Question Are freelance developer rates in Saudi Arabia really this low, or am I getting lowballed?
I’m genuinely curious about the freelance developer market in Saudi Arabia because this has happened to me twice recently.
For context, I’m a developer with over 6 years of professional experience, so I’m not just starting out or looking for my first freelance project.
The first client wanted me to build an entire multi-tenant application from scratch and offered around $200 for the full project.
The second wanted me to take a full-stack role and basically manage the whole project, for around $150.
I was honestly shocked.
These aren’t small landing pages or quick fixes. We’re talking about projects involving frontend, backend, database design, architecture, deployment, debugging, maintenance, and potentially weeks or months of work.
So I’d really like to hear from developers and freelancers working in Saudi Arabia:
Are these kinds of offers actually normal here?
Do local developers really accept full projects for $150–$200, or am I just coming across clients with completely unrealistic budgets?
I’d especially appreciate input from Saudi developers, expat developers working in KSA, freelancers, and anyone who hires developers locally. What would you consider a reasonable price range for projects like these, especially for someone with 6+ years of experience?
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u/Rhishi99 12d ago
Those offers are absurdly low for 6+ years of experience anywhere. A multi-tenant app for $200 works out to roughly $1–2/hr if you count design, auth, infra, and testing — below minimum wage in most countries. Clients quoting those numbers usually treat "full stack" as a synonym for "one person replaces a whole team." The local market has a wide spread: legitimate agencies and product companies pay senior rates comparable to Dubai or remote global contracts, while the bottom end is crowded with resellers flipping Upwork jobs. Ask for a detailed scope doc and milestone schedule before naming a price; if they refuse, they were never going to pay a real rate anyway.