Since 2024, I’ve been keeping a record of all the discovery calls (the initial 30-45 minute calls with a potential client) I have with clients who write to me from outside their home country. I have 53, distributed like this: 18 from the UK, 14 from the United States (mostly NYC, SF and Austin), 9 from LATAM (Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia), 7 from Germany/Switzerland/Netherlands, and 5 from Australia/Singapore.
The pattern repeats more than I thought. And since it’s a topic that generates a lot of curiosity (every week I get emails asking “do you really charge half of a London senior?”), I’ve decided to share what I’ve learned from those 53 calls. No inflation, no selling you anything. Real data, real observations, real decisions.
If you’re a developer and want to work with international clients, or if you’re an international client and are doubting between a local senior or a Spanish one, this post interests you.
What they tell me first (literally, in 70% of the emails)
When someone writes to me from outside their country, the email almost always starts with a variant of the same phrase:
- “Your price is half of what they’ve asked me here, is there something I’m missing?” (UK, 12 of 18)
- “Hi Daniel, I found your website and I was surprised that a senior in Spain charges what a junior charges here” (USA, 9 of 14)
- “I’m from [country] and want to hire a freelancer in Spain, but I don’t know if the quality will be the same” (Germany/Switzerland, 5 of 7)
- “Do you work with clients from [country]? In what currency do you invoice?” (LATAM, 8 of 9)
The questions are always the same: price, quality, language, timezone, payment method. And the answer is always the same: no, you’re not missing anything. The difference is structural, not of quality. Let me explain why with data.
The data: how much does a senior charge in each country in 2026
This is what they tell me on the calls, and what I’ve confirmed in LinkedIn offers, Glassdoor and Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025 reports:
| Country | Senior freelance range (€/h equivalent) | Senior at agency (€/h) | Cost of living (Madrid=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain (Madrid/Valencia/BCN) | €30-60 | €50-100 | 100 |
| UK (London) | €95-175 | €140-260 | 140 |
| Germany (Berlin/Munich) | €70-120 | €100-180 | 120 |
| France (Paris) | €60-110 | €90-170 | 125 |
| Netherlands (Amsterdam) | €75-130 | €110-200 | 135 |
| USA (NYC, SF, Austin) | €95-190 | €145-285 | 180 |
| Canada (Toronto, Vancouver) | €65-115 | €95-175 | 145 |
| Australia (Sydney, Melbourne) | €70-115 | €95-165 | 160 |
| Mexico (CDMX, Monterrey) | €22-45 | €35-70 | 75 |
| Brazil (São Paulo) | €18-40 | €30-65 | 70 |
| Argentina (Buenos Aires) | €13-30 | €25-50 | 60 |
What you see: a senior in Spain charges €30-60/h, one in London €95-175/h, one in NYC €95-190/h. The difference is 2x to 4x. But the cost of living in London is 1.4x that of Madrid, and in NYC 1.8x. That is, adjusting for cost of living, the real difference is 50-100%, not 200-300%. But it’s still cheaper.
Why is the difference structural and not of quality? Because the freelance market works like this: the price is fixed by the floor of local cost of living plus a margin, not by the international value of the work. A bricklayer in Madrid charges differently than in London, even though both do the same wall. With developers it’s the same.
What they ask me (and what I answer)
I summarise the 4 questions they ask me in ALL the calls, and what I answer (with data):
Question 1: “Is the quality the same?”
Answer: yes, and often better. Let me explain why with real examples.
Of the 53 calls, I ask clients to send me 2-3 recent projects from the senior they’re comparing with. In 41 of 53 cases, the local senior’s projects have good technical quality, but in 38 of those 41, my portfolio of recent projects (Los Pinochos, Westside Wellness) has the same or better technical quality. The difference is that my projects load in 0.6-1.2 seconds (theirs are usually 2-3 seconds), because I use Astro and static frameworks, and because I’ve been optimising this type of website for 3 years.
Technical training in Spain is comparable to that in the UK or US. Computer Science degrees at UPV, UPM, UPC, UB, University of Seville, are in the world’s top 200 in their areas. The curricula are demanding, there are few places, and those who graduate know how to program. This is noticeable in the market: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Stripe, Vercel, Cloudflare have offices in Spain and hire these graduates. The developer who works at Google Madrid earns 60-70% of what their colleague at Google London earns for doing the same thing.
Question 2: “And the language? I need to talk to my team in English.”
Answer: I work in English without problem. My level is fluent (I write and read daily, I do calls with clients in the UK and US). For more culturally sensitive projects (design, copy, marketing) I prefer someone native, but for programming and technical consulting it’s not a problem.
Of the 53 calls, 47 were in English. 6 in Spanish (the LATAM ones). 0 needed an interpreter.
Question 3: “And the timezone?”
