK): This has compressed rates, but experienced developers still command salaries near the major tech hubs.
• Offshore (The “Cheap” Option): Yes, you can hire someone in Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe for a fraction of this. You also accept the massive risk of time zones, language barriers, and drastically different legal recourse if something goes wrong.

By Specialisation (The “Flavour” of Developer)

• Front-End Developer (The “Look and Feel”): Works in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (like React or Vue). Their salary is around the average.
• Back-End Developer (The “Engine Room”): Works in languages like PHP, Python, or Node.js and manages databases. They often command a slightly higher salary.
• Full-Stack Developer (The “Unicorn”): Supposedly does both. A true senior full-stack developer is a rare and costly engineer (£80k-£120k+). A junior “full-stack” is a master of none and a liability.

Why You, the Business Owner, Are Asking the Wrong Question

You are not in the business of hiring “a developer.”

You are in the business of getting a result.

You want a website that generates leads. You want an e-commerce store that takes payments. You want a web app that serves your customers.

The salary is just one small part of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Focusing on salary is like choosing a restaurant based on the price of its flour. It's completely missing the point.

Let's look at the real ways to get a web project done, and what they actually cost.

The Three Ways to Hire Web Talent (And What Each Really Costs)

This is the core of the article. This is what you need to understand.

Model 1: The Full-Time In-House Developer (The “Salary” Option)

You're thinking of hiring someone. You've budgeted £50,000 based on the “average salary.”

This is your real first-year cost:

• Salary: £50,000
• Recruitment Fee (at 20%): £10,000
• Employer's National Insurance (~13.8%): £5,796
• Pension Contribution (min 3%): £1,238
• Hardware & Software: £2,500 (A new MacBook Pro, software licenses)
• Holiday, Sick Pay, Training: ~£4,000 (Cost of non-working days)
• Management Overhead: (Your time, which is not free)

Total First-Year Cost: ~£73,500+

That £50k job just cost you over £73k in cash, before you factor in your own time to manage them.

And the biggest question: What do they do for 8 months of the year after the new site is built?

• Pros: A dedicated resource. Deep knowledge of your business over time.
• Cons: Extremely high fixed cost. High risk of a bad hire. You are now a tech manager, whether you like it or not.

Model 2: The Freelancer (The “À La Carte” Option)

This seems more flexible. You just pay for what you need. But this path is full of traps.

This is where you encounter the “Upwork Illusion.” You see a profile advertising £20/hour. You think, “Great! A 100-hour website build will only cost £2,000!”

This is a fantasy.

At £20/hour, you are not getting a professional; you are getting a hobbyist, a template-flipper, or someone learning on your project. The site will be slow, insecure, and break in 6 months. It will cost you more to fix than to build correctly.

The Professional Freelancer:

• Rates: A good, vetted UK freelancer charges £50 – £120+ per hour. A top-tier specialist from a platform like Toptal can be £150/hour.
• Project Pricing: A simple brochure site from a good freelancer might be £5,000 – £10,000. An e-commerce site? £10,000 – £25,000.
• Pros: Pay-as-you-go. Access to specialists you couldn't afford full-time.
• Cons: You are the project manager. You have to write the brief. You have to find the designer. If they get sick or “ghost” you, your project is dead. Scope creep is your new nightmare.

Model 3: The Agency (The “Done-For-You” Solution)

This is where you pay a single, fixed fee for a team and an outcome.

When you hire an agency, you're not just getting a “developer.” You are getting:

• A Strategist (to figure out what to build)
• A Project Manager (your single point of contact)
• A UI/UX Designer (to make it work for humans)
• A Front-End Developer
• A Back-End Developer (if needed)
• A QA/Tester (to make sure it doesn't break)
• An SEO specialist (to make sure it can be found)

You're not paying 7 salaries. You're paying one project fee for a process.

• Pros: Accountability. Expertise across the full spectrum. One point of contact. Strategy is included, not just “coding.”
• Cons: Higher initial project cost than a single freelancer (but often cheaper than hiring a full-time employee or coordinating 3-4 freelancers).

This is the model we use at Inkbot Design. We've found it's the only way to reliably deliver a high-performance website that actually solves a business problem, not just ‘build a webpage.

