Hourly markup
You pay a monthly or hourly client rate for as long as the person stays. The agency's margin sits inside that rate. Talent pay is often not shown as its own line.
Pricing
Success fee vs hourly markup: what offshore developer hiring really costs
Three bills show up when you hire a remote developer: an hourly markup, a monthly subscription or prepaid hours, and a one-time placement fee. This page says what each one pays for, where costs hide, and what Arca.ph charges.
The three common pricing models
Developer staffing agencies do not publish one standard markup. The client rate on a quote is the number to compare, after you split talent pay from the agency fee. These are the three shapes that bill usually takes.
Monthly subscription or prepaid hours
You pay ahead for access, or for a block of hours. The subscription can be a small platform fee, or it can be the developer's working time paid in advance. A minimum number of hours is a common extra.
One-time placement fee
You pay once, usually as a percentage of salary, when a hire happens. The fee is not a monthly markup. You still pay the person's salary if you are the one hiring them.
What a markup pays for
A staff-augmentation markup is the gap between talent pay and the rate you are billed. It commonly pays for recruiting, payroll, an employer of record, benefits administration, equipment, an account manager, and the agency's margin. That is the ongoing service of keeping the person employed through the agency.
Where hidden costs sit
Hidden cost is any line the headline rate leaves out. On an hourly markup, that can be the margin itself when talent pay is not disclosed, plus software licenses, overtime, a notice period, or a replacement fee. On prepaid hours, it can be time you paid for and did not use, including a minimum. On a success fee, the fee is visible, and the costs the agency is not taking on stay with you: salary, tests you order, and employer costs such as benefits and equipment.
An hourly markup is the better fit when you want the agency to keep employing the developer, and the monthly bill already includes the costs you would otherwise carry. It is a poor fit when you want one fee and a salary you can see.
What Arca.ph charges
Arca.ph is a self-serve marketplace of vetted remote software engineers from around the world. You can see every profile for free. You pay one success fee of 15% of first-year salary, once, and only if you hire a developer Arca.ph introduced, within 1 year of the introduction. There is a 3-month free replacement guarantee. Tests are optional and cost extra.
The same terms are on pricing, how it works, where developers live, and proctored tests. Talent pay is quoted per month.
Illustrative example
Fill in your own numbers
This table is arithmetic, not a client, a salary survey, or a quote. The monthly pay is the same $3,000 illustration as the pricing page. The 40% markup is a sample input so the formula is visible. Replace it with the markup on your quote. Arca.ph does not publish a typical staffing markup, and this is not an agency rate card.
| Line | Your numbers | Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly talent pay | Fill in | $3,000 |
| First-year salary, monthly pay times 12 | Fill in | $36,000 |
| Staff-augmentation markup | Fill in from your quote | 40% sample input |
| Year-1 staff-augmentation bill, salary times (1 + markup) | Fill in | $50,400 |
| Markup dollars, salary times the markup | Fill in | $14,400 |
| Arca.ph success fee, once | 15% of your first-year salary | $5,400 |
| Year-1 salary plus the success fee | Fill in | $41,400 |
| Year 2 if the person stays and you hired them | The markup bills again. The success fee does not. | Staff-aug $50,400. Salary $36,000 and no second fee. |
| US employee, year 1 | Salary, benefits, and other employer costs | Not estimated on this page |
| Proctored tests | Optional. You pay only for the tests you order | Cost extra |
Read the year-1 gap with the caveat in view. $41,400 against $50,400 is salary plus one success fee, set next to a marked-up bill. The markup may already include payroll, benefits, and equipment. The success fee does not. Subtract those costs only when your quote shows them inside the markup. Proctored tests are optional and cost extra either way.
An in-house developer's all-in cost is that person's salary, benefits, and other employer costs. Arca.ph does not publish a loaded in-house rate here. Cited market pay on the salary page is not an Arca.ph client rate. A separate comparison of published staffing rates is on one fee compared with a monthly markup.
What other providers publish
These are terms from each company's own page, checked on 26 October 2026. Anything that page does not state is left out.
