Software developer salaries in Philippines

A senior software engineer in Philippines earns a median of about $15,693 a year (985,539 PHP). Here's pay by level and stack, contractor rates, and how Philippines's hours line up with UK and US teams.

Senior salary: $15,693; median per year
Senior contractor: $32–$80; per hour
Overlap London: 0.5h; UTC+08:00
Overlap New York: No overlap; English: high

Salary by level

Level	PHP	USD	GBP
Junior (0–2 yrs)	431,170	$6,865	£5,406
Mid (3–5 yrs)	708,354	$11,279	£8,881
Senior (6+ yrs)	985,539	$15,693	£12,357

Annual medians. USD at the 2026-10-14 rate.

Senior salary by stack

Specialism	USD / year	Contractor / hr
Frontend	$13,496	$28–$69
Backend	$17,262	$35–$88
Mobile	$15,065	$31–$77
DevOps & Cloud	$18,832	$38–$96
Data & AI	$19,302	$39–$98

Country median adjusted by global specialism premiums (Stack Overflow 2025).

The Philippines developer market

About 2,815,527 developers on GitHub (2026).
English proficiency: high (EF EPI rank 28).
Index.dev lists QA automation, mobile and PHP as the top Philippine freelance skills. Metro Manila (Makati, BGC) and Cebu are the main hubs.
Freelancers with foreign clients owe Philippine income tax. Non-VAT earners with gross receipts under ₱3M can elect an 8% flat tax instead of graduated rates plus 3% percentage tax (registration on BIR Form 1901).
The large BPO and outsourcing industry supports strong US time-shift and night-shift working norms.

Hiring from Philippines?

Vetted engineers at about $30/hr all-in.

Contracts, payroll and compliance handled. A senior in-house hire costs about £48/hr loaded in the UK and $82/hr in the US.

Hire in Philippines

FAQ

How much does a senior software developer earn in Philippines?+

The median senior software engineer salary in Philippines is about 985,539 PHP a year (about $15,693), against about $11,279 for mid-level and $6,865 for junior developers. Senior remote contractors typically charge $32–$80 an hour.

What is the time difference between Philippines and the UK or US?+

Philippines runs on UTC+08:00 in winter. A 09:00–17:30 working day there overlaps 0.5h with London and no overlap with New York.

How much does it cost to hire a developer from Philippines through OctogleHire?+

OctogleHire publishes one client rate: about $19/hr for a mid-level engineer and $30/hr for a senior, including vetting, contracts and payroll, with no placement fee. A comparable senior in-house hire costs about £48/hr loaded in the UK and $82/hr in the US.

Sources · Q4 2026

Method notes: Junior is PayScale's early-career (1–4 yrs) average total pay. Senior is PayScale's Senior Software Engineer average base. Mid is the midpoint. PayScale's Philippine figures are averages and likely skew towards local or BPO employers. Contractor rates are Second Talent's 'observed' bands. Index.dev's bands are lower (average $20–35, senior $25–40) and Arc's senior band is $22–50. Salary basis: PayScale Philippines, Software Engineer (updated 13 Jul 2026) and Senior Software Engineer (updated 30 Jun 2026).