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A web developer hourly rate in Belgium runs from 30 to 80 euros for a freelancer and 50 to 150 euros for an agency. Senior freelancers in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and Scandinavia quote roughly 70 to 140 dollars an hour, and in the US 95 to 150 dollars. We quote a fixed price per site ourselves; further down you see why that compares more fairly. What a freelancer in Belgium needs to charge for a given net income, after contributions and tax, the freelance rate calculator works out.
This guide lines up the rates across markets, works out how many hours each kind of site takes, and shows why an hourly quote often ends higher than estimated. If you are weighing a team abroad, web development agency in Europe explains how we work with clients outside Belgium. For software and platforms across 19 countries, see developer rates by country; for British contract rates per role, UK developer day rates.
Web developer hourly rates by market
No single source measures every country the same way, so the table names what each figure counts. Read it as a range, not a league table.
| Market | Who | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | Freelance web designers | 30 to 80 euros an hour |
| Belgium | Web agencies | 50 to 150 euros an hour, most between 45 and 90 |
| United Kingdom | Contract web developers, median day rate | 475 pounds a day |
| Netherlands | Senior freelance developers | 80 to 125 dollars an hour |
| Germany | Senior freelance developers | 85 to 140 dollars an hour |
| Germany, Austria, Switzerland | All IT freelancers, average | 103 euros an hour |
| Denmark | Senior freelance developers | 75 to 120 dollars an hour |
| Sweden | Senior freelance developers | 72 to 118 dollars an hour |
| United States | Web development agencies | 100 to 149 dollars an hour |
| United States | Senior freelance developers | 95 to 150 dollars an hour |
We found no Norwegian figure built on a method we trust, so Norway is left out rather than guessed.
Why Belgium sits where it does
The Belgian freelance range starts well below the senior rates surveyed in Germany and the Netherlands, though the sources count different groups, so compare a named senior developer against a named senior developer. Belgium shares a time zone with most of Western Europe. Belgian invoices add 21 percent VAT for Belgian clients; for a business client elsewhere in the EU, ask your developer how VAT is handled on a cross-border invoice before you compare totals.
Same site, three quotes
Freelancer45 euros an hour, 40 > 62 hours
- Quote
- 1,800 euro
- Invoice
- 2,790 euro
Agency90 euros an hour, 28 > 32 hours
- Quote
- 2,520 euro
- Invoice
- 2,880 euro
Fixed priceOne price for the agreed pages and features
- Quote
- 2,700 euro
- Invoice
- 2,700 euro
The lowest hourly rate grew the most. Compare hours only once you know what is in them.
Our own worked example, excl. VAT. The rates sit inside the Belgian range (freelancers 30 to 80 euros an hour, agencies 50 to 150); the hours are an assumption.
Hourly billing against a fixed price per site
- What you know when you sign
- By the hourThe rate. The hours are an estimate.
- Fixed price per siteThe total for the agreed pages, languages and features.
- Who carries an overrun
- By the hourYou, unless there is a cap.
- Fixed price per siteThe developer.
- How you compare two quotes
- By the hourRate times hours, but nobody counts hours the same way.
- Fixed price per siteLine by line: pages, languages, who writes the copy, what is excluded.
- Where it works best
- By the hourSmall changes to a live site, bug fixes, open-ended research.
- Fixed price per siteA new site or a rebuild with a clear scope.
A low rate across a vague number of hours is not a low price. For a new site, ask for a fixed price and compare what is in it.
How many hours a site takes, by type
These are the usual Belgian project prices per kind of site. Divide by an hourly rate and you see the hours inside. Our own worked example, before VAT.
| Kind of site | Project price in Belgium | Hours at 45 euros | Hours at 90 euros |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brochure site, one to three pages | 500 to 1,500 euros | 11 to 33 | 6 to 17 |
| Business site, five to fifteen pages | 2,000 to 6,000 euros | 44 to 133 | 22 to 67 |
| Online store | 4,000 to 15,000 euros and up | 89 to 333 | 44 to 167 |
A six-page business site quoted at 20 hours leaves something out; one quoted at 130 hours should show what it adds: copy, photography, a second language, a booking system. An online store takes far more hours because products, payments, shipping and VAT come in; what a store costs on a platform is in how much does Shopify cost and Wix pricing.
