Sourced figures
Read 2026-10-02
Software Developers (SOC 15-1252), national, May 2025 estimates
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES -- MAY 2025 (release dated Friday, May 15, 2026, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.nr0.htm). API values, year 2025: 01 employment 1687890; 03 mean hourly 71.20; 04 mean annual 148100; 06 10th pct hourly 39.64; 07 25th pct hourly 50.58; 08 median hourly 65.38; 09 75th pct hourly 82.68; 10 90th pct hourly 103.21; 13 median annual 135980
Read 2026-10-02
Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers (SOC 15-1253), national, May 2025 estimates
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS
API values, year 2025: 01 employment 186740; 03 mean hourly 53.60; 04 mean annual 111490; 06 10th pct hourly 29.54; 07 25th pct hourly 38.61; 08 median hourly 50.14; 09 75th pct hourly 64.03; 10 90th pct hourly 80.29; 13 median annual 104300
Read 2026-10-02
Web Developers (SOC 15-1254), national, May 2025 estimates
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS
API values, year 2025: 01 employment 70190; 03 mean hourly 47.49; 04 mean annual 98770; 06 10th pct hourly 23.12; 07 25th pct hourly 30.88; 08 median hourly 44.54; 09 75th pct hourly 60.69; 10 90th pct hourly 78.03; 13 median annual 92650
Read 2026-10-02
Web and Digital Interface Designers (SOC 15-1255), national, May 2025 estimates
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS
API values, year 2025: 01 employment 113330; 03 mean hourly 56.49; 04 mean annual 117490; 06 10th pct hourly 25.84; 07 25th pct hourly 35.24; 08 median hourly 50.00; 09 75th pct hourly 76.36; 10 90th pct hourly 96.90; 13 median annual 104000
Read 2026-10-02
Project Management Specialists (SOC 13-1082), national, May 2025 estimates
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS
API values, year 2025: 01 employment 1066670; 03 mean hourly 53.24; 04 mean annual 110740; 06 10th pct hourly 29.61; 07 25th pct hourly 37.71; 08 median hourly 49.19; 09 75th pct hourly 63.99; 10 90th pct hourly 80.76; 13 median annual 102320
Read 2026-10-02
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC)
Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $46.89 per hour worked in June 2026. Wages and salaries averaged $32.82 and accounted for 70.0 percent of employer costs, while benefit costs averaged $14.07 and accounted for the remaining 30.0 percent.
Read 2026-10-02
Price Pressure and Performance: The New Equation for Global Dev Rates
Accelerance (blog post by Peter Griffin, November 24, 2025, summarising the Accelerance 2026 Global Software Development Rates & Trends Guide)
Rates for junior developers in LATAM now sit between US$33–$45 per hour, while senior developers range from $60–$75 USD. | Asia remains the cost leader, with average rates for junior developers as low as $24–$31 per hour and senior roles between $31–$41, thanks to massive talent pools in places like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. | Europe, balancing premium expertise and broad regional variation, saw hourly rates slip slightly to a range of $31–$39 for junior developers and $64–$76 for seniors, with downward pressure especially strong in Central and Eastern Europe. | Latin America saw the sharpest rates decrease in 2025, with software development rates falling 7.1% year-on-year according to our survey of software firms in the region | Asia’s effective rates dropped nearly 8% in the last year | Europe’s 4.4% year-on-year dip | Download your copy of the Accelerance 2026 Global Software Development Rates & Trends Guide based on our survey of 60 software development partners from around the world.
