Remote Software Engineer Salaries in South Africa

How much do remote developers in South Africa expect to make? $68,956 per year on average (based on self-reported data).

This estimated average salary is based on the expected salaries of Arc Developers in that location. Remote software engineer salaries in South Africa are amongst the highest for Africa.
Below are some things to consider when hiring developers based in this location or building your next engineering hub.

$68,956USD
Avg. Developer Salary
$64,309USD
Avg. Senior Developer Salary

Established Companies in South Africa

Here are some notable companies with engineering hubs or engineering teams in this location.

GE remote branch in South Africa
GE
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Amazon remote branch in South Africa
AmazonSource
Cape Town, South Africa
Oracle remote branch in South Africa
Oracle
Cape Town, South Africa
Konga remote branch in South Africa
KongaSource
Cape Town, South Africa
Luno remote branch in South Africa
LunoSource
Johannesburg, South Africa

Salary breakdown by expertise

Use the dropdown to compare software engineer salaries in South Africa with another location.

Compare with:
Kenya
South Africa remote developer salarySouth Africa
Front-end Developer
$65,354
$48,074
Back-end Developer
$69,772
$53,708
Data Scientist
$69,999
$54,332
App Developer
$66,834
$48,578
DevOps Engineer
$74,395
$57,399

English Proficiency in South Africa

very high
#6
Ranking out of 100 locations/regionsLearn more
Proficiency
very high
high
moderate
low
very low

About software engineer salary in South Africa

Work with great developers — who just happen to be outside your zip code.We built this tool to help you understand how much remote developers expect to be paid annually across different countries around the world. Software engineer salary in South Africa are calculated using self-reported data from remote developers based in South Africa, and may not be representative of local salaries.Learn More

The salary data is based on the expected salary of over 300,000 remote developers in Arc's network. Developers provide us with their expected salary after passing our comprehensive vetting process (click here to learn more about Arc’s vetting process).

In addition to software development experience, our research indicates two other major factors that affect salary expectations:

・Local rent and cost of living.
・English ability (in countries where English is not the primary language, developers with a good command of English can often charge a premium compared to local rates).

In addition to providing a base salary, organizations may offer remote developers a more comprehensive package when hired long-term. This package may include benefits such as health insurance, equipment stipends, cash bonuses for high performance, company equity, etc. (For more information on benefits frequently offered to remote developers, click here.)

Hire remote developers in South Africa with Arc

Rossouw M. - developer in South Africa
Rossouw M.
Senior backend engineer with over 10 years of experience.

Hello! I’m a Senior Backend Engineer with over 10 years of experience, primarily in Go and API development. I specialize in crafting efficient, scalable solutions and have a passion for mentoring and knowledge-sharing. My strengths lie in designing clean architectures, optimizing backend performance, and fostering team growth. I look forward to helping you tackle technical challenges and build robust systems.

Sphelele