How to use this estimator
Print the page (or copy the tables into a spreadsheet). For each row, fill in: estimated days, applicable day-rate, and any notes on assumptions. Multiply for cost. Roll up to section subtotals. Add a 15% contingency for unknown unknowns. The grand total is your envelope.
This estimator deliberately separates effort from rate. That makes it easy to compare two vendors quoting different rates for the same effort, and it forces vendors to be explicit about how many days they think the work takes.
Day-rate benchmarks (offshore engineering, 2026)
Use as a sanity check on vendor quotes. Rates vary by region, technology, and vendor maturity. These are reasonable midpoints for high-quality offshore vendors based in India / Eastern Europe / Latin America.
- Junior engineer (0 to 2 yrs): $250 to $350 / day
- Mid engineer (2 to 5 yrs): $400 to $550 / day
- Senior engineer (5 to 10 yrs): $600 to $800 / day
- Tech lead / architect (10+ yrs): $800 to $1,000 / day
- Designer / UX: $400 to $700 / day
- QA automation engineer: $350 to $550 / day
- DevOps / SRE: $500 to $750 / day
- Project manager: $400 to $650 / day
Onshore US / UK / EU rates are typically 2.5 to 4x higher. Top-tier consultancies bill 2 to 3x these rates even offshore. Rates far below these benchmarks deserve a direct question: are they backed by inexperienced engineers or hidden subcontracting, or by genuine efficiency such as AI-native tooling and low overhead?
Section A: Discovery and planning
| Task | Days | Day-rate ($) | Cost ($) | Notes / assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stakeholder interviews (4 to 8 people) | __ | __ | __ | Senior + PM |
| Technical audit of existing systems (if applicable) | __ | __ | __ | Tech lead |
| Architecture & ADRs | __ | __ | __ | Tech lead |
| Product / scope document | __ | __ | __ | PM + senior |
| Sprint plan + estimates | __ | __ | __ | Tech lead + PM |
| Wireframes / UX flows | __ | __ | __ | Designer |
| Subtotal: Discovery | -- | -- | __ | Typically 8 to 15% of total |
Section B: Build effort by module
Add or delete rows to match your scope. Day counts are typical ranges for offshore senior + mid pair on a well-scoped module.
| Module | Days | Day-rate ($) | Cost ($) | Notes / assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authentication & user management (incl. SSO, MFA, RBAC) | __ (typical 8 to 15) | __ | __ | Custom or off-the-shelf? |
| Core domain CRUD (entities + API + admin UI) | __ (per entity: 3 to 6) | __ | __ | List entities here |
| Reporting / dashboards | __ (typical 10 to 20) | __ | __ | Pre-built or custom? |
| Third-party integration #1 (e.g. Stripe) | __ (per: 4 to 10) | __ | __ | REST? Webhooks? Sync? |
| Third-party integration #2 | __ | __ | __ | |
| Third-party integration #3 | __ | __ | __ | |
| Admin panel (back-office for staff) | __ (typical 10 to 20) | __ | __ | Scope of roles |
| Notifications (email, SMS, push, in-app) | __ (typical 5 to 10) | __ | __ | Which channels? |
| Search (incl. relevance tuning if applicable) | __ (typical 6 to 15) | __ | __ | DB / Elastic / semantic? |
| Mobile app (if applicable, per platform) | __ (typical 40 to 80) | __ | __ | Native or React Native? |
| AI / LLM features (if applicable) | __ (typical 10 to 30) | __ | __ | Scope & evaluation harness |
| Data migration from legacy (if applicable) | __ (typical 8 to 25) | __ | __ | Volume + complexity |
| Subtotal: Build | -- | -- | __ | Typically 55 to 70% of total |
Section C: Quality & ops
| Task | Days | Day-rate ($) | Cost ($) | Notes / assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automated test suite (unit + integration) | __ | __ | __ | Target coverage % |
| End-to-end test suite | __ | __ | __ | Critical journeys only |
| CI/CD pipeline setup | __ | __ | __ | DevOps |
| Security review (internal) | __ | __ | __ | Senior |
| Penetration test (external) | __ | __ | __ | 3rd party vendor |
| Performance & load test | __ | __ | __ | Target load |
| Observability setup (logs, metrics, tracing) | __ | __ | __ | DevOps |
| Subtotal: Quality & ops | -- | -- | __ | Typically 12 to 18% of total |
Section D: Project overheads
| Item | Days | Day-rate ($) | Cost ($) | Notes / assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project management (10 to 15% of build effort) | __ | __ | __ | PM |
| Tech lead oversight (20 to 25% of build effort) | __ | __ | __ | Tech lead |
| Documentation (API docs, runbook, handover) | __ | __ | __ | Senior |
| Training (internal + end-user) | __ | __ | __ | Tech lead + PM |
| Subtotal: Overheads | -- | -- | __ | Typically 15 to 22% of total |
Section E: Stabilization & ongoing
| Item | Days | Day-rate ($) | Cost ($) | Notes / assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 30 day post-launch hypercare | __ | __ | __ | Senior + DevOps on call |
| 31 to 60 day stabilization | __ | __ | __ | Reduced rota |
| 61 to 90 day handover / retainer ramp | __ | __ | __ | Maintenance retainer kicks in |
| Subtotal: Stabilization | -- | -- | __ | Typically 5 to 10% of total |
Grand total
| Roll-up | Cost ($) |
|---|---|
| Section A: Discovery & planning | __ |
| Section B: Build | __ |
| Section C: Quality & ops | __ |
| Section D: Project overheads | __ |
| Section E: Stabilization | __ |
| Subtotal | __ |
| + 15% contingency for unknown unknowns | __ |
| Grand total project envelope | __ |
How to read the result
- If your grand total is way above your budget: trim Section B. Move "Should" features to phase 2 and re-quote. Don't trim discovery, QA, or stabilization: those are where projects get into trouble.
- If your grand total is way below your budget: double-check that you've included every integration, every role, every overhead percentage. Underestimated projects are how vendors lose money and then cut corners.
- If a vendor quotes substantially less: ask them which sections they've left out. Often it's Section C or D. Sometimes it's hidden assumptions (e.g. "you provide all designs"). Pin it down before signing.
What this estimator doesn't include
- Infrastructure / cloud costs. AWS, GCP, or Azure bills are on top. Budget separately based on expected load.
- Third-party tool licenses. SaaS subscriptions (e.g. Sentry, DataDog, Auth0) are on top.
- Your internal team's time. Stakeholder interviews, UAT, training attendance: these consume your team's hours, not the vendor's.
- Hardware. If your project involves on-premise components, hardware costs are separate.
Want this checked?
Send us your filled-in estimator and we'll review it for free: what's missing, what looks too high, what looks too low. Book a review. No commitment. Even if you don't end up working with us, you'll get a sharper number to negotiate with.