Note: Accelerance publishes no North America or US agency range in this post. Europe range is a blended Europe figure; the post says downward pressure is strongest in Central and Eastern Europe.
https://www.accelerance.com/blog/2026-outsourcing-rate-trends-asia-europe-latam
Read 2026-10-02
App Development Pricing Guide, updated September 21, 2026
Clutch (App Development Pricing Guide)
Updated September 21, 2026 | According to data gathered by Clutch, the average cost of hiring an app development company is around $25–$49/hour. | Most app development projects reviewed on Clutch usually range between $10,000 - $49,999. | Based on data collected by Clutch, the average cost of app development projects is $90,780.11. | Usually, the timeline for mobile app development projects is about 11 months. | The average monthly cost of app development projects is $8,188.44. | Rates by location: United States of America: $25 - $49; India: <$25; Canada: $50 - $99; Australia: $100 - $149; Phillippines: $25 - $49; Ukraine: $25 - $49; Poland: $50 - $99; Spain: $25 - $49; Mexico: $25 - $49 | The pricing information accumulated by Clutch is derived from the countless verified first-party reviews provided by app development clients
https://clutch.co/directory/mobile-application-developers/pricing
Read 2026-10-02
Software Development Company Pricing Guide, updated September 21, 2026
Clutch (Software Development Pricing Guide)
Updated September 21, 2026 | The average cost to hire a software development company ranges anywhere from $25–$49/hour | the average cost of a software development project is $132,480.29 | The usual timeline for a software development project based on verified project reviews is about 13 months. | Country | Average Cost per Hour | United States of America | $50 - $99 | India | $25 - $49 | Canada | $100 - $149 | Australia | $100 - $149 | Philippines | $25 - $49 | Ukraine | $25 - $49 | Poland | $50 - $99 | Spain | $25 - $49 | Mexico | $25 - $49
Read 2026-10-02
Apple Developer Program enrollment
Apple Developer (Enrollment support page)
The Apple Developer Program annual fee is 99 USD and the Apple Developer Enterprise Program annual fee is 299 USD, in local currency where available.
Read 2026-10-02
App Store Small Business Program
Apple Developer (App Store Small Business Program)
It features a reduced commission rate of 15% on paid apps and Apple In-App Purchases, so you can invest more resources into your business to continue building quality apps that customers love. | Existing developers who made up to 1 million USD in proceeds in the prior calendar year for all their apps, as well as developers new to the App Store, can qualify for the program and the reduced commission. | If a participating developer surpasses the 1 million USD threshold in the current calendar year, the standard commission rate will apply to future sales.
Note: The page does not state the standard commission percentage; the site does not state it either.
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/small-business-program/
Read 2026-10-02
Get started with Play Console (registration)
Google Play Console Help
There is a US$25 one-time registration fee that you can pay with the following credit or debit cards
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6112435?hl=en
Read 2026-10-02
Service fees
Google Play Console Help
Of those developers that are subject to a service fee, 99% are eligible for a fee of 15% or less by participating in different programs offered by Google Play. | For all remaining markets until the announced updated service fees are rolled out globally: ... Developers enrolled in the 15% service fee tier 15% for the first $1M (USD) revenue earned by the developer each year 30% for earnings in excess of $1M (USD) revenue earned by the developer each year Subscriptions 15% for automatically renewing subscription products purchased by subscribers, regardless of revenue earned by the developer each year
Note: Google is rolling out an updated fee structure market by market (10% + 5% billing fee rows on the same page); the site describes the transitional schedule and links the page rather than presenting one number as final.
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622?hl=en
Read 2026-10-02
Target API level requirements for Google Play apps
Google Play Console Help
Starting August 31, 2026: New apps and app updates must target Android 16 (API level 36) or higher to be submitted to Google Play | You will be able to request an extension to November 1, 2026 if you need more time to update your app. | Android 15(API level 35) August 31, 2025 August 31, 2025
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/11926878?hl=en
Read 2026-10-02
Upcoming requirements
Apple Developer (Upcoming requirements)
SDK minimum requirements Since April 28, 2026 Apps uploaded to App Store Connect must be built with Xcode 26 or later using an SDK for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, or watchOS 26. | Xcode 15 Since April 29, 2024 Apps uploaded to App Store Connect must be built with Xcode 15 for iOS 17, iPadOS 17, tvOS 17, or watchOS 10 starting April 29, 2024. | Xcode 14.1 Since April 25, 2023 iOS and iPadOS apps submitted to the App Store must be built with Xcode 14.1 and the iOS 16.1 SDK or later.
