You want to hire an IT specialist, but what is a fair rate? Are you overpaying at €60 per hour when you hear €110 elsewhere? Or underpaying for the quality you actually need?
This guide gives you a current rate range for each IT role in 2026. You will learn which factors set the price, why one role costs more than another, and what an intermediary construction costs. So you walk into the conversation prepared.
This article is for clients: IT managers, CTOs and hiring managers who want to hire a freelancer and need a realistic budget. Are you a freelancer yourself? Then this shows you what the market pays.
One note first. All rates below are market indications, excluding VAT. They shift with experience, region and scarcity. Use them as a guideline, not a fixed price list.
What are the average IT freelance rates in 2026?
In 2026, IT freelancers charge roughly €40 to €150 per hour, depending on role and experience. A junior system administrator sits around €40–€55. A senior security engineer or architect can ask €115–€150. Most mid-level specialists land between €60 and €95 per hour.
Below are the ranges per role. I have split them by experience level, because that gap is large. A junior and a senior in the same role can easily differ by €50 per hour.
Infrastructure & Cloud
- Cloud Engineer (AWS/Azure): junior €50–€65, medior €65–€90, senior €90–€120
- DevOps Engineer: junior €55–€70, medior €70–€95, senior €95–€125
- Platform Engineer: junior €55–€70, medior €70–€95, senior €90–€120
- Network Engineer: junior €45–€60, medior €60–€80, senior €80–€110
- System Administrator: junior €40–€55, medior €55–€75, senior €75–€100
- Security Engineer: junior €55–€70, medior €70–€95, senior €95–€130
Data & Database
- DBA (SQL Server/Oracle): junior €45–€60, medior €60–€85, senior €85–€115
- Data Engineer: junior €50–€65, medior €65–€90, senior €90–€120
- Data Analyst / BI: junior €40–€55, medior €55–€75, senior €75–€100
Architecture & Management
- Solution Architect: medior €80–€100, senior €100–€140
- IT Project Manager: junior €50–€65, medior €65–€90, senior €90–€125
- Scrum Master: junior €50–€65, medior €65–€85, senior €85–€110
Which factors determine an IT freelancer's hourly rate?
Five factors weigh heaviest: experience, specialisation, scarcity, region and contract form. A senior with a scarce skill in Amsterdam charges far more than a generalist in the provinces. The construction matters too: the intermediary setup carries a slightly higher fee.
Let me walk through them briefly.
Experience and specialisation
A specialist earns more than a generalist. Someone deep in cloud security or Kubernetes is scarcer, and therefore pricier. A broad jack-of-all-trades earns less, but also does not fit every assignment.
Market scarcity
Some roles are simply hard to find. Security engineers and multi-cloud architects are very scarce right now. That scarcity pushes the rate up. System administrators and juniors are more widely available, which lowers the price.
Region
In Amsterdam, rates run 10 to 15 percent higher than in the rest of North Holland. Remote work is blurring this gap, but it still exists. For on-site assignments in the Randstad, you pay more.
Why do rates differ so much per IT role?
The difference comes down to demand, supply and complexity. Roles with high demand and low supply, like security, are the most expensive. Roles with more available people, like traditional system administration, cost less. The more specialised the knowledge, the higher the rate.
An example. A security engineer with a CISSP certification and SIEM tooling experience is hard to find. Companies happily pay €100 or more per hour to bring that person on board. A junior system administrator with general Windows knowledge is far easier to find, and the rate reflects that.
Cloud migration and rising security threats remain the biggest drivers of demand. As a result, rates for cloud, DevOps and security roles climb faster than for classic infrastructure roles.
What does hiring via intermediation versus an intermediary employer cost?
With intermediation, the freelancer works directly for you and invoices you too. You pay their rate plus my intermediation fee of around 10 percent. With the intermediary construction, Maedium sits contractually in between: you pay me, I pay the freelancer. My fee is then around 15 percent. In both cases, the freelancer stays independent.
This is where many agencies get vague. We do not. I do not become an employer in either construction and pay no payroll tax. It stays a freelance assignment. The difference is who invoices and who carries the risk.
A simplified calculation for the intermediary construction:
- Freelancer's hourly rate: €80/hour
- Maedium fee (around 15%): around €12/hour
- Invoice rate to you: around €92/hour
With intermediation, the freelancer invoices their rate directly to you and you see my fee of around 10 percent separately. Why choose the intermediary construction? Because then I sit in between, handle invoicing and take on the risk. With a wrongly classified freelance arrangement, you risk back taxes. Since 1 January 2025, the Tax Authority actively enforces the DBA Act again. That certainty is often worth the slightly higher fee.
Want to understand when intermediation is enough and when the intermediary construction is needed? Read our guide to the Dutch DBA Act.
How do you know if a rate is in line with the market?
Compare the offered rate with the range for that role and experience level. Is a senior cloud engineer at €70? That is low, so ask yourself why. Is a mid-level at €130? You are probably overpaying, unless scarcity is extreme.
A rate is not a quality guarantee. A low rate can signal limited experience or a freelancer eager to leave a situation. A high rate is not automatically good quality. Always look at the match between rate, experience and your specific assignment.
Not sure whether a rate fits your situation? I am happy to spar about it, no strings attached. I know the market and give you an honest picture, even if that means you spend less than you expected.
Frequently asked questions about IT rates
What is the difference between the hourly rate and the total cost?
The hourly rate is what the freelancer charges. Your total cost is that rate plus my fee: around 10 percent for intermediation, around 15 percent for the intermediary construction. No employer costs are added, because the freelancer stays independent and I do not become an employer.
Have IT rates risen in 2026 compared to 2025?
For scarce roles like security and cloud, rates have risen slightly. The ongoing demand for cloud migration and security drives this. For more widely available roles, like classic system administration, rates stayed fairly stable.
Can I negotiate an IT freelancer's rate?
Yes, negotiation is possible, especially on longer assignments. A freelancer sometimes accepts a slightly lower hourly rate in exchange for several months of certainty. Be realistic, though: structurally below market, and you lose the scarce specialists.
What does the intermediary construction cost extra?
With the intermediary construction, I charge a fee of around 15 percent on the freelancer's rate, versus around 10 percent for intermediation. At €80 per hour, you pay around €92 instead of €88. For that difference, I sit contractually in between and take on the Dutch DBA Act risk, safeguarded through my model agreement and contracts.
Do these rates also apply to remote assignments?
Remote assignments largely follow the same ranges, but the regional difference fades. A freelancer from the provinces working remotely for an Amsterdam company often charges a rate that sits between the two regions.
Conclusion: know the rate, know the risk
IT rates in 2026 run from €40 to €150 per hour. What you pay depends on role, experience, scarcity, region and contract form. The ranges in this article give you a realistic starting point for your budget.
For whom is a higher rate worth it? For clients who need a scarce specialist and want certainty on compliance. For whom not? If you steer purely on price and a more widely available generalist could do the work just as well, look at the lower end of the range.
Remember one thing: the lowest rate is rarely the cheapest choice when something goes wrong with the DBA Act. A good match and a clean construction pay for themselves.
Want to spar about a market rate?
Want to know what a fair rate is for a specific role in your situation? Plan a no-obligation call with me. I give you a level-headed picture of the market, the construction that fits, and what it realistically costs. (→ internal link)
Note: rates and regulations may change. For current Dutch DBA Act information, consult rijksoverheid.nl or belastingdienst.nl. For complex situations, I advise consulting an employment lawyer or tax advisor.
