WordPress Developers on Upwork cost $15–$28/hr.

When you want to build a CMS-powered website site that’s easy to work with, looks exactly the way you want, and with all the functionality you need, you’ve probably considered WordPress. WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) on the market due to its user-friendly interface and incredible customization options. What you put into the platform you’ll definitely get back in terms of a scalable, functional site that’s easy to update and maintain.

Customization is key to WordPress sites, and is where the bulk of the work comes in. Depending on how much your site needs to grow and how much customization you want, whether it’s with advanced plugins or tweaks to a theme, you’ll need to find a WordPress pro with the skills to bring your project to life. So, how do you budget for your WordPress project?

Maximize Wordpress's Customizability by Setting Expecations (And Asking Questions) Up Front

Rates charged by WordPress developers on Upwork vary from $15 to $40+ an hour. Developers don’t always bill hourly; it can be common for a WordPress developer to set a fixed price for your site, based on your project requirements and what level of (or, lack of) customization you need.

Below are a few considerations for your WordPress hire:

Developer expertise and experience

Experienced developers can usually work faster while delivering more value to their clients with their work, so their pricing will often reflect this. Geographic location and local market conditions can also affect a freelance developer’s rates. Another factor is a WordPress developer’s reputation. If they are still building their portfolio, they may price more competitively than more seasoned professionals. Who you need will depend on your site’s complexity—finding the right WordPress developer should involve matching your goals for your site with their related experience.

Scope of work

Quotes for your project will all reflect one critical point: The scope of work, or how much you actually need a WordPress developer to do. Whether you want a full-blown ecommerce store with thousands of products and database integration, or a simple marketing site with a custom contact form, the production process may include:

• Research into your industry, marketplace, and audience
• Creating a site wireframe with page titles and content blocks
• Choosing and customizing a theme
• Identifying (and purchasing) the widgets and plugins needed to support functionality
• Generating in-browser design for review and revisions
• Setting up Google Analytics tools, an XML sitemap, and any SEO support (e.g., the Yoast plugin)
• Testing, review, and approval, including testing for device and browser compatibility
• Installation, integration, and launch of the site

A fixed-price project will also typically specify the number of iterations (i.e. rounds of revisions) included in the price.

Timeline & scope creep

If your project has a tight timeline, you may pay a premium (i.e. a rush fee) so be sure to start work as early possible. If your developer has to do a lot of extra work out of scope, they may charge a higher rate for work not originally discussed or agreed upon. Three ways to help ensure your timeline and scope doesn’t grow beyond expectations:

• Be specific about what you want in the site proposal, then let the developer make decisions about the tools and technology to bring it to life. Being too vague about what you have in mind can result in functionality that doesn’t meet your MVP or the decision to use custom coding or plugins that might not suit your needs and require revision.
• Prepare any related materials ahead of time. Write and edit site copy, menus, and page titles as soon as you have a wireframe for the pages within your site. If you’re including photos or other images, check to ensure they have a high enough resolution.
• Establish a way to quickly and efficiently share project assets to keep things moving. Being responsive and communicative is essential to keeping a development project rolling. Set up a Dropbox or Google Drive folder where you can store and share assets and information for your developer to keep the email back and forth to a minimum.

Here are some general time estimates for WordPress projects, including variables that may have an impact on how long it will take—and ultimately, how much you pay for the work.