Read 2026-10-02
Claude model pricing
Anthropic (Claude API docs, Pricing)
Model pricing The following table shows pricing for all Claude models: Model Base tokens ... Name Input Output ... Claude Sonnet 5.5 The best combination of speed and intelligence $2 / MTok $10 / MTok ... Claude Haiku 4.5 The fastest model with near-frontier intelligence $1 / MTok $5 / MTok
Note: MTok = million tokens. Base (uncached) rates; prompt caching discounts not modelled.
Read 2026-10-02
API pricing, flagship models, Standard tier, short context
OpenAI (API docs, Pricing)
Flagship models Our latest models Prices per 1M tokens. ... Standard ... Short context ... Model Input Cached input Cache writes Output ... gpt-6.1-sol $2.00 $0.10 $2.50 $10.00 ... gpt-6-luna $0.10 $0.01 $0.125 $0.50
Note: openai.com/api/pricing returned 403; platform.openai.com/docs/pricing redirected to this page. Embedding prices were not present in the page text we could read, so OpenAI embeddings are not used.
Read 2026-10-02
Gemini Developer API pricing, paid tier
Google (Gemini API docs, Pricing)
Gemini 3.8 Flash gemini-3.8-flash ... Our most intelligent Flash model, engineered for long-horizon software engineering, autonomous agents, and complex enterprise workflows. Standard Free Tier Paid Tier, per 1M tokens in USD Input price Free of charge $0.75 through December 31, 2026. $1.50 starting January 1, 2027. Output price (including thinking tokens) Free of charge $3.75 through December 31, 2026. $7.50 starting January 1, 2027. | gemini-embedding-2 ... Standard Free Tier Paid Tier, per 1M tokens in USD Text input price Free of charge $0.20
Read 2026-10-02
Research: quantifying GitHub Copilot’s impact on developer productivity and happiness (published 7 Sep 2022)
GitHub Blog (GitHub research)
We recruited 95 professional developers, split them randomly into two groups, and timed how long it took them to write an HTTP server in JavaScript. | The group that used GitHub Copilot had a higher rate of completing the task (78%, compared to 70% in the group without Copilot). | The striking difference was that developers who used GitHub Copilot completed the task significantly faster–55% faster than the developers who didn’t use GitHub Copilot. | Specifically, the developers using GitHub Copilot took on average 1 hour and 11 minutes to complete the task, while the developers who didn’t use GitHub Copilot took on average 2 hours and 41 minutes. | These results are statistically significant (P=.0017) and the 95% confidence interval for the percentage speed gain is [21%, 89%].
Read 2026-10-02
Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity (10 Jul 2025)
METR
we recruited 16 experienced developers from large open-source repositories (averaging 22k+ stars and 1M+ lines of code) that they’ve contributed to for multiple years. | Developers provide lists of real issues (246 total) | When developers are allowed to use AI tools, they take 19% longer to complete issues - a significant slowdown that goes against developer beliefs and expert forecasts. | developers expected AI to speed them up by 24%, and even after experiencing the slowdown, they still believed AI had sped them up by 20%. | Update: In February 2026, we published new data on the productivity impact of late-2025 AI tools. | We believe these historical results no longer reflect the current impact of AI models on open-source developer productivity.
https://metr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-study/
Read 2026-10-02
We are Changing our Developer Productivity Experiment Design (24 Feb 2026)
METR
To understand how AI is impacting developer productivity over time, we started a new experiment in August 2025 with a larger pool of developers using the latest AI tools. | The primary reason is that we have observed a significant increase in developers choosing not to participate in the study because they do not wish to work without AI, which likely biases downwards our estimate of AI-assisted speedup. | Based on conversations with study participants, we believe it is likely that developers are more sped up from AI tools now - in early 2026 - compared to our estimates from early 2025. | However, because of the selection effects in our experiment, our data is only very weak evidence for the size of this increase. | Our early 2025 study found the use of AI causes tasks to take 19% longer, with a confidence interval between +2% and +39%.
