What to include in your costs as a web developer
- Hardware and test devices
- IDE, hosting, staging servers and SaaS tools
- Courses and certifications to stay current
- Professional indemnity / errors & omissions insurance
- Accounting software
How web developers usually price their work
Developers commonly bill day rates or weekly sprints for ongoing work and fixed prices for clearly scoped builds. Ongoing maintenance and support work well as a monthly retainer.
Tip: Scope creep is the biggest risk on fixed-price builds. Write down exactly what is included, and bill change requests separately at your hourly rate.
How the calculation works
Your rate = (target take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate) + business expenses) × (1 + buffer) ÷ billable hours. Billable hours are your working weeks × hours per week × the share of time you can actually bill. More about the method →