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Hiring PHP Developers Costs in Europe, the US and Canada in 2026

· 67 views · by Denys Koronets

What Middle and Senior PHP developers really cost, and how to save up to 65%.

# Quick answer

A Senior PHP developer costs an employer about $150k/year in the US, $80–97k in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Canada, $64–76k in Spain, Italy and Poland, and about $52k in Ukraine.

Most Ukrainian developers work on B2B contracts and keep about 93% of what you pay. In most of Europe, taxes take 40–50% of the employer's budget. How? Read below.

# 1. Costs by country

Total yearly cost to the employer, in USD: salary plus mandatory employer taxes.

Country Middle Senior Savings with a Ukrainian senior
🇺🇸 United States ~$113k ~$150k 65%
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ~$68k ~$97k 46%
🇳🇱 Netherlands ~$69k ~$86k 40%
🇩🇪 Germany ~$70k ~$85k 39%
🇨🇦 Canada ~$71k ~$82k 37%
🇫🇷 France ~$61k ~$81k 36%
🇪🇸 Spain ~$50k ~$76k 32%
🇵🇱 Poland ~$46k ~$72k 28%
🇮🇹 Italy ~$48k ~$64k 19%
🇺🇦 Ukraine ~$31k ~$52k –

# Senior PHP developer: yearly cost

Senior PHP developer, yearly cost to employer Ukraine saves <title>United States: about $150k a year; a Ukrainian senior costs 65% less</title>United States$150k−65% <title>United Kingdom: about $97k a year; a Ukrainian senior costs 46% less</title>United Kingdom$97k−46% <title>Netherlands: about $86k a year; a Ukrainian senior costs 40% less</title>Netherlands$86k−40% <title>Germany: about $85k a year; a Ukrainian senior costs 39% less</title>Germany$85k−39% <title>Canada: about $82k a year; a Ukrainian senior costs 37% less</title>Canada$82k−37% <title>France: about $81k a year; a Ukrainian senior costs 36% less</title>France$81k−36% <title>Spain: about $76k a year; a Ukrainian senior costs 32% less</title>Spain$76k−32% <title>Poland: about $72k a year; a Ukrainian senior costs 28% less</title>Poland$72k−28% <title>Italy: about $64k a year; a Ukrainian senior costs 19% less</title>Italy$64k−19% <title>Ukraine: about $52k a year</title>Ukraine$52k–
A Ukrainian senior costs 19–65% less than the same developer anywhere else on this list.

Capital cities cost 15–30% more than these national figures.

# 2. How much of your budget reaches the developer

Out of every $100 an employer spends:

Region Taxes & contributions Developer keeps
🇪🇺 Major EU countries ~$42 ~$58
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ~$32 ~$68
🇨🇦 Canada ~$32 ~$68
🇺🇸 United States ~$30 ~$70
🇺🇦 Ukraine (B2B) ~$7 ~$93

Source: OECD Taxing Wages 2026, for average earners. At senior salaries the tax share in Europe and North America is higher still.

Developer keeps Taxes & contributions <title>EU (major): of every $100 the employer spends, the developer keeps about $58 and $42 goes to taxes and contributions</title>EU (major)$58$42 <title>United Kingdom: of every $100 the employer spends, the developer keeps about $68 and $32 goes to taxes and contributions</title>United Kingdom$68$32 <title>Canada: of every $100 the employer spends, the developer keeps about $68 and $32 goes to taxes and contributions</title>Canada$68$32 <title>United States: of every $100 the employer spends, the developer keeps about $70 and $30 goes to taxes and contributions</title>United States$70$30 <title>Ukraine (B2B): of every $100 the employer spends, the developer keeps about $93 and $7 goes to taxes and contributions</title>Ukraine (B2B)$93$7
On a B2B contract almost the whole budget reaches the developer.

# Why Ukraine is cheaper: B2B contracts

In Ukraine, IT work mostly runs on B2B contracts. 53% of IT specialists are registered as private entrepreneurs (FOP), according to DOU in December 2025. A FOP pays 5% single tax + 1% military levy + about $45/month in social contributions. That's it.

Same ~$4,000/month take-home 🇺🇦 Ukraine (B2B) 🇩🇪 Germany (employee)
Employer pays $4,300 ~$8,230
Taxes & contributions $303 ~$4,230
Developer keeps $3,997 (93%) ~$4,000 (49%)
Same ~$4,000 a month take-home: what the employer pays Germanyemployee pays $8,230 Keeps $4,000 Taxes $4,230 UkraineB2B contract pays $4,300 Keeps $3,997 Taxes $303 48% less for the same take-home pay
Same take-home pay; the German employer pays almost twice as much, nearly half of it in taxes.

As a client, you sign a service agreement, receive one invoice a month in USD or EUR, and pay it. There's no payroll, no employer taxes, no paid-leave liability and no severance.

# 3. Time zones

Kyiv is UTC+2/+3. Ukraine changes clocks on the same dates as the EU.

Your location Kyiv is Live overlap How it works
🇬🇧 UK +2h ~7h Same working day. Stand-up at 10:00 London.
🇩🇪🇫🇷🇳🇱🇪🇸🇮🇹🇵🇱 Central Europe +1h ~8h Works like a local team.
🇺🇸🇨🇦 US/Canada East (NY, Toronto) +7h ~4h Developers work 11:00–20:00 Kyiv, giving you 9:00–13:00 ET together.
🇺🇸 US Central (Chicago) +8h ~3h Meetings in the morning, async in the afternoon.
Shared working hours with a team in Kyiv <title>Central Europe (Kyiv is +1h ahead): about 8 hours of live overlap a day</title>Central EuropeKyiv +1h~8h <title>United Kingdom (Kyiv is +2h ahead): about 7 hours of live overlap a day</title>United KingdomKyiv +2h~7h <title>US/Canada East (Kyiv is +7h ahead): about 4 hours of live overlap a day</title>US/Canada EastKyiv +7h~4h <title>US Central (Kyiv is +8h ahead): about 3 hours of live overlap a day</title>US CentralKyiv +8h~3h
From anywhere in Europe it's a normal working day together; from the US East Coast, a solid 4-hour morning.

Figures are rounded 2026 estimates based on the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026, DOU.ua (Ukraine), national job boards and OECD Taxing Wages 2026. This is not tax advice. Sources: Stack Overflow Survey 2026 · DOU salaries, summer 2026 · DOU — IT FOPs, 2026 · OECD Taxing Wages 2026 · Buhplatforma — FOP taxes 2026

Denys Koronets
// about the author
Denys Koronets

Senior PHP / Node.js developer with 12+ years of building and scaling web products with Laravel, Symfony, Node.js and modern frontends. I work with clients in Europe and North America, on my own or with a team I put together.

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