Cost to Hire a Flutter Developer: Salary & Rate Guide

Flutter has rapidly become one of the most popular cross-platform frameworks.

Backed by Google, it promises the holy grail of mobile development: a single codebase that runs natively on iOS and Android without compromising speed.

On paper, that efficiency should lower your development costs.

In theory, one Flutter developer replaces two native engineers (one for Swift, one for Kotlin). In 2025, though, the reality of the labor market tells a different story.

Finding a developer who truly masters Dart and the intricacies of the Flutter ecosystem is becoming increasingly expensive. As more enterprises adopt the framework, demand for senior talent has outstripped supply, driving salaries to new heights.

In this guide, we’ll cut through the hype and give you the real numbers on what it costs to hire a Flutter developer today. from offshore rates to Silicon Valley salaries. We’ll also explore the often-overlooked "third option" that lets you launch a native app without managing a development team at all.

Flutter Developer Salaries in 2026

If you are looking for a quick benchmark, here represents the current market reality. Flutter has matured into a primary framework for enterprise apps, pushing salaries upward.

In the United States, the average base salary for a Flutter developer hovers around $98,000 to $120,000, with senior roles easily breaching $150,000. But software pricing is geography-dependent.

Based ondata from major recruitment platforms like ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, and global talent marketplaces, here is what you can expect to pay annually for a full-time Flutter developer by region:

Data compiled from ZipRecruiter and comparable global salary indexes.

These numbers tell a clear story: location is your biggest cost lever. But before you rush to hire the cheapest option, you need to understand the different ways you can engage this talent.

Compare custom builds vs web-to-app platforms in this simple cost breakdown.

Freelance vs. Agency vs. In-House: Which Model Fits?

How you hire is just as important as who you hire.

1. The Freelancer Route

Typical Rate: $20 - $100+ per hour

Flexible but risky. You can find freelance Flutter developers on platforms like Upwork or Toptal.

• Pros: Low commitment, pay-as-you-go, global talent.
• Cons: Reliability risks; project management falls on you.
• Best for: Bug fixes and maintenance.

2. The Agency Route

Typical Rate: $75 - $150+ per hour

Agencies sell certainty. You hire a full team (PM, QA, Designer).

• Pros: Guaranteed delivery, polished process.
• Cons: Most expensive option due to overhead.
• Best for: Building a complex MVP without technical leadership.

3. The Full-Time Hire

Typical Cost: Salary + ~30% overhead

Total control and IP ownership.

• Pros: Deep product knowledge, aligned culture.
• Cons: Massive fixed cost, slow to hire (40+ days).
• Best for: Tech companies where the app is the product.

3 Major Factors Influence the Price Tag

Why can you find one developer for $25/hour and another for $150/hour? It usually comes down to three variables.

1. Location and Cost of Living

As the table above showed, geography dictates the baseline.

• North America/UK: You pay for time zone alignment, cultural fluency, and legal recourse.
• Nearshore (LatAm/Eastern Europe): Often the "sweet spot" for Western companies, high skill levels, overlapping work hours, and rates 30-50% lower than the US.
• Offshore (South Asia/SE Asia): Lowest rates, but requires rigorous vetting and often demands late-night management calls to bridge the time gap.
  

2. Seniority and "Flutter Maturity"

Flutter is relatively new compared to native iOS or Android. Finding developers with 5+ years of specifically Flutter experience is rare because the framework hasn't been mainstream that long.

• Juniors can build UI screens but typically fail at complex state management (like BLoC or Riverpod) and app architecture.
• Seniors don't just write Dart code; they understand native bridges. Sometimes Flutter "doesn't just work" and you need to write custom Kotlin or Swift code to access a specific device feature. A senior developer can handle this; a junior will get stuck.

3. Project Complexity

Are you building a simple brochure app or a real-time trading platform?

• Basic Apps: Standard UI, simple API calls. (Lower rate developers can handle this).
• Complex Integrations: Bluetooth, advanced background location, on-device ML, or complex animations. This requires top-tier talent.