Web designer or web developer
The two words get mixed up in quotes. A web designer decides how your site looks and how a visitor moves through it; a web developer builds it in code and connects it to other systems. On a simple site one person often does both. For a booking system, a client portal or a link with your accounting you also need a developer, at the higher rate. Ask who does the work: an hour of design and an hour of code are not the same hour. When custom code pays off is in Lovable vs WordPress and our page on headless website agencies.
What a rate does not include
Even a fair hourly quote leaves costs outside it: the domain and hosting every year, paid themes, plugins or font licences, copywriting and photography if you do not supply them, translations into a second or third language, and maintenance after launch. Ask for each of these as a separate line.
Turning an hourly quote into a total
Say a freelancer quotes 45 euros an hour for 40 hours: 1,800 euros. Ask three questions. How many feedback rounds are in those 40 hours? One extra round of six hours adds 270 euros. Who writes the copy? Ten hours of writing adds 450. What does an hour cost after launch, and is there a cap? You are at 2,520 euros before anything runs over. Put that next to a fixed price for the same pages and you finally compare like with like.
Which rate fits which job
- A small fix on a live siteAn hour or two with the developer who built it, at their hourly rate. Ask for a cap and a response time.
- A new business siteA fixed price for the agreed pages, languages and features. How long that takes from brief to launch is answered in how long does it take to build a website.
- A site with a booking system, a portal or an integrationA fixed price for the site, plus a developer rate or a separate fixed price for the custom part. Write down what the integration must do before anyone estimates.
- Ongoing work on a growing siteA monthly budget with an agreed list of changes, so you do not pay by the hour for the same questions every month.
Whoever you hire, ask to see a site they built that does what yours must do, and look at it on a phone.
Pitfalls when you pay a web developer by the hour
- No capAn estimate without a ceiling is an open bill.
- Domain and hosting in the developer's nameIf you leave, you want to take your site with you.
- A site nobody findsA good-looking site without titles on search terms or fast pages brings no enquiries. Ask what the developer does for Google; check your current site with the website speed test.
- Copy at the very endSupplying text after the design costs hours of moving everything again.
Comparing quotes across EU borders
A Belgian developer billing a business in another EU country invoices without Belgian VAT; you self-assess VAT at home under the reverse charge. A quote from a developer in your own country includes your local VAT. Compare totals before VAT, in the same currency, for the same scope.
Ask this with an hourly quote
- Is the rate with or without VAT, and how is VAT handled across borders?
- How many hours do you estimate, per page or per part?
- How many feedback rounds are in the estimate?
- What happens when the hours run over: notice first, or a fixed cap?
- Which costs come on top: theme, plugins, hosting, domain, copy?
- What does an hour cost after launch, and how fast do you respond?
- Are the domain, hosting and accounts registered to my company?
Rates, hours and cross-border quotes
What is a normal web developer hourly rate in Europe?
For senior freelancers in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and Scandinavia, public surveys put it at roughly 70 to 140 dollars an hour (Arc, May 2026). Belgian freelancers start lower, around 30 to 80 euros.
Is a day rate better than an hourly rate?
UK contractors mostly quote by the day: the median for web developers is 475 pounds a day. A day rate is easier to plan, but it still leaves the number of days open.
Why do agencies charge more per hour than freelancers?
An agency hour often includes strategy, copy, design and code from different people, plus cover when someone is ill. A freelancer does design and build alone; what they do not do, you supply or buy elsewhere.
Can I hire a Belgian developer from outside Belgium?
Yes. Work, calls and invoices run online. Agree on the language of the contract, the currency and how VAT appears on the invoice before you sign.
How many hours does a six-page website take?
In our worked example, 22 to 133 hours depending on the rate and what is included. Always ask for an estimate per page or per part.
What does a web developer charge for small changes?
Most charge by the hour for a new page or a bug fix. Agree a cap and ask how fast they respond.