Arc full-time fee
arc.dev/pricing says full-time hires are 20% of the annual salary. The same block lists AI applicant screening, AI auto sourcing, a dedicated recruiter, custom candidate sourcing, and ATS integration. The page does not say whether that 20% is charged once.
Applied to this illustration's $36,000 first-year salary, 20% is $7,200. That is arithmetic, not an Arc invoice.
Their freelance block is separate. arc.dev/pricing lists $15–$110+, pay per hour. That range is not a markup percentage.
Arc is the better fit when you want that recruiter-led full-time search and you are comparing a percentage of annual salary. It is a poor fit when you need a published markup on talent pay. Checked 26 October 2026.
Toptal platform subscription
toptal.com/faq says there is a flat monthly subscription fee of $79, charged if you decide to proceed with talent matching. It gives access to Toptal's platform under the Platform Subscription Terms. You may cancel at any time, and if Toptal can't provide talent, you can request a refund on cancellation.
The FAQ does not publish the talent rate, so $79 is not the cost of the developer.
Toptal is the better fit when you want that matching platform and you can price the talent rate separately. It is a poor fit when you need an all-in developer rate before you subscribe. Checked 26 October 2026.
Lemon.io prepaid minimum
lemon.io/pricing redirects to the Lemon.io homepage. On that page, the minimum is 160 hours: one month full-time at 40 hours a week, or two months part-time at 20 hours a week. There is no separate minimum duration. A 160-hour full-time project typically takes about four weeks.
The same page says there are no upfront recruitment or setup fees, and that Lemon.io uses a prepaid subscription: you pay for the developer's working hours ahead of time. Payment is typically one month in advance, depending on the billing arrangement. The page does not publish an hourly rate.
Lemon.io is the better fit for a scoped contract of at least 160 hours when you can prepay and you want them to vet. It is a poor fit for a few days of work, or for a hire you pay by salary with no monthly prepay. Checked 26 October 2026.
Sources
- Arc: arc.dev/pricing, checked 26 October 2026.
- Toptal: toptal.com/faq, checked 26 October 2026.
- Lemon.io: lemon.io/pricing, checked 26 October 2026.
Hiring cost questions
How much do developer staffing agencies charge?
Developer staffing agencies do not publish one standard markup. A staff-augmentation quote is usually a monthly or hourly client rate, and the agency margin stays inside that rate while the person works. Ask for talent pay and the fee on separate lines. A placement fee is a different bill: one charge tied to salary.
What does a staff augmentation agency's markup actually cover?
The markup is the gap between talent pay and the client rate. It commonly pays for recruiting, payroll, an employer of record, benefits administration, equipment, an account manager, and the agency margin. Software licenses, overtime, a replacement, and a notice period often sit outside that headline rate. Read those lines on the quote.
What is the all-in cost of an offshore developer versus a US developer?
All-in cost is talent pay plus the fees around it. An offshore staff-augmentation seat costs the billed rate every month, plus lines the quote leaves out. A US employee costs salary, benefits, and other employer costs. Arca.ph does not publish a loaded US rate or a typical agency markup. Use your own quotes in the illustration on this page.
What are the hidden costs of hiring offshore developers?
Hidden cost is anything the headline rate leaves out. A monthly markup can hide the margin, equipment, software, overtime, notice, or a replacement fee. Prepaid hours can mean paying a month ahead, including a minimum you do not use. A success fee still leaves salary, tests you order, and employer costs the agency is not taking on.
How does a success fee compare with an hourly markup?
An hourly markup is billed every month the person stays, so year two looks like year one. A success fee is one charge on first-year salary, and it is not billed again. It is the better fit only when you would have paid that markup for longer than the fee, and you can carry costs the markup used to include.
What does Arca.ph charge to hire a developer?
On the marketplace, looking at profiles is free. Tests are optional and cost extra. If you hire a candidate Arca.ph introduced, within 1 year of the introduction, you pay one success fee: 15% of first-year salary, once. Talent pay is quoted per month. There is a 3-month free replacement guarantee.
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