Web Designer Hourly Rate: Devs Spill The Beans

Web design costs a lot of money, and the better it is, the more expensive is the designer. It makes sense: everybody knows their worth. But how much do ordinary web designers usually make? We went to Reddit to find out all there is to know about the standard web designer hourly rate. Let’s hear what they have to say.

Web designer hourly rate

Of course, the exact hourly rate will vary depending on devs’ experience, reputation, and the task’s difficulty. But here’s what the devs have to say:

• This being work on the side it needs to be worth your time. My rule of thumb (although I haven’t done such things for well over a decade) was that the hourly rate should be double what I make at work — assuming that development is what you actually do at work. Otherwise, it’s not worth it in terms of taxes and effort-to-reward ratio. [If] you wanna bother me during my time off, you better pay up. So, let’s say you make $100K per year. That’s roughly $50 per hour. However, your company also pays for your insurance, contributes to your 401K, pays you a bonus, pays for a whole bunch of other perks and benefits, etc. So I’d say somewhere around $100 per hour. Again, this is assuming you make $100K a year.
• If it’s an hour’s worth of work, it’ll not be an hour of work (since you’re spending time reviewing requirements, etc., any changes and misunderstandings). It will never be just an hour. But the hourly rate will depend on where you are and how specialized you are, and your experience. My rate starts at about USD $130 for long-time engagements where the customer is committed for a duration of time. I’d probably estimate double that for something that just seems like an hour of work. It’d have to be worth spending the time actually changing contexts and navigating the customer as well.
• I don’t charge by the hour. I charge by the project. $3500 minimum for a 5-6 page static informational site. Typically takes me 6-12 hours to build it very consistently. $4k-$4500 for 10+ pages. You don’t charge by the hour, you charge by the value of your work and you make more money when you’re efficient. If I only charged $50 an hour I’d only make $500-$600 for 10-12 hours tops. Even charging $100 an hour I’d make $1000-$1200. After 30% taxes that’s not enough. So get consistent and know how long it takes to make a site and charge by the project. When it’s all done I’m getting like $300-$500 an hour. But if you tell someone $400 an hour, they won’t go with you. Too much. But if you say $3500 and it takes you 6-12 hours they don’t bat an eye.
• $150 should be the min, contract welders make more than $50 an hr. Not disparaging but it took me longer to write code than it took me to learn how to weld. I generally contract at $300 for anything short-term.
• $50 is on the lower side for a non-committed rate, I would go $75-95/hr for as needed work.