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
What a nearshore engineer really costs
Pick a role and a team size and compare the total year-one cost of three ways to hire: in-house in the US, freelance platforms, and a directly-employed Conectia engineer on one flat rate.
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
€61,440 – €84,480
total, year 1
€16–€22/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 60–70% — and 26–71% against an equivalent local hire across the US and EU.
Conectia ranges use our official rate card (AI-Operator €12–16/h · senior €16–22/h · senior lead full-stack €22–28/h · Senior DevOps / Infrastructure Lead €30–40/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 →
METHODOLOGY
How to calculate the total cost of a nearshore engineer
The total cost of a nearshore engineer hired through a staffing firm is the flat monthly rate multiplied by twelve — nothing else, when the firm directly employs its engineers. At Conectia the official rate card runs €12–€40 an hour by profile — from an AI-Operator at €12/h, through a senior lead full-stack at €22–28/h, to a Senior DevOps / Infrastructure Lead at €30–40/h, all-in — and it already includes recruiting, EOR and compliance, benefits management and equipment, so the number you model is the number you pay.
Total year-1 (Conectia, flat-fee) = hourly rate × 160h × 12 → senior lead full-stack at €22–28/h ≈ €42,000–€54,000; AI-Operator from €12/h ≈ €23,000. Total year-1 (in-house US senior) = salary + benefits + payroll taxes + equipment + recruiting ≈ $225,000–$295,000.
The in-house benchmark is where the hidden cost lives: a US senior engineer at $150,000–$180,000 base carries $30,000–$45,000 in benefits, $15,000–$20,000 in payroll taxes, $5,000–$10,000 in equipment and workspace, and $25,000–$40,000 in recruiting — before counting the 3–5 months of lost productivity while the seat is empty.
Freelance platforms sit in between: a senior engineer at market hourly rates across ~1,800 billable hours lands at $108,000–$180,000 a year with the platform fee built in — but vetting, management and continuity risk stay with you. A bad technical hire costs from 30% of first-year salary (US Department of Labor) up to 50–200% (SHRM) once rework and the second search are counted.
One structural note on fees: with a marketplace or agency model the management fee is often quoted separately from the engineer's pay. Conectia's model has no separate management-fee line — every engineer is directly employed by us in 14 countries, vetted by active CTOs at a 3% acceptance rate, and embedded in under 72 hours on one flat invoice.
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 | ≈ €42,000–€54,000 |
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 €12/h (AI-Operator) to €30–40/h (Senior DevOps / Infrastructure Lead) all-in — a senior lead runs about €42,000–€54,000 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 60–70% versus in-house US hiring.