The Hidden "Total Cost of Ownership"

Base salary is misleading. Many founders budget $110,000 and expect that to be the final number. But the "fully loaded" cost of a full-time engineer is significantly higher, often by 30-40%.

• Headhunting Fees: Unless you have an in-house recruiter, expect to pay agencies 15-20% of the first year's salary to find qualified candidates.
• Benefits & Overhead: Health insurance, 401k matching, payroll taxes, and office perks add substantial weight to the bottom line.
• Tools & Tech: Swift builds require Macs. Android testing requires devices. Licenses for CI/CD tools add up.
• Retention Costs: In a competitive market, stock options and bonuses are the norm, not the exception.

Realistically, that $110,000 hire is a $150,000+ line item on your P&L.

Stack your true TCO against a website-to-app approach in this quick guide

Is Flutter Cheaper than Native?

Yes, but usually not by 50%.

The classic math is: Native iOS Dev ($120k) + Native Android Dev ($120k) = $240k.
Flutter Dev ($130k) = $130k. Savings = $110k.

In practice, it’s more nuanced.

1. Cross-platform complexity: Writing code that works perfectly on both platforms takes longer than writing for just one. Expect a Flutter project to take ~1.3x the time of a single native project.
2. The "Bridge" Tax: As mentioned, sometimes you need to write native code anyway.
3. Maintenance: You still have to maintain the app, update dependencies, and fix bugs on two operating systems.

So while Flutter vs native development is definitely a cost-saver, it doesn't make app development "cheap." It just makes it "less expensive."

Why You Might Not Need a Developer

If you are reading this, you probably assumed that "building an app" = "hiring a developer."

But for many businesses, especially ecommerce brands, news publishers, and content creators, that assumption is outdated.

If you already have a successful website, you have already done the hard work. You’ve built the database, the design system, the checkout flow, and the content.

Hiring a Flutter developer to rebuild all of that logic in Dart is redundant. You are essentially paying six figures to duplicate what already exists.

The MobiLoud Alternative

MobiLoud takes a different approach. Instead of hiring a team to rebuild your site from scratch, MobiLoud converts your existing mobile-optimized website into a premium native mobile app.

Here is why this model makes sense for established businesses:

• Leverage Your Existing Code: We use your existing website (Shopify, WordPress, BigCommerce, or custom) as the core of the app. There is no need to port your logic to Dart or maintain a separate codebase.
• Drastically Lower Costs: Launching with MobiLoud costs a fraction of a single developer's monthly salary, with a predictable subscription that covers ongoing maintenance.
• We are your mobile team: You don't need to manage a developer. We handle the technical heavy lifting, from iOS updates to App Store submission.
• Full Native Experience: Your customers get the retention-driving features they expect: push notifications, a native tab bar, and a permanent spot on their home screen.

On top of the cost savings, giving your best customers a dedicated app on their home screen drives higher retention and customer lifetime value than relying on mobile web alone.

The Math is Simple

• Option A (Hire Flutter Dev): $130,000/year + Equity + Management Time + 4–6 month delay before launch.
• Option B (MobiLoud): Low setup fee + predictable monthly subscription, with most brands launching in around 4 weeks.

If you are building a tech product where the app functions are unique (like a new AR game or a ride-sharing algorithm), hire the developer. You need them.

But if you are an ecommerce store or publisher, your app is a channel, not the product. The product is what you sell. In that case, spending six figures on a developer is overhead you don't need.

Final Thoughts

The cost to hire a Flutter developer varies wildly based on where you look. You can find a junior freelancer in India for $20/hour, or you can pay a New York agency $200/hour. If you go the full-time route, budget at least $100,000 - $150,000 annually per developer once you factor in the total cost of employment.

For tech startups building novel software, this cost is the price of admission. Finding the best Flutter developers is critical to your success.

However, for business owners who just want to turn their existing website into a mobile app to drive retention and sales, hiring a developer is often the expensive, slow route.

Don't over-engineer a solution that already exists. If your website works, your app is already 90% built. You just need the right tool to unlock it.

Ready to launch your app without the hiring headache? Book a demo with MobiLoud and see your site as an app today.