What would you charge for this scope of work? (Pricing reality check)
Posted by 6ozGoz@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 7 comments
Hey all, trying to get a reality check on freelance pricing for work I completed. Here's the scope:
System Architecture & Design:
- Requirements analysis (functional + non-functional)
- Database schema design (Posts, Comments, Likes, Polls) - collaborative design through technical calls
- Tech stack evaluation and recommendations
- Backend-to-frontend data structure alignment
Backend API Implementation:
- Posts service with full CRUD operations (\~850+ lines of production code)
- Nested comments system with recursive reply support
- Like/unlike functionality for posts and comments
- Full polls system (voting, expiration, validation)
- 11 comprehensive DTOs with validation
- REST controller with 15+ endpoints
- Transaction management and error handling
- Postman testing and debugging across all endpoints
- Git metrics: 6 commits, 23 files changed, \~1,591 net new lines of code
Technical Consultation:
- 15 documented technical consultation sessions over 5 months (Sept 2025 - Jan 2026)
- Development status, architectural guidance, problem-solving, implementation planning
Code Review:
- Reviewed 7 pull requests across repositories with detailed feedback
SamurottX@reddit
I've seen take home assessments with this kind of scope. Not saying those were realistic, but this sounds more like 5 days and not 5 months of work like you implied
OAKI-io@reddit
hard to price without hours and risk, but don’t price it like “some backend tickets.” architecture, schema design, stack decisions, and implementation all compound. if the client got a working system plus technical direction, the value is closer to a project fee than an hourly junior-dev calculation.
HoratioWobble@reddit
it's hard to say without seeing the scope of the work.
What you've described sounds like a couple days of work total.
PuzzleheadedTeach466@reddit
Who counts DTOs in an invoice
stingraycharles@reddit
“Pricing reality check” you used AI to generate this, didn’t you?
Sheldor5@reddit
threefiddy
discord-ian@reddit
Lol... anywhere from $500 - $500k. Not enough information to evaluate.