Cost & Pricing · Belgium
What a remote developer really costs a company in Belgium
A line-by-line comparison of in-house cost, freelance marketplaces and managed augmentation for Belgian teams.
2025-09-06 · 4 min read
What a developer really costs in Belgium
Employer social security of around 25%, double holiday pay and a thirteenth month add substantially to a Belgian salary. Add recruitment fees, equipment, software licences and office space, and the true cost of a hire in Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent is well above the advertised salary.
Augmentation pricing is all-inclusive: from $20 per hour, 160 hours a month, with employment costs, equipment and supervision already in the rate. Compare it with Belgian monthly gross pay in EUR. A euro quote removes currency risk.
Three ways to source the work
Marketplace freelancers are cheap until they disappear mid-sprint; there's no bench, no supervisor and no replacement guarantee. A service contract with a supplier company avoids Belgian rules on false self-employment and staff hire.
Project agencies charge for scope risk. Augmentation gives you a named engineer at a fixed rate with supervision and replacement included. It suits logistics, pharma and public-sector consulting teams whose priorities change every sprint.
Costs that rarely make the budget
Brussels competes with the EU institutions and consultancies for multilingual engineers. Months of a hiring manager's time plus agency fees can exceed the first quarter of an offshore contract.
When an engineer leaves, you pay for the gap, the hiring and the ramp-up. With augmentation, the supplier provides and onboards a replacement. Remember too that the 21 July national day and regional holidays affect local capacity every year.
Putting the numbers in front of finance
Put three columns on one page: the full cost of a Belgian hire in EUR, the marketplace cost including your own management time, and the augmentation rate. State the exchange rate you have assumed.
Finish by comparing cost per delivered feature or closed ticket; hourly rates alone hide the real difference. A six-month contract, at 10% off the monthly rate, also gives Belgian finance teams a fixed figure for two quarters.
Key takeaways
- Budget for Belgian employer on-costs, not just salary, when comparing options.
- Decide early whether to be invoiced in EUR or USD.
- Rates from $20 per hour replace Belgian payroll, equipment and leave-cover costs.
- Compare cost per outcome, not cost per hour.