Note: The update also gives revised estimates ("a speedup of -18%" for returning developers, "-4%" for new ones) whose sign convention is not explained in the text we read; the site quotes METR’s own words instead of restating those numbers.
Read 2026-10-02
Highlights from the 10th DORA report (2024 Accelerate State of DevOps Report)
Google Cloud Blog (Nathen Harvey, Derek DeBellis, DORA), 23 Oct 2024
A 25% increase in AI adoption is associated with improvements in several key areas: 7.5% increase in documentation quality 3.4% increase in code quality 3.1% increase in code review speed | As AI adoption increased, it was accompanied by an estimated decrease in delivery throughput by 1.5%, and an estimated reduction in delivery stability by 7.2%. | More than 75 percent of respondents said that they rely on AI for at least one daily professional responsibility.
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/devops-sre/announcing-the-2024-dora-report
Read 2026-10-02
Announcing the 2025 DORA Report: State of AI-Assisted Software Development
Google Cloud Blog (Nathen Harvey, Derek DeBellis, DORA), 23 Sep 2025
survey responses from nearly 5,000 technology professionals from around the world. | The report reveals a key insight: AI doesn't fix a team; it amplifies what's already there. | Unlike last year, we observe a positive relationship between AI adoption on both software delivery throughput and product performance. | However, AI adoption does continue to have a negative relationship with software delivery stability. | AI adoption is near-universal: 90% of survey respondents report using AI at work. | 30% report little or no trust in the code generated by AI
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/announcing-the-2025-dora-report
Read 2026-10-02
Bolt pricing
Bolt (StackBlitz), pricing page
Free $0 ... 1M tokens per month ... Pro $25 per month billed monthly You get: Public and private projects No daily token limit Start at 10M tokens per month ... Website hosting Up to 1M web requests ... Teams Popular $30 per month and member billed monthly
Read 2026-10-02
Replit pricing
Replit, pricing page
Core $20 $18 / month, billed annually AI integrations ... $20 towards most powerful models ... Pro $100 $90 / month, billed annually 10 parallel agents
Read 2026-10-02
Freelancer-Kompass 2026: Stundensätze fallen erstmals seit Jahren, Arbeitsbelastung ist gestiegen
freelancermap (Freelancer-Kompass 2026 press release, 17 Mar 2026)
Erstmals seit Beginn des Freelancer-Kompass ist der Stundensatz der Freelancer nicht gestiegen. Während im Vorjahr noch ein leichter Anstieg zu verzeichnen war, stagniert das Honorar nun und beträgt im Durchschnitt 103 Euro. Im Vorjahr waren es noch 104 Euro gewesen. Gleichzeitig planen 62 Prozent der Befragten, ihre Stundensätze auch künftig nicht zu erhöhen. Neun Prozent wollen ihre Preise 2026 sogar senken. | Dafür wurden insgesamt 5.412 Freelancer, Freiberufler und Selbstständige in vier Umfragen zwischen dem 17.11.2025 und dem 08.02.2026 befragt.
Note: Covers freelancers of all kinds on a German-language platform, not only developers. Also confirmed on https://www.freelancermap.de/freelancer-kompass ("103 € durchschnittlicher Stundensatz 2026"). The CoderCops blog post suggested as a source for this figure does not contain it.
https://www.freelancermap.at/media/press_release/2026-03-17-PM-Einkommen.pdf
Read 2026-10-02
AI software development pricing models
Riseup Labs (a software development company), blog guide last edited 9 Jul 2026
The main AI software development pricing models include Fixed Price, Time & Material (T&M), Usage-Based, Value-Based, Subscription, License Fee, Outcome-Based, and Hybrid approaches. | Hybrid models are increasingly common and well-suited to large or evolving AI solutions. | Hourly Rate (AI Dev) ... North America $100–$250+ ... Western Europe $90–$200 ... Eastern Europe $50–$120 ... Asia-Pacific $35–$100 ... Latin America $40–$90
Note: A vendor guide; the page does not say where its rate table comes from. Shown as the vendor's statement only.
