--- title: "Hiring a developer vs a fractional team: 2026 UK costs" description: "What a senior UK developer really costs in 2026 with NI, pension and recruiter fees, and how a flat-fee subscription compares. With calculator." url: https://www.fluff.software/compare/hiring-a-developer/ updated: 2026-10-23 publisher: Fluff Software --- # Hiring a developer vs a fractional team. Salary is only the start. Here’s the full first-year cost of a senior hire, why it gets riskier in January 2027, and how a fractional team compares. By **Scott Gulliver**, founder Updated 23 October 2026 _Image: A team talking through plans around a table_ ## 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 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](https://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk%20excluding%20london/senior%20software%20developer.do)). 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](https://employercalculator.co.uk/cost-of-hiring-a-software-developer)). - **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](https://www.bclplaw.com/en-US/events-insights-news/employment-rights-act-2025-key-changes-to-unfair-dismissal-from-1-january-2027.html), [Brodies](https://brodies.com/insights/employment-and-immigration/employment-rights-bill-is-passed-with-removal-of-cap-on-unfair-dismissal-compensation/)). 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. ## Sources 1. [IT Jobs Watch, senior software developer salaries, UK excluding London](https://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk%20excluding%20london/senior%20software%20developer.do) 2. [IT Jobs Watch, senior software engineer salaries, UK](https://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/senior%20software%20engineer.do) 3. [Employer Calculator, cost of hiring a software developer UK 2026/27](https://employercalculator.co.uk/cost-of-hiring-a-software-developer) 4. [8ration, hiring software developers in the UK 2026 (time to hire, recruiter fees)](https://www.8ration.com/blogs/hire-software-developers-uk/) 5. [BCLP, Employment Rights Act 2025: key changes to unfair dismissal from 1 January 2027](https://www.bclplaw.com/en-US/events-insights-news/employment-rights-act-2025-key-changes-to-unfair-dismissal-from-1-january-2027.html) 6. [Brodies, Employment Rights Bill passed with removal of cap on unfair dismissal compensation](https://brodies.com/insights/employment-and-immigration/employment-rights-bill-is-passed-with-removal-of-cap-on-unfair-dismissal-compensation/) ## Questions. 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. 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. 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. --- Fluff Software, a senior product team embedded in your business. Book a call: https://www.fluff.software/contact/ or email contact@fluff.software. Agents: see https://www.fluff.software/llms.txt and https://www.fluff.software/AGENTS.md.