In-house US hire
$450,000 – $590,000
total, year 1
Senior benchmark: salary, benefits, payroll taxes, equipment and recruiting. Held at senior-engineer level for every role.
Cost calculator
See what an engineer actually costs you in year one.
Salary is a third of it. Add recruitment, taxes, equipment and downtime, then compare the three ways to hire.
CALCULATOR · YEAR-1 TOTALS
Three ways to staff the same seat
All figures come from our published pricing model — role rate ranges for directly-employed LATAM engineers, and benchmark year-1 costs for the two alternatives. No estimate here is a quote; the discovery call shapes the real number.
Engineers
Freelance platform
$216,000 – $360,000
total, year 1
Senior hourly × ~1,800h, platform fee built in — vetting, management and turnover risk stay on your side.
Conectia nearshore
€80,640 – €111,360
total, year 1
€21–€29/hour · 160h/month
Our official hourly rate card over 160h/month, billed in EUR — recruiting, EOR, compliance, benefits and equipment included. 30-day replacement guarantee.
For comparable seniority, the published savings versus in-house US hiring run 48–61 % — and up to 60% against an equivalent local hire across the US and EU.
Conectia ranges use our official rate card (AI-Operator €16–21/h · senior €21–29/h · senior lead full-stack €29–36/h · Senior DevOps / Infrastructure Lead €39–52/h); benchmarks are the published US figures. Every proposal is shaped to stack, scope and delivery model in the discovery call. See plans and pricing →
WORKED EXAMPLE
Senior lead full-stack, year one
The published model behind the calculator, one seat, senior full-stack:
| Cost component | In-house US | Conectia nearshore |
|---|---|---|
| Base compensation | $150,000–$180,000 salary | Rate €22–€28/h × 160h/month × 12 (all-in) |
| Benefits + payroll taxes | $45,000–$65,000 | Included |
| Equipment and workspace | $5,000–$10,000 | Included |
| Recruiting | $25,000–$40,000 | $0 — zero recruiting fees |
| Time to hire | 3–5 months of lost productivity | 72h match, 1–2 week start |
| Total year 1 | $225,000–$295,000 | ≈ €56,000–€69,000 |
WHAT A CTO SHOULD LOOK FOR
Five things a CTO should check in a nearshore hiring platform
Person or squad?
Marketplaces rent you individual contractors; a nearshore partner deploys engineers it employs and manages. Conectia builds PRO squads: engineers directly contracted and managed by Conectia, with a dedicated Delivery Manager on every account.
Who vets, and for what?
Look past «top X %» and ask who runs the screen and whether it tests architecture, communication and AI judgment. At Conectia the vetting is CTO-led across five pillars, 3 % of candidates pass, and you get matched profiles in under 72 hours.
Is the management fee separate from the engineer's salary?
A fee quoted on top of the engineer's pay makes the total unpredictable. Conectia bills one flat monthly invoice per engineer at a published hourly rate: no recruitment fee, no separate management fee. Recruiting, EOR, compliance, benefits and equipment sit inside the rate.
How real is the guarantee?
Check the replacement's cost and its window. Conectia's replacement guarantee is 30 days at no cost, with a substitute presented within 7 days.
Overlap, language and a defined start
Ask how many hours of daily overlap you get and how the engagement starts. Conectia's squads span 14 countries across LATAM, Europe and APAC with 6+ hours of daily overlap with both the US and the EU, work in English and Spanish, and start with a 14-day Pilot Sprint to validate the fit.
One flat monthly invoice per engineer, no recruitment fees, no separate management fee: engineers directly contracted and managed by Conectia.
FAQ
What people ask before running the numbers
How do I calculate the total cost of a nearshore engineer through a staffing firm?
Multiply the flat monthly rate by twelve. At Conectia the card spans €16/h (AI-Operator) to €39–52/h (Senior DevOps / Infrastructure Lead) all-in — a senior lead runs about €56,000–€69,000 a year on 160h/month — with recruiting, EOR, compliance, benefits and equipment inside the rate. Compare that against $225,000–$295,000 year-one for an equivalent in-house US senior hire once salary, benefits, payroll taxes, equipment and recruiting are counted.
Is the management fee separate from the engineer's salary?
Not at Conectia. You pay one flat monthly rate per engineer with no separate management-fee line and zero recruiting fees. Models that quote a fee on top of the engineer's pay make the total harder to predict — which is exactly what this calculator is for.
What does an in-house US senior engineer really cost per year?
Around $225,000–$295,000 in year one: $150,000–$180,000 base salary, $30,000–$45,000 benefits, $15,000–$20,000 payroll taxes, $5,000–$10,000 equipment, and $25,000–$40,000 recruiting — plus 3–5 months of lost productivity while hiring. A bad hire adds 30% of first-year salary (US Department of Labor) to 50–200% (SHRM) on top.
How accurate are these ranges?
They are the ranges we publish in our pricing guide, not quotes. The real number depends on stack, seniority mix and delivery model, and is shaped in a discovery call with a CTO — the savings for comparable seniority typically land at 48–61 % versus in-house US hiring.
What should a CTO look for in a nearshore hiring platform?
Five checks: whether you get a directly-employed squad or a marketplace contractor; who vets and what the screen tests (at Conectia, CTO-led across five pillars, 3 % acceptance, matched profiles in under 72 hours); whether the fee is separate from the engineer's salary (at Conectia it is not: one flat monthly invoice, no recruitment fee); how real the replacement guarantee is (30 days at no cost, substitute within 7 days); and how much daily overlap you get (6+ hours with both the US and the EU, in English and Spanish).