https://riseuplabs.com/ai-software-development-pricing-models/
Read 2026-10-02
Freelance developer rates 2026: AI impact data
CoderCops blog (Shashikant Gupta)
Region Typical hourly range North America up to $140/hr Eastern Europe $40-70/hr Latin America $30-55/hr Southeast Asia $20-33/hr AI/ML specialists (global) $100-250/hr | More supply against roughly flat demand for that tier of work pushes rates down | that tier is getting more expensive, not less. | Sources Index.dev: Freelance Software Developer Rates by Country in 2026 Arc.dev: Freelance Developer Rates in 2026: Global Cost Guide
Note: Secondary blog citing Index.dev and Arc.dev. Used only for the AI/ML specialist band, attributed to the blog.
https://blog.codercops.com/blog/freelance-developer-rates-2026-ai-impact-data
Read 2026-10-02
2026 Consulting's AI Revolution Update: Billions Spent, But the Old Pyramid Persists
Marin Ivezic, futureofconsulting.ai, 25 Jan 2026
The much-heralded shift to "outcome-based pricing" (getting paid for results rather than hours) has been sluggish. | One analysis in late 2025 found that even at an AI-forward firm like McKinsey, only about 25% of fees globally are linked to outcomes - the rest still come from traditional billing. | Partners still sell big teams of humans, not AI systems, and profits still depend on maximizing billable hours.
Note: The "one analysis" links to a Hunt Scanlon article that returned HTTP 403 on 2 Oct 2026, so the 25% is attributed to Ivezic's summary, not to McKinsey or Hunt Scanlon. About management consulting, not app agencies. The page does not mention Thomson Reuters.
https://futureofconsulting.ai/ai-leadership/2026-consultings-ai-revolution-update/
Read 2026-10-02
The $2,000 hour problem: When AI efficiency collides with billable time
Thomson Reuters Legal blog, 27 Feb 2026
The report reveals a "client value squeeze" affecting nearly every legal department. | When firms deploy AI to accomplish in minutes what once took hours, clients reasonably expect to share in those efficiency gains. | Meanwhile, 90% of legal dollars still flow through law firm billable hours arrangements unchanged since the 1950s.
Note: About law firms and corporate legal departments. Used only as a parallel from another hourly-billed profession, labelled as such.
Read 2026-10-02
Agencies grapple with economics of a new marketing currency: the AI token
Digiday (Sam Bradley), 3 Mar 2026
Marketing services companies need to decide whether to eat AI overheads, or pass it on to clients. | At full-service agency Merge, token costs are passed on to clients on a metered, case-by-case basis, said Kyle Smith, its chief technology officer. | Production shop Big Spaceship follows a similar framework, treating compute as another budget item akin to a catering or equipment hire. | Full-service agency RPA, however, takes the opposite approach - it absorbs its clients’ token costs. | Silverside ... uses a subscription model with "seat" pricing
Note: Marketing agencies, not app development agencies; used to show the billing patterns exist, labelled as such.
Read 2026-10-02
Markup on Token Cost
Infracost (glossary)
Markup on Token Cost is the margin applied on top of the underlying per-token cost of a large language model (LLM) API when that AI capability is resold to customers, expressed as a percentage or multiple of the provider's charge. | Fixed multiple of token cost ... Fixed price per unit of output ... Cost-plus with a floor ... Volume-banded markup ... Pass-through plus platform fee Token cost is billed at cost, with a separate fixed fee for the surrounding platform | a cost markup of 100 percent corresponds to a gross margin of 50 percent.
