How much does a .NET developer cost?
Senior .NET developers in the U.S. typically bill $135 to $260 per hour as freelancers and $160 to $325 per hour through agencies in 2026. A small .NET project (one to three months) commonly lands between $30,000 and $130,000 fixed-price after a written specification. Microsoft-shop enterprise integration work (Entra ID, Azure App Service, Microsoft Graph, Power BI) commands the upper end of the band because the integration depth requires senior-engineer judgment.
The longer answer
.NET developer pricing in 2026 sits slightly higher per hour than PHP / Laravel pricing at equivalent seniority, reflecting the Microsoft-shop enterprise tier's higher willingness-to-pay and the smaller supply pool of senior .NET freelancers in the U.S. market.
Hourly
Senior U.S. .NET freelancers bill $135-$260/hour. The lower end covers developers with substantive C# / ASP.NET Core experience but limited senior-engineer maturity around enterprise integration, production posture, and written specifications. The upper end covers principals with 15+ years who scope, build, and support engagements end-to-end — including Entra ID integration, Azure App Service deployment, and the Microsoft Graph / Power BI surface that most enterprise .NET buyers expect.
Agencies bill $160-$325/hour because the rate covers account management, project management, and the firm's overhead. Microsoft Gold-Partner agencies bill at the upper end of that range and sometimes higher.
Fixed-price
A small .NET build — an internal portal, an ASP.NET Core API, a MAUI mobile app for field-force use — commonly lands $30,000-$130,000 fixed-price after a written specification. The variance depends mostly on integration depth (one or two integrations vs five or six), authentication-stack rigor (basic OAuth vs Entra ID with conditional access and audit logging), and the deployment posture (Azure App Service vs Kubernetes vs on-premises).
Enterprise modernization engagements (.NET Framework 4.8 to .NET 10) run $80,000-$500,000 depending on codebase size, existing test coverage, and the depth of platform-specific rework. Most .NET modernizations are larger and more complex than equivalent PHP modernizations because the .NET Framework to modern .NET migration involves both runtime and API changes.
Retainer
Microsoft-shop enterprise buyers often prefer retainer engagements (20-60 hours per month at the principal's hourly rate) for ongoing maintenance, small features, and the on-call window. The retainer covers Azure infrastructure adjustments, secret rotation, and the kind of day-to-day enterprise integration work that does not fit a project shape.
The Microsoft-shop premium
Enterprise buyers already running Microsoft 365, Azure, Entra ID, and Power BI pay a premium for .NET developers who are fluent in the full Microsoft-shop integration stack, not just the C# language. The premium is real and reflects the harder-to-find skill set; it is also the cost of avoiding the integration friction that a non-Microsoft-shop developer would encounter.
Common follow-up questions
Why is .NET more expensive than Laravel?
Microsoft-shop enterprise buyers have higher willingness-to-pay, and the senior .NET freelance supply pool in the U.S. is smaller than the equivalent Laravel pool. At the agency tier, the premium is partly Microsoft Gold-Partner branding and the procurement processes large enterprises run.
Should I hire offshore for .NET work?
For Microsoft-shop enterprise work, usually no — the integration depth requires fluency in the buyer's Microsoft 365 / Azure environment, which is hard to build remotely. For greenfield .NET work without deep enterprise integration, offshore math sometimes works.
Are .NET rates higher in Texas than nationally?
No, slightly lower than coastal markets for equivalent seniority. The Texas Microsoft-shop enterprise tier (Houston energy, Dallas-Plano finance / telecom, San Antonio USAA / Frost) is large enough to support a healthy local market, but the rate ceiling is below NYC / Bay Area for principals.
If this answer is useful and you have a real engagement in mind, the contact form routes directly to the principal — James Henderson is the single engineer who scopes, writes, and supports every engagement end-to-end.