How Much Does It Cost To Develop A WordPress Plugin?

Evaluating the price for a WordPress plugin differs a lot depending on the functionality. I have built some WordPress plugins, and here are some things you need to be aware of.

The hourly rate on WordPress plugin builders ranges from $20-$120. It’s a significant span, and you need to choose the one your budget allows. This means if it takes 20 hours to build your plugin, your plugin will cost $400-$2400.

Now I want to share some things you need to be aware of and how you can successfully keep the WordPress plugin within your budget.

What To Expect A WordPress Plugin Cost

With an hourly rate ranging from $20 to $120, it’s impossible to answer the question, but I’ll set up some examples to give you an idea of the difference between working with a $20 an-hour WordPress Plugin Developer and a $120 an hour WordPress Plugin Developer.

The example plugin I will elaborate on with the 2 types of developers is a simple duplication plugin. So a plugin with a page where you can set some settings and a link on each of your posts where if you press it, it duplicates the post.

On the settings page, I can choose if the duplicated page should be a draft or published. Then you can choose whether the editor should be Gutenberg or classic editor.

Working With A Beginner WordPress Plugin Developer

This is a great place to start if your budget is on the lower end and you have time to do this. A $ 20-an-hour WordPress Plugin Developer often needs a lot of assistance. Not in coding the plugin but feedback on decisions, and you will find yourself spending a lot of time communicating back and forth.

While this option is cheaper than going with a more expensive WordPress Plugin Developer, you have to calculate your own time as well. In the end, it will end up in the same amount or more. But if you have the time for it, then I will recommend you to go with this solution.

Now our example plugin for a beginner WordPress Plugin Developer with an hourly rate of $20, which I expect will take a beginner WordPress Plugin Developer 15 hours to complete. Therefore, the price for the developer will end up at $300. Then we have to calculate our own time on top of this. I believe you have to expect to use somewhere between 5-10 hours on communicating and testing.

The final price of the plugin is $300 plus your time spent.

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Working With An Experienced WordPress Plugin Developer

Now, this is a different game than working with a beginner WordPress Plugin Developer. Experienced Developer has developed numerous WordPress Plugins, and they know all the ins and outs of working with WordPress.

You avoid all the questions you will see elsewhere. They know exactly what route to take with the plugin, and you will not spend a lot of time communicating and testing the plugin.

I expect an experienced WordPress Plugin Developer can finish the example plugin in around 5 hours. Now we have to remember the hourly rate is close to $120, which makes the plugin by itself cost $600. Here you will maximum spend an hour of your own time.

In the end, you will end up with a more solid plugin going with this solution, and it will be a more organised code that will be easier to maintain.

Now, in my opinion, with our simple example WordPress plugin, this solution is not worth it. If you have a more advanced plugin in mind, you need to go with a more experienced WordPress Plugin Developer. But in this case, the first solution would be best unless you don’t have time to oversee it.

Where To Find A WordPress Plugin Developer

There are multiple places to find the right WordPress Plugin Developer for your WordPress plugin. Personally, I have had great success using Upwork. Just make sure to set the hourly rate right. If you’re looking for senior experience, you need to get closer to $100, whereas the beginner level is around $20.

A little trick is to insert a little word in the job post description that they need to include in their application. This way, you can fast filter off those who didn’t take the time to read your entire post.

Another tip is to add a custom question such as: How many years have you worked with WordPress plugins?

This way, you avoid all those who have set up scripts to just crawl and apply standard messages to all posts.

These tips work for any platform. Here is a list of platforms where I have had success finding WordPress Plugin Developers:

• Upwork
• Freelancer
• Toptal

There are many options out there, and it’s just about finding the right platform that works for you.

Start With An MVP For Your WordPress Plugin

An MVP stands for “Minimum Viable Product”, and it’s the way to get to market fast. You list all the features you want in the WordPress plugin. With that list, you then go through each point and ask yourself whether the plugin’s first version can launch without this.

In the end, you will have a short list of a few features, and you’re now ready to start getting a quote on your WordPress plugin.

Test Your Collaboration With The WordPress Plugin Developer

Before you jump into a long collaboration with a WordPress Plugin developer, it’s super important that you know you can work together. This you can ensure in multiple ways.

What I usually do is see their previous WordPress plugins and check them through. Is it the style you’re looking for? Then you’re off to the next step. The next step is to have an initial meeting where you explain your plugin and then ask them how they’re going to solve it. Be aware of how you communicate together. Are there misunderstandings, or is everything running smoothly?

If, after this meeting still have a good gut feeling, then you ask for a quote. All freelancers want to work on an hourly basis, but often it gets out of hand. Therefore, you need to insist on a project price for your MVP. You can read more about it in the next section.

With the price in order, you now agree on starting. And ensure the freelancer you’ll run 1 week of trial. After 1 week, you hold another meeting where the developer shares the progress of your WordPress plugin. If everything is on track, then you move on.

If something is off, then you try and change course. Either by giving feedback to the freelancer or if it’s completely outrageous, then you end the collaboration, get the code and then find a new freelancer.

Get A Project Price On Your WordPress Plugin

When you’re talking with freelancers, they will always prefer to give you an hourly rate and then start from there. The problem with this is you don’t know the developer, and running on an hourly rate when you don’t know the developer is not a good idea. It can get out of hand with the number of hours used.

Therefore, always get a project price. And since it’s a WordPress plugin and not maintenance and bug fixing, this is more than possible.

This also forces you to describe your WordPress plugin in detail, it’s a good practice to go through, and maybe you’ll even find more features to remove from the MVP of your WordPress plugin.