Note: Gives no typical markup percentage. A blog claiming a "5-20%" markup returned 404 and described AI gateways, not agencies; that figure is not used.
https://www.infracost.io/resources/glossary/markup-on-token-cost
Read 2026-10-02
MVP pricing and timeline
BuildMVPFast (productised MVP studio), homepage
MVP development cost starts at $1,999 for a Basic MVP and $2,500 for a Pro MVP | Basic MVP can be delivered in 14 days | Pro MVPs with custom integrations take 21 days
Read 2026-10-02
How Much Does It Cost to Make an App in 2026: Full Cost Breakdown
DashDevs (a development agency), blog cost guide
App Development Cost Ranges in 2026 (Quick Answer) App type Typical timeline Typical app development price Simple app 1-4 months $15,000-$60,000 Medium-complexity app 4-9 months $60,000-$180,000 Complex app 9-18+ months $180,000-$500,000+ Fintech / regulated app 6-14+ months $200,000-$400,000+
Note: An agency's own published quote ranges; used as evidence of what agencies quote, not as a neutral benchmark. No publication date on the page; it is framed as 2026.
https://dashdevs.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-build-an-app/
Read 2026-10-02
How Much Does It Cost to Build an MVP in 2026?
Appinventiv (a development agency), blog guide, modified 15 Sep 2026
Validation MVP No-code or low-code build, one assumption, limited users $5,000–$15,000 4–8 weeks Basic MVP One platform, one main user type, basic backend $15,000–$40,000 2–3 months Custom MVP Custom UI, complete core workflow, admin and limited APIs $40,000–$100,000 3–5 months Complex MVP Multiple roles, real-time functions, analytics, integrations $100,000–$200,000 5–8 months
Note: An agency's own published quote ranges; used as evidence of what agencies quote. article:modified_time 2026-09-15.
https://appinventiv.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-build-an-mvp/
What we could not source
- Freelance marketplace rates (Upwork hire/cost pages returned HTTP 403 on 2026-10-02). Not shown on the site.
- GoodFirms app cost survey (HTTP 403 on 2026-10-02). Not shown.
- A neutral, method-stated benchmark for annual maintenance as a percentage of build cost. A web search on 2026-10-02 ("app maintenance cost per year percentage of development cost") returned agency articles giving 15-20%, 15-30%, 33% and 50% in the first year, with no neutral source or stated method found. The site reports the disagreement and models maintenance as hours instead.
- Apple's standard (non-small-business) commission percentage: not stated on the Apple page read; not shown.
- Hours per feature and per complexity level: these are the site's own planning assumptions, published on /methodology/ and labelled as such everywhere they appear.
- OpenAI embedding prices: not present in the text of the OpenAI pricing page we could read on 2026-10-02; semantic-search embedding cost uses Google gemini-embedding-2 for every provider choice, labelled as such.
- Lovable and v0 plan prices: Lovable renders prices client-side and v0 showed an ambiguous "$30 $ 90 /user/month" string on 2026-10-02; neither is quoted.
- A blanket "AI makes development X% cheaper/faster" figure: the evidence read on 2026-10-02 (GitHub 2022 scoped task, METR 2025 RCT and its 2026 update, DORA 2024 and 2025) points in different directions, so the site applies no such multiplier.
- AI usage per user (requests, tokens per request) and AI integration hours: this site's methodology, labelled wherever shown.
- A "5-20% markup on token costs" figure: the page carrying it (theactionelite.com) returned 404 on 2026-10-02 and described AI gateways, not agencies. Not used.
- A "$150-300/hr AI-specialist premium" band: not found on any page read on 2026-10-02. The site shows the bands two named sources do publish ($100-250+ Riseup Labs, $100-250 CoderCops), attributed.
- McKinsey outcome-linked fee share: the underlying Hunt Scanlon article returned 403; the ~25% is attributed to Marin Ivezic's summary only.
- Saigon Technology "software pricing models" page: about pricing software products, not agency billing; not used.
- Velvetech cost table (2026-10-02): includes figures such as ~$1,350,000 for an IoT app with a US agency that we could not interpret consistently; not used. appdevelopmentcost.com publishes per-platform hours but is an estimator, not an agency; not used as quoted-market evidence.
Long dashes inside quotes are shown as spaced hyphens; the wording is otherwise unchanged. Hours are covered on the methodology page. Corrections: see the about page.