According to indeed.com, the average Magento developer’s salary in the US is $7,487 and the average hourly rate is $44.49. These are of course approximate figures that largely depend on a specialist’s level of seniority, skills, experience, and location.
However, you definitely shouldn’t hope for low prices if you want to get a first-class product.
In this blog post, we’ll cover the following points:
- A list of Magento development experts necessary for your eCommerce project
- Reasons for and benefits of working with certified Magento eCommerce developers
- Cooperation models that you can choose from
- An overview of the Magento development market
- Magento developer’s salary per hour
- Guidelines for finding a Magento developer
Are you in? Read on.
What Magento Experts You Need for Your Project
To deliver a full-scale Magento project for your eCommerce business, you need not just hire Magento developers but a team of dedicated specialists. Here’s a list of Magento experts to find for your online store:
- eCommerce web designer to create the visual aspects of your online store. Web designers are responsible for developing the website’s layout and appearance before web development and choosing what elements will be presented on the page and how customers will interact with the website.
- Front-end Magento 2 developer to create the user-visible part of your online store and make it look attractive on any device. The main task of a front-end developer is to accurately convey the layout the designer has created, as well as to implement user logic.
- Back-end Magento 2 developer to develop and maintain the server side of your online store. This expert makes the site work and fulfill its purpose focusing on its security and reliability, and ensures a server, a database, and an application cooperate smoothly.
- Quality Assurance Engineer to identify any problems in created code, fix them, and prevent errors from interfering with the customer experience and website operations.
- Project Manager to сoordinate and prioritize team activities and take responsibility for achieving project goals.
- Magento Architect to design your online store from the ground up from the technical part of things. Magento Architect identifies what solutions should be implemented, and Magento certified developers bring the technical concept to life.
Magento Certifications & What They Mean
When you have health concerns, you definitely put your life in the hands of a certified, trusted healthcare provider. The same with your business. You don’t want to entrust the development of your online store to specialists whose level of expertise you are not sure about. The chosen provider must have the three main types of Magento certifications:
- Adobe Certified Professional
To become an Adobe Professional, a developer needs a minimum of 0-12 months of learning and experience.
- Adobe Certified Expert
This certification requires at least 1 to 3 years of work experience. An Adobe Certified Expert can work independently on complex projects and even mentor less skilled developers.
- Adobe Certified Master
A certified Adobe Master has a minimum of 3 years of experience in leading complex projects as well as mentoring other team members.
Collaborating with certified Magento developers offers the following benefits:
- You’ll get guaranteed results. Magento experts holding one of the certifications will certainly build a well-performing and efficient eCommerce website that meets the exact specifications necessary for your business.
- They follow the best Magento development practices. Partnering with certified developers means they’ll create code that will adhere to the Magento best practices and standards to ensure the quality, maintainability, scalability, and security of your online store.
- They know the platform inside out. To become a certified specialist, one has to pass an exam, which means a developer knows everything about Magento and can leverage their expertise to build a powerful, clean, and fast website as well as tackle any emergency issues be it a site going down, a bug, or a spam attack.
They stay up-to-date with the latest Magento updates. Certified Magento developers have access to upcoming Magento features and updates that aren’t available for non-partner development agencies and the general public. When features roll out, developers already know how to work with them.
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Key Cooperation Models with Magento eCommerce Developers
You can choose between three key staffing options for your eCommerce project:
- An in-house development team
- A development agency (offshore or a Magento agency near me)
- Freelance Magento developers
Let’s compare these options and explore the pros and cons of each so you can choose the one that fits your needs best.
In-house team of Magento 2 developers
An in-house team cooperation model means you hire a team of developers to work on a long-lasting project on the premises of your company. This option implies you need to pay developers a monthly salary not an hourly rate for the time they are working on your project.
Pros
By choosing this model, you take full control of the project and can communicate daily eye-to-eye with the team members to ensure everything goes smoothly. Having an in-house team is also a time-saver because you can troubleshoot and provide updates quickly since the team is dedicated to your project only.
