Development Team Cost Calculator
Building custom software means paying for a whole team, not a single rate. Set the roles you need, pick an offshore, blended or US onshore rate tier, and this development team cost calculator shows your monthly burn and total project cost in seconds.
How it works
Custom software is delivered by a cross-functional team, so the cost is driven by who sits on it and for how long. This calculator adds up the people you select across five roles — product/project management, design, frontend, backend and QA — then multiplies the total headcount by a fully loaded monthly cost per person.
The rate tier sets that per-person figure. Offshore talent (India, Latin America, Eastern Europe) lands near $6k per person per month fully loaded; a blended or nearshore mix sits around $13k; senior US onshore engineers run about $22k. These are loaded rates, meaning they already account for salary, benefits, tooling and management overhead rather than base pay alone.
Monthly burn is your run rate while the project is active. Multiply it by the number of months and you get the total project cost — the number most buyers actually budget against.
team = PM + design + frontend + backend + QA · monthly burn = team × loaded cost per person · total = monthly burn × months
Once you know the team-based number, it is worth comparing it against a fixed-scope estimate. See the software development cost calculator for an hours-based view, or weigh a custom build against off-the-shelf tools with the build vs buy calculator.
FAQs
What does "fully loaded cost per person" include?
It covers more than salary: benefits, payroll taxes, software and infrastructure, recruiting and the management overhead of keeping the person productive. Using loaded rates is why the monthly burn here is close to the true cost of running the team, not just take-home pay.
Why is US onshore so much more expensive than offshore?
Senior US engineers command $150k–$280k a year fully loaded, while equivalent offshore talent often costs a third of that. Blended and nearshore models split the difference, mixing senior onshore leads with offshore delivery to balance cost, time zones and communication.
Is a monthly team cost cheaper than a fixed project price?
Not necessarily. A monthly team is flexible and open-ended, which suits evolving scope, but the total can drift if the project runs long. A fixed price transfers scope risk to the vendor and gives you one number up front. Comparing both is the fastest way to see which fits your project.