Salaries · Software developer · Philippines · Updated November 2026
Software developer salary in the Philippines
Foreign businesses that hire a software developer in the Philippines directly pay $7.00–$30.00 an hour on hourly work, or $780–$2,500 a month full-time, in published job ads and salary guides. Local employers there pay $3.43–$6.81 an hour ($595–$1,181 a month full-time).
The numbers
| What you're looking at | Per hour | Per month, full-time | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiring directly: hourly rate | $7.00–$30.00 | 2 published figures | |
| Hiring directly: full-time pay | $4.50–$14.42 | $780–$2,500 | 2 published figures |
| Local employers in the Philippines | $3.43–$6.81 | $595–$1,181 | 5 published figures |
| For comparison: employees in the US | $50.58–$82.68 | $8,767–$14,331 | Wages only, before benefits and payroll taxes |
For this role, direct-hire pay in the Philippines runs about 3.4× local pay, midpoint to midpoint. Budget from the direct-hire figures, not the local ones.
The Philippines against other countries
Of the 10 countries with published direct-hire figures for this role, the Philippines has the lowest starting figure.
Every figure behind these numbers
Hiring directly (remote work for foreign businesses)
- range · hourly rate$10.00–$30.00/hrOnlineJobs.ph job search results (job ads posted by employers hiring Filipinos directly) (ads posted 2026-09-04 to 2026-10-28). Checked Oct 2026. Range of USD hourly pay across 4 software developer ads with an explicit USD hourly rate, out of the first 30 results of a 'software developer' search (299 results), posted 2026-09-04 to 2026-10-28 by employers hiring directly.
- range · full-time pay$1,200–$2,500/month OnlineJobs.ph job search results (job ads posted by employers hiring Filipinos directly) (ads posted 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-27). Checked Oct 2026. Range of USD monthly pay across 4 software developer ads with an explicit USD monthly figure.
- range · hourly rate$7.00–$10.00/hrOnlineJobs.ph blog, 'Comprehensive Guide To Virtual Assistant Salaries in the Philippines' (salary tables) (last updated April 2026). Checked Oct 2026. No generic software row; closest is 'PHP Developer'. 'Average Local Monthly Salary Guide' table, HOURLY tab (the page says hourly rates are for part-time work and monthly rates for full-time hires), PHP Developer, Intermediate: $7 - $10 per hour.
- range · full-time pay$780–$1,100/month OnlineJobs.ph blog, 'Comprehensive Guide To Virtual Assistant Salaries in the Philippines' (salary tables) (last updated April 2026). Checked Oct 2026. 'Average Local Monthly Salary Guide' table, MONTHLY tab (full-time hires), PHP Developer (no generic software row), Intermediate (about 1-5 years): $780 - $1,100 per month.
Local employers
- average₱43,064/month Indeed Philippines, 'Software Engineer' salary page (updated Oct 19, 2026). Checked Oct 2026. Average for 'Software Engineer' (Indeed's software developer page redirects here), based on 1.1k salaries taken from job postings on Indeed in the past 36 months
- average₱55,828/month Indeed Philippines, 'Full Stack Developer' salary page (updated Oct 19, 2026). Checked Oct 2026. Average for 'Full Stack Developer', based on 925 salaries taken from job postings on Indeed in the past 36 months
- range₱38,000–₱48,000/month JobStreet Philippines, 'Software Engineer' salary page (October 2026). Checked Oct 2026. 'The average salary of a Software Engineer in Philippines is between ₱38,000 and ₱48,000', based on full-time salary ranges disclosed by employers in JobStreet job ads (JobStreet's Software Developer page shows the same range)
- range₱65,000–₱75,000/month JobStreet Philippines, 'Full Stack Developer' salary page (October 2026). Checked Oct 2026. 'The average salary of a Full Stack Developer in Philippines is between ₱65,000 and ₱75,000', based on full-time salary ranges disclosed by employers in JobStreet job ads
- average₱453,448/year PayScale, 'Software Engineer' salary in the Philippines (last updated Oct 06, 2026). Checked Oct 2026. Average base salary for 'Software Engineer', based on 370 self-reported salary profiles
None of these sources split by seniority on the pages used; full-stack titles average more than general software engineer titles.
What an agency charges for this role
Published by Outsourcing Insider, a VA MASTERS company. The example below is VA MASTERS' own published rate card, shown because it's public; other agencies' prices vary. About us
| Agency | Per hour | Per month, 160 hours | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| VA MASTERS Parent company | $12.00–$25.00 | $1,920–$4,000 | Recruitment, contract and payments, time tracking, an account manager and replacement at no extra cost. No setup fee. Source: VA MASTERS pricing page, checked Oct 2026. |
Hiring a software developer
- Software developer job description
- Software developer interview questions and a paid test task
- Onboarding checklist for the first 90 days
- Hiring checklist, from defining the job to day one
Cost guides
FAQ
How much does a software developer cost in the Philippines?
Hiring directly, foreign businesses pay $7.00–$30.00 an hour on hourly work, or $780–$2,500 a month full-time (OnlineJobs.ph job search results, OnlineJobs.ph blog, checked Oct 2026). Local employers in the Philippines pay $3.43–$6.81 an hour ($595–$1,181 a month full-time), which is local pay, not the rate for remote work for a foreign client.
What is the monthly salary of a software developer in the Philippines?
Published full-time pay for remote work for foreign businesses is $780–$2,500 a month. Local employers pay $595–$1,181 a month. Both use 40 hours a week and are in USD.
Why is hiring directly different from local pay in the Philippines?
They measure two different markets. Local pay is what employers in the Philippines pay local staff. Direct-hire figures come from job ads, salary guides and surveys for remote work for foreign businesses. For this role the second runs about 3.4× the first, midpoint to midpoint, so local pay isn't a good guide to what a remote hire will cost.
How does the Philippines compare with hiring a software developer in the US?
Employees' wages in the US run $50.58–$82.68 an hour for the middle 50% of workers, before benefits and payroll taxes. Hiring directly in the Philippines, published figures come to $4.50–$30.00 an hour, with full-time pay converted to an hourly figure. That's pay only: you'd still do the recruiting, contract and payments yourself.
What does an agency charge for a software developer?
Agencies set their own prices, and many don't publish them. As one published example, VA MASTERS (the parent company of this site's publisher) lists $12.00–$25.00 an hour for its Tech / Development category, all-inclusive. Ask any agency what its rate covers: recruiting, replacement, payroll and fees.