Cost of hiring a senior developer in the UK, by role
Every role in the UK table is priced from its own survey sample, out of 635 British answers. Backend is the most expensive to hire locally, $162,000 a year, while Mobile shows the biggest gap with Wild.Codes, 44%.
Up to 44% less on a Mobile engineer than hiring in the UK: $154,000 a year locally, $86,400 with Wild.Codes.
| Role | UK full-time, per year | Wild.Codes, per year | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backend | $162,000Median pay $111,636 + 45%. 189 survey answers. | $94,080$7,840 a month, all-in | $67,920 less42% less with Wild.Codes |
| Full-stack | $132,000Median pay $91,181 + 45%. 312 survey answers. | $88,320$7,360 a month, all-in | $43,680 less33% less with Wild.Codes |
| Frontend | $140,000Median pay $96,660 + 45%. 32 survey answers. | $86,400$7,200 a month, all-in | $53,600 less38% less with Wild.Codes |
| Mobile | $154,000Median pay $106,190 + 45%. 21 survey answers. | $86,400$7,200 a month, all-in | $67,600 less44% less with Wild.Codes |
| DevOps | $151,000Median pay $104,148 + 45%. 32 survey answers. | $92,160$7,680 a month, all-in | $58,840 less39% less with Wild.Codes |
| Data / AI | $155,000Median pay $106,871 + 45%. 44 survey answers. | $101,760$8,480 a month, all-in | $53,240 less34% less with Wild.Codes |
All roles we compare: median pay $97,682 from 635 survey answers.
Not shown for the UK: QA. The survey has too few answers for a fair median.
Partner teams in Africa: profiles on request.
Compare with the cost of hiring developers in Ireland, cost of hiring developers in Germany and cost of hiring developers in the Netherlands, or see hiring costs in other countries.
Related guide: Eastern European developer rates by country.
Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025 (ODbL 1.0), full-time employees with 5+ years of work experience, pay in US dollars as the survey converts it. Wild.Codes rates from /pricing. Data and method, updated 23 October 2026.
Questions about hiring developers in the UK
How much does it cost to hire a senior developer in the UK?
A full-time senior developer in the UK costs $132,000 to $162,000 a year once employer costs are counted. Full-stack is the least expensive role and Backend the most. All six figures come from British survey answers of their own, with 45% added for the employer's costs.
Is hiring through Wild.Codes cheaper than hiring a developer in the UK?
For all six roles, yes: Wild.Codes comes in 33% to 44% below a UK hire. Mobile has the widest gap, $154,000 a year locally against $86,400. Our engineers are remote, based in Eastern Europe or Latin America.
What is the median software engineer salary in the UK?
Across our roles, experienced UK developers (5+ years, full-time) reported $97,682 a year in the Stack Overflow 2025 survey. That median comes from 635 answers and is total pay in US dollars, bonuses included. Employer payroll taxes and benefits are extra.
Which developer role costs the most to hire in the UK?
Backend. The 189 UK backend developers in the survey reported a median of $111,636; with employer costs that is about $162,000 a year. A senior backend engineer through Wild.Codes costs $7,840 a month, all-in.
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