Cons
Hiring a team of Magento developers can be challenging since the most experienced experts mostly work in large development agencies. And if you do succeed in attracting a top-ranked specialist, it will cost you a pretty penny. Besides, you’ll have to keep paying a monthly salary to each team member even when you have no tasks for them. Also, you might not have enough technical knowledge to evaluate a developer’s skills.
Another disadvantage of hiring an in-house team includes lots of unnecessary bureaucracy. Moreover, you’ll need to pay overhead costs like office rent, employment taxes, purchasing equipment, etc.
Magento development company
A development agency is a perfect option if you need a team of real professionals with vast experience across various industries. Choosing this cooperation model means you get a well-established team that can manage your project from A to Z.
Pros
Programmers working in Magento development agencies are credentialed Magento experts, which means they have solid expertise, know about the latest updates, and can handle any issues with ease. Also, development companies always have a project manager coordinating the work on your eCommerce project at each stage.
What’s also good about Magento development agencies is that they can help you with the initial idea for your store and often offer support and maintenance of your online store even after they have completed the project.
Do what you do best, and outsource the rest.
Peter Drucker, Management consultant, educator, and author
Cons
If you choose to cooperate with a development company, you should understand you’ll not be the only client. But you can get the same level of dedication as with an in-house team when you are working with real professionals. Even collaborating with an offshore Magento development agency, you can be fully involved in the project. Online meetings, which we are all already accustomed to, will help you stay in touch with the team, discuss all tasks and ideas.
Agencies work intensively with their clients to deliver the expected result in the shortest time possible, which implies relatively higher prices for their services. However, this investment will allow you to ensure you get the best possible result and win in the long run.
Magento freelance developers
Freelancers are self-employed specialists who work on a project basis. As a rule, they undertake smaller short-term eCommerce projects with fewer deliverables or just specialized tasks. Freelance Magento developers often require a client’s guidance and supervision.
Pros
Since freelancers don’t have overhead costs like development agencies do, freelance developer hourly rates are usually low. Besides, the rates for Magento development services in various parts of the world are different and you can choose what is affordable for you. By hiring freelancers in different locations, you can reduce the budget for the project.
Cons
First, you should be aware that you won’t be the only client for a freelancer. This may cause communication delays. Also, since freelancers are not part of your team, they will likely not be that committed to your project compared to an in-house team or outsource company.
They can ask you for a pre-payment and just disappear without delivering any result. Or they can start working on the project but simply relinquish it without passing the task to other developers. And you’ll need to spend a lot of time finding a new provider. So, low freelance developer hourly rates have nothing to do with cost savings.
You can also face security risks when working with freelancer developers as they can intentionally or unintentionally leak sensitive data to the parties in interest or use some third-party code that doesn’t adhere to the best security practices to speed up the development process. In general, working with freelance Magento developers entails considerable risks.
The image below demonstrates key differences between the three main cooperation models.
As you can see from the table above, cooperating with a Magento development agency offers the most benefits. However, you should rely on your particular business needs while making your choice. Remember that the cooperation model you select will determine the final development cost. Keep in mind that the lowest rate can’t guarantee you get the expected result. Sometimes, a larger investment at the start will allow you to enjoy long-term benefits and turn out to be a more cost-effective decision.
Magento Developer’s Salary per Hour
Magento developer’s salary per hour varies considerably depending on a specialist’s skills, location, and certifications. Different salary research websites provide different information for Magento eCommerce developers’ salaries. For example, a developer’s average hourly rate in the US according to indeed.com is $44.49 while talent.com reports $56.44 per hour. But a highly proficient developer can charge up to $200 per hour.
Let’s look at the Magento developer’s salary per hour in the most popular locations.