Answer: I work in CET (Spain), which is -1 GMT in winter and compatible with LATAM, UK and central Europe. With US East Coast there’s 5-6 hours difference, which means we have 3-4 hours of overlap per day (from 15:00 to 19:00 CET, which is 9:00-13:00 EST). For critical projects, we can do daily standups at 16:00 CET. For non-critical projects, 1-2 calls per week is enough.
Of the 53 calls, 49 (92%) had no problem with the timezone. The 4 that did (all from US West Coast) decided to hire a local senior in their timezone.
Question 4: “And taxes? Can you invoice in GBP/USD/EUR?”
Answer: I work in EUR by default, but I can invoice in USD, GBP, MXN, ARS, CLP, COP and the main LATAM currencies. For clients in the UK, I invoice without Spanish VAT (intra-community services regime, “reverse charge”), which means the UK company has to do “reverse charge” and pay the local VAT at HMRC. It’s a tax mess, but it’s legal and done with a good accountant. For clients in the US, there’s no VAT (outside the EU), and I invoice in USD.
Of the 53 calls, 8 clients told me that “reverse charge” was too much hassle for their accountant and preferred to hire a local senior. The other 45 had no problem.
Who hires me and who goes with a local
After 53 calls, the pattern is crystal clear:
They hire me (31 of 53, 58%):
- UK/USA/Australia companies that need a serious web or app project, with a budget of €3,000-15,000, where quality/price ratio is what matters most.
- LATAM companies that need European quality but at an accessible price.
- European companies (Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, France) with tight budgets.
- Seed/Series A startups that need a fast and quality MVP.
They go with a local (22 of 53, 42%):
- UK/USA companies that need a local invoice in GBP/USD with VAT/sales tax, and their accountant doesn’t know how to do “reverse charge”.
- Companies with a critical 24/7 project that need the senior in their timezone for emergencies.
- Companies in highly regulated industries (fintech, health, legal) that need a senior who understands the local regulatory frameworks (HIPAA, FCA, FDA, etc.).
- Companies that need physical presence for workshops, team training, or in-person coordination.
- Companies with budgets >€50,000 that prefer to pay the local senior premium in their area.
The 42% that goes with a local is not a failure: it’s the right decision for their case. And I tell them so on the call: “your case is better with a senior in your area, I recommend X to you”. My reputation depends more on saying “this case isn’t for me” when it fits, than on closing the project at any price.
What online price comparators don’t tell you
There’s a myth on platforms like Upwork, Toptal, Clutch that says “developers in Spain are cheaper because they’re worse”. It’s false. The difference is structural, as I’ve already explained to you. But the myth persists because:
- Platforms take a 20-30% commission from the developer, which incentivises them to inflate prices and present developers as “premium” (read: “more expensive than they should be”).
- Clients in the USA/UK have FOG (Fear Of Going). They’re afraid to hire someone in another country because “I can’t sue them if it goes badly”, “I don’t know if I’ll understand their accent”, “I don’t know if the quality will be the same”. These are legitimate concerns, but they are mitigated by: clear contract, deliverable code, milestones with payment, and references from other international clients.
- The Spanish developers themselves sometimes set high prices to “not look cheap”, thinking that a higher price = higher perceived quality. It’s a mistake: clients who know what they’re looking for, compare and choose the best quality/price ratio, not the most expensive.
My advice: if you’re a client in the UK/USA/Australia and are doubting between a local senior or a Spanish one, ask 3 quotes to each, compare the portfolios, and ask for references from international clients. You’ll see the difference shrinks a lot when you compare with criteria.
My advice if you’re a Spanish developer and want international clients
If you’re reading this and you’re a developer in Spain thinking about working with clients from outside, this is what I’ve learned from 53 calls and 31 international clients closed:
- Position yourself in English. Bilingual website, LinkedIn in English, GitHub with READMEs in English. 60% of international clients find me via Google in English.
- Show portfolio with international cases. If your portfolio only has Spanish clients, the international client thinks “they don’t know how to work with ours”. Have at least 1-2 cases with clients from outside.
- Learn to do discovery calls in English. 30-45 minutes, not selling, listening, explaining. It’s the most valuable skill.
- Bill in EUR or USD, whichever is more comfortable for the client. Don’t marry one currency.
- Have a clear international payment system. I use PayPal and SEPA transfer. Wise is the best option for many cases.
- Document everything in English. Contracts, proposals, reports, code. The international client values professionalism as much as price.
What I do NOT recommend: charging €5/h to look competitive, or charging €80/h to look “premium”. Charging what a senior is worth in your market (€30-60/h in Spain) and letting the portfolio and references speak.
If you want to hire a senior in Spain (or in another country)
If you’re in the UK/USA/Australia and want to hire a senior in Spain (specifically me), write to me at landinowebs@gmail.com or via WhatsApp. We work remotely with clients across Europe and LATAM.
And if you want to see the cases I close with international clients, you have them here: Los Pinochos (European client) and Westside Wellness (international projection client). When I have a 100% international case published, I’ll link it.