Software development is a costly and long process. To make it cheaper and easier many companies have already started work on an outsourcing basis. The developer salary in Ukraine is lower than in other European countries. If you need to hire outsourcing programmers – it might be a benefit for you. Let’s compare Ukrainian wages with the developer salary in Switzerland to see how much you can save, choosing Ukraine as an outsourcing destination.
The average salary and cost of living are the first things to compare. It will help to understand the difference in economics, and why Ukrainian coders are so cheap.
How the Developer Salary in Switzerland and Ukraine Is Connected to the Cost of Living
According to the Salaryexplorer.com, the average salary in Ukraine is 283,520 UAH per year, which is about $11,290. It is the average data, including housing, transport, and other benefits. However, the salaries differ drastically depending on the type of job. The developer salary in Ukraine among the best-paid ones. In Switzerland, the average salary is 114,084 CHF per year, which is about $117,273.
The cost of living in Ukraine is lower in comparison to other countries. For example, it is 55.48% lower, than in the US. Rent in Ukraine is 73.66% cheaper than in the US. The cost of living in Switzerland is 287.34% higher than in Ukraine. Rent is 371.43% more expensive. The common thing is that the developer salary in Switzerland is among the best-paid ones. We’ve compared the cost for some everyday things in Ukraine and Switzerland (in US dollars):
| Ukraine | Switzerland | |
| Meal for 2 people in a restaurant | 19.88 | 101.51 |
| Beef round | 5.47 | 49.82 |
| Apples, 1 kg | 0.64 | 4.02 |
| Monthly transport pass | 11.93 | 80.19 |
| Gasoline | 1.20 | 1.67 |
| Basic utilities for an 85 m2 apartment (electricity, water, heating, garbage) | 107.01 | 188.45 |
| Internet per month | 5.00 | 60.11 |
| Fitness club per month | 17.66 | 82.13 |
The Comparison of the IT Industry: What Influences Developer Salary in Ukraine and Switzerland
In both countries the IT sector is booming: it shows +20% annual growth in Ukraine and +14% annual growth in Switzerland. The industry shows a significant improvement in the revenues, export and employee amount. It influences positively the software developer salary in Zurich, as well as in Kyiv.
Tendencies in the Ukrainian IT industry:
- 55% – development
- 11% – QA
- 14% –management
Tendencies in the Swiss IT industry:
- 36.3% – custom software development
- 32.7% –standard software development
- 11.6% – consulting
- 7.6% – software integration
In Ukraine, there are about 105,000 employed developers, while in Switzerland they have about 199,200 people. However, many of them are employed not in the IT-sphere. They do IT-related jobs in different industries.
The software developers in Ukraine earn from $350 to $4,000 per month, depending on the skillset and experience. Informatiker gehalt Schweiz claims that coders earn from $5,130 to $7,183 in a month.
The export of the IT services from Ukraine brought the revenue of $5.5 billion in a year. Switzerland is making about $19.5 billion in revenue. In both countries, the numbers are growing.
Comparison of Salaries by Types
The software developer salary in Ukraine and Switzerland depends on the experience of the programmer. Usually, the junior specialist is the one who has 0-3 years of work experience, middle – 3-5 years, and senior – 5 and more years of practice in the development.
Check the difference between the programmers’ salaries in two countries:
- Junior Software Engineer salary in Zurich is 72,000 CHF ($73,883) per year. For the programmer in Kyiv, it is $800 per month or $9,600 in a year.
- Middle Software Developer in Switzerland earns 93,813 CHF ($96,267) per year. In Kyiv, such a developer earns $2,400 monthly or $28,800 in a year.
- Senior Software Engineer salary in Zurich is 109,990 CHF ($112,867) per year. In Kyiv senior engineer makes $3,995 monthly or $47,940 in a year.
Switzerland vs Ukraine developers Salaries comparison (Source: Mobilunity)
Salary Rates by TOP-5 Popular Technologies
The payment also depends on the programming language you need. For more popular or rare specialties web developer rate per hour would be higher.
| Ukraine | Switzerland | |
| PHP | $26,400 | $74,240 |
| JavaScript | $24,000 | $91,328 |
| .Net | $24,000 | $83,119 |
| Java | $28,800 | $92,250 |
| C\C#\C++ | $26,880 | $93,018 |
Salary is just one of the factors, determining the price of the project for you. It also depends on the timing and number of specialists you need. So, if you want to know what is the cost of a web developer, take into account the technology you need and the approximate time of the development.
Ukraine Is One of the Most Popular Outsourcing Destinations in Europe
Web developer salary in Switzerland is at the highest level, as well as the quality of the services. But if you are looking for a cost-saving option, Ukraine can become a profitable option for you. It is one of the most popular countries for IT-outsourcing in Eastern Europe. Ukrainian companies develop software for European and American startups and businesses.
Why foreign countries choose Ukrainian developers:
- high quality of the products – Ukrainian programmers create worldwide-used software
- fast realization of the idea – it is important for the team to complete the task in the shortest possible time
- easy communication – the programmers speak English on the high level and ready to stay in touch within the workflow
- professional project managers – the experienced managers help to lead the coders’ team and communicate with non-technical staff
- comfortable time-zone – the geographical location is comfortable for the communication with European and American companies
- the comfortable location – if you want to meet face-to-face, you can reach your team within 3-4 hours flight
Ukrainian programmers often work in the big international teams remotely or with relocation, while the salaries of software engineers in Ukraine are lower than in the rest of Europe. The talent market in Ukraine is huge, so it is easy to find the coders with skillset and experience, corresponding to your requirements.