What Kind of “Developer” Do You Actually Need?

Let's stop using the generic “web developer” term. Let's map your business need to the real solution.

Scenario 1: “I'm a local plumber in Belfast and need a professional site.”

• What you need: A 5-10 page brochure website.
• Platform: WordPress or Webflow.
• Who to hire: A good freelancer or a small agency.
• What NOT to hire: A full-time £70k “full-stack” developer.
• Realistic Project Cost: £3,000 – £8,000.

Scenario 2: “I'm a growing fashion brand and want to sell online.”

• What you need: A robust e-commerce store.
• Platform: Shopify or WooCommerce (on WordPress).
• Who to hire: A specialist e-commerce agency or a vetted Shopify Expert freelancer. This is not a job for a junior.
• Realistic Project Cost: £8,000 – £30,000+ (depending on customisation).

Scenario 3: “I'm a SaaS startup building a custom web application.”

• What you need: A custom-coded application from scratch.
• Platform: React, Node.js, Python, etc.
• Who to hire: Now you're talking about in-house senior developers (salary: £70k-£110k+) OR a specialist product development agency.
• Realistic Project Cost: £50,000 – £250,000+ for an initial version (MVP).

Scenario 4: “I just need someone to fix bugs and update my existing site.”

• What you need: A maintenance and support retainer.
• Who to hire: The agency or freelancer who built the site.
• Realistic Cost: £200 – £1,000 per month. This is far cheaper than having a full-time employee on standby.

The “10x Developer” Myth: Why Paying More Can Be Cheaper

There's a concept in tech of the “10x developer.” It's not a myth.

A great developer isn't just 10% faster than an average one. They are ten times more productive. They don't just write code faster; they write the correct code. They prevent problems you don't even know you have.

Let's do the maths:

• The “Cheap” Developer: A £30,000/year junior. Takes 6 months to build your buggy e-commerce site. The site crashes on Black Friday. You lose £50,000 in sales.
• Total Cost: £15,000 (salary) + £50,000 (lost sales) + £10,000 (to hire a senior dev to fix it) = £75,000 loss.

Let's try again:

• The “Expensive” Developer: An £80,000/year senior. Builds the site correctly in 8 weeks. It handles 10x your expected traffic. You have a record-breaking Black Friday.
• Total Cost: £12,300 (salary) + Profit.

The “cheap” developer was catastrophically expensive. The “expensive” developer was an investment. Stop looking at the salary. Look at the value and the risk.

A Practical Budgeting Guide for Business Owners

So, how do you budget? Follow these steps.

Step 1: Define Your Outcome, Not the Job Title. Write a one-page document. What must this website do? (e.g., “Generate 20 qualified leads per month,” “Process £30k/month in sales”).

Step 2: Identify Your Platform. Based on the scenarios above, are you a WordPress, Shopify, or Custom App business?

Step 3: Choose Your Hiring Model. Do you have a simple, one-off project? (Use a freelancer or agency). Do you have a complex, ongoing core-business need? (Consider an in-house hire). Do you need a complete solution from strategy to launch? (Use an agency).

Step 4: Get Three Quotes. (And compare them properly). Don't just compare the final number. Compare what's included. Does it include design? Strategy? Hosting? SEO setup? Mobile optimisation? Look at their portfolio. Have they solved your problem for someone else?

Step 5: Budget for Day 2. Your website is never “done.” Budget 10-20% of the project cost per year for hosting, maintenance, security, and updates.

Conclusion: Stop Shopping for Salaries. Start Shopping for Value.

The “average salary of a web developer” is a distracting, meaningless number.

The real question is, “What is the cost of a bad website?”

The answer is: your time, your reputation, and thousands in lost revenue.

Your website is your single most important digital asset. It's your 24/7 salesperson, your reception, and your storefront.

Don't try to build it with the cheapest possible parts. Invest in an outcome.

Looking at salaries gets you a list of numbers. Looking at value gets you a business asset.

If you're done with the guesswork and want a precise, comprehensive quote for your web project—one that covers strategy, design, and development—then let's talk.

Request Your Free Quote Here

Or, see the kinds of problems we solve for businesses like yours on our web design services page. And if you're not ready for that, keep exploring our insights on the Inkbot Design blog.

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