How much does a senior developer cost in the UK in 2026?

Outside London, the median advertised salary for a senior software developer is about £65,000 (IT Jobs Watch). Add 15% employer National Insurance above £5,000, at least 3% pension on qualifying earnings and a recruiter fee of around 20%, and the first year comes to about £88,000 before equipment and benefits. London medians run £80,000 to £95,000, so the total there is higher.

How long does it take to hire a developer?

Guides put a direct permanent hire at roughly four to twelve weeks from advert to accepted offer, and senior people often have notice periods on top. Onboarding to the subscription usually takes a week or two from signing.

Why not just hire a developer?

You could. It will probably take months to find the right person, you carry the cost if it doesn't work out, and you get one person's skills. With us you get senior developers, product thinking and CTO-level judgment, usually starting within a week or two of signing.

Hiring a developer vs a fractional team: 2026 UK costs

Q: What changes for new hires in January 2027?

From 1 January 2027 the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims falls from two years to six months, and the cap on compensation is removed. We can't give employment law advice, so take advice for your own situation.

Short answer

A senior developer outside London costs about £88,000 in their first year once employer NI, pension and a recruiter fee are added, before they ship anything, and takes months to find. From 1 January 2027 a hire that doesn’t work out also costs more to undo. Embedded Plus is £48,000 a year at current pricing, starts within a week or two of signing, and carries no employment risk.

Run your own numbers

Salary (£ a year)

Recruiter fee (% of salary)

Equipment and benefits (£ a year, optional)

First-year cost of one senior hire£0

Embedded, a year£30,000

Embedded Plus, a year£48,000

Employer NI is calculated at 15% above the £5,000 secondary threshold. Pension is the 3% employer minimum on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270. Subscription figures are 12 months at current pricing, excluding VAT. A small employer with unused Employment Allowance (up to £10,500 a year) pays less NI. This compares cost, not like-for-like output: a hire gives you one person’s time and skills; the subscription gives you a team, senior review and planning time, paced by tracks.

What a hire really costs

Salary is the number everyone looks at. It’s rarely the number you pay.

Salary. The median advertised salary for a senior software developer outside London is £65,000 (IT Jobs Watch). London medians run from about £80,000 for senior developers to £95,000 for senior software engineers.
Employer National Insurance. 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year since April 2025. On £65,000 that’s £9,000. A small employer with unused Employment Allowance (up to £10,500 a year) pays less.
Pension. At least 3% of qualifying earnings, about £1,300 (Employer Calculator).
Recruiter fee. Typically 15 to 25% of first-year salary, often around 20%. On £65,000 that’s about £13,000.
Equipment, software and benefits. A few thousand pounds a year on top.

What it costs in time

Estimates for a direct hire run from four to eight weeks to six to twelve weeks from advert to accepted offer. Senior people usually have a notice period on top, and then there’s ramp-up while they learn your product. Smaller companies are also bidding against far better-funded rivals for the same people. In the meantime, the backlog keeps growing.

What it costs in risk, from January 2027

Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, from 1 January 2027 the qualifying period for unfair dismissal falls from two years to six months, and the cap on compensation is removed entirely. Anyone with six months’ service on that date gains protection straight away (BCLP, Brodies). In practice, a mis-hire made in January is much harder to put right by July. We’re not employment lawyers, so take advice for your own situation, but the direction is clear: getting a hire wrong is about to cost more.

And even a great hire is one person’s skills: one person’s holidays, one person’s blind spots, one person who might leave.

Side by side

	Hiring a developer	Fluff, your fractional team
Getting started	Months of recruiting	Usually within a week or two of signing
How you pay	Salary, recruiter fees, notice periods	One flat monthly fee
Changing your mind	Fine, if they have time	Add it to the queue
Senior judgment	Depends who you find	Built into every release
When you need more	Start hiring again	Add a second track

When hiring is the right call

If software is your product and you need a large permanent team, you’ll hire, and you should. A fractional team works well alongside that: it keeps the queue moving while you recruit, and many teams keep it afterwards for parallel work and a second senior opinion. If you need more capacity and aren’t sure the role will last, a fractional team is the lower-risk way to find out.

Hiring a developer vs a fractional team.