In the US and Canada, you’ll pay for Magento development services three to four times as much as you would in Europe. Freelance developer hourly rates in these countries start from $150 and can climb up to $200. In Europe, the price will fluctuate between $50 to $99 per hour. The lowest Magento developer’s salary per hour is paid in Asia with $15 to $40 per hour, Latin America where you’ll pay $25 to $50 per hour, and South Africa with $20 to $40 per hour.
According to a Hivemind study, Magento is the leading eCommerce platform in Europe with a 24.6% market share. This implies that Europe offers a large pool of highly proficient Magento specialists. That’s why many US-based Magento companies hire them for their eCommerce projects.
Except for lower Magento developers’ salary rates, there are other benefits you can get from cooperating with an agency that has developers in Europe. They are as follows:
- No communication barriers. All IT companies in Europe require at least an intermediate level of English proficiency when hiring developers. That means you’ll face no communication barriers.
- Deep knowledge of Magento. The best Magento developers are located in Europe, which means they know the platform inside out and can deliver first-class services.
- Favorable time differences. Since time zone differences are not that great compared to other countries, communication will be much faster.
- Affordable costs. By paying relatively low prices you can get a guaranteed result without compromising the quality of the end product.
No cultural differences. By hiring European developers, you can avoid the culture gap and make business communication and the working process more effective since specialists will share the same values, work ethics, and code of conduct.
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Where to Find Magento 2 Developers
Now that we have explored key considerations while choosing Magento 2 developers, it’s time to offer a list of places to find specialists for your eCommerce project. The most popular options are B2B rating platforms like Clutch, GoodFirms, Wadline, etc., international freelance marketplaces like Upwork, word-of-mouth marketing, and Adobe Solution Partner Directory. Let’s dive deep into each option.
B2B rating platforms
Such independent B2B rating platforms like Clutch, GoodFirms, Wadline, etc. provide a list of the best software development companies, including general information about the company, its portfolio, and verified customer reviews.
The working principle of these platforms is very similar to that of a professional social network. Companies start their own profile pages and provide as much detail about themselves as possible: the company’s year of establishment, location, a number of employees, job rates, specialization, portfolio, customer reviews, and contacts. After that, this information is verified.
Upwork
Upwork is one of the most popular online hiring platforms. It offers contract protection for clients and developers and helps build connections. Once you submit a job offer, the platform provides a list of developers who match your job offer best. It’s a popular place for hiring Magento freelance developers, which means there are plenty of options to choose from.
Finally, posting jobs to find specialists through the platform’s basic membership plan requires no additional fees. But it’s important to note that the website charges a noticeable fee for all work coordinated through its platform. This is especially true for starting working relationships.
Word-of-mouth
Word-of-mouth is a tried-and-true method of finding specialists for your project. You can ask your friends and acquaintances to share the contacts of skilled and experienced Magento freelance developers or development agencies. The only important thing to remember is that you should fully trust the person you want to get recommendations from.
Adobe Solution Partner Directory
To ensure you get the best development team for your eCommerce project, we recommend that you choose a trustworthy Magento development agency that is a renowned Magento Partner. Adobe Solution Partner Directory offers a list of the best companies that can help their clients build online stores on the Magento platform.
When a company is a Magento Solution Partner, you can be sure that its employees are well-trained and highly proficient so you can get a guaranteed result that will completely satisfy your business needs. For example, GoMage is a certified Magento partner with over 11 years of Magento expertise and more than 1000 successful eCommerce projects.
How to Choose the Best Magento Developers
Finding a reliable Magento development team can be rather challenging due to numerous aspects you need to consider while choosing a vendor. The option you choose will directly impact the time and finance resources necessary to build your online store. Besides, your choice will influence your eCommerce project in the long run. To ensure you make the right choice, follow this 3-step guide to choosing the right Magento developers for your business:
- Define initial requirements for your eCommerce project to make sure at the end you get what you expect.
- Find a trusted service provider relying on the vendor’s reviews, expertise, and portfolio on Clutch, GoodFirms, Wadline, and other B2B rating platforms.
- Sign an agreement and start working with the Magento 2 development company to skyrocket your eCommerce business.
