I have more than six years of professional development experience, but I've recently received two freelance offers that seemed unbelievably low. One client wanted a complete multi-tenant application built from scratch for about $200. Another wanted me to handle a full-stack role and manage the entire project for roughly $150. These projects could involve frontend and backend development, database design, architecture, deployment, debugging, maintenance, and weeks or months of work. Are offers like this normal in Saudi Arabia, or am I simply encountering clients with unrealistic budgets? I'd particularly like to hear from developers, freelancers, expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, and people who hire local developers. What would be a reasonable range for this kind of work from someone with six or more years of experience?
3 Answers
Before quoting a price, ask for a written scope, milestones, delivery timeline, and details about hosting, testing, revisions, and ongoing maintenance. If the client can’t define the work or refuses a realistic budget, it’s probably not a viable engagement. Price the project based on estimated hours and risk, and walk away from offers that effectively expect one person to replace an entire team.
The market has a wide range. Some lower-paid developers may accept modest monthly salaries, but that doesn’t mean a complete freelance project should be priced at $150–$200. Established agencies, product companies, and international clients often pay much closer to senior regional or global rates. The scope, timeline, support expectations, and ownership requirements matter more than the client’s location.
Those offers are far below a serious custom software rate, not merely a little under market. A multi-tenant application for $200 could easily work out to only a dollar or two per hour once planning, authentication, infrastructure, testing, and revisions are included. The low end of the market may contain resellers or clients looking for someone desperate, but that shouldn’t be treated as the standard rate for experienced developers.
I expected some cost-cutting, but not a reduction of 97%. At that level, the budget wouldn’t even cover my development tools and subscriptions.
Exactly. A full project for a fraction of a monthly salary sounds more like an unrealistic client budget than a normal professional rate.