Open IT roles cost more than recruiting time. Check when the IT capacity you need can realistically become productive, what economic consequences a vacancy can have, and which capacity model fits your need and timeframe.
What does your open role really cost you?
Move the sliders to see what the vacancy costs you - and how much you recover through external engineering capacity.
Your situation
Your cost comparison
How is this calculated?
Comparison period: 7 months / 140 working days. Delivery starts after 10 working days; 130 delivery days are counted (until the end of the time-to-fill). Estimated vacancy loss: approx. €81,469. Recovered by Nearshore: approx. €75,721. Remaining vacancy loss: approx. €5,749. External costs: €67,600. Internal project-briefing effort: €2,025. Potential economic advantage: approx. €6,096.
- Monthly value creation: Model-based starting value from annual salary and role impact. It describes the economic output of a fully staffed role and can be adjusted to your situation. Basis: 20 working days per month.
- Vacancy loss: The monthly value creation is weighted by the chosen criticality (50%, 70%, 85% or 100%). The vacancy also bites harder over time - weak in the first two months, full from month six.
- Knock-on costs: Depending on the selection, 3%, 6% or 10% is added on top of the calculated vacancy loss.
- Lead time: During the lead time there are no external day-rate costs yet - but no lost value is recovered yet either.
- Ramp-up: After delivery starts, week 1: 30%, week 2: 60%, weeks 3-4: 85% and 100% thereafter of the respective vacancy loss is recovered.
- Cost of external capacity: Delivery days × chosen day rate. The internal project-briefing effort is valued additionally at the daily value creation. Delivery is counted from the external project start to the end of the time-to-fill.
- Economic advantage: Recovered vacancy loss minus external costs and internal project-briefing effort.
- Reference basis: 20 working days per month and a comparable full-time capacity.
IT day rates - market comparison
Non-binding guidance values, net per 8-hour day, as of August 2026. The ranges refer to remote engagements and are based on published market and platform data as well as typical provider prices in the German market. The actual day rate depends in particular on experience, specialisation, duration, utilisation, language and scope of responsibility. Not an offer by Delvera GmbH.
| Role | Freelancer DEEUR / day | Nearshorevia German contract partner | Offshorevia German contract partner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developer | 700 - 1,000 | 420 - 620 | 320 - 500 |
| Software Architect | 800 - 1,250 | 520 - 760 | 400 - 620 |
| Software Tester / QA | 600 - 900 | 360 - 540 | 300 - 440 |
| DevOps Engineer | 750 - 1,150 | 480 - 700 | 360 - 560 |
| Data Engineer | 800 - 1,150 | 500 - 700 | 380 - 580 |
| AI / ML Engineer | 900 - 1,300 | 550 - 800 | 420 - 650 |
| IT Project Manager | 800 - 1,150 | 500 - 700 | 380 - 580 |
| Product Owner / Product Manager | 800 - 1,100 | 500 - 680 | 380 - 560 |
| UX/UI Designer | 600 - 900 | 400 - 580 | 320 - 480 |
| Agile Coach | 850 - 1,150 | 500 - 720 | 380 - 580 |
| Scrum Master | 750 - 1,050 | 450 - 650 | 340 - 520 |
| PMO | 600 - 850 | 380 - 540 | 300 - 460 |
| SAP Consulting / Development | 900 - 1,400 | 650 - 950 | 480 - 800 |
| ServiceNow Consulting / Development | 850 - 1,400 | 600 - 950 | 440 - 800 |
| Salesforce Consulting / Development | 850 - 1,350 | 600 - 900 | 440 - 780 |
Sources (excerpt): Freelancer-Kompass 2026 (freelancermap) · Malt Tarifbarometer IT · freelance.de · Accelerance Global Rates 2026
External capacity should not be understood as a blanket substitute for internal hiring. It can bridge a vacancy, absorb capacity bottlenecks, or serve as a complementary model when speed, specialisation or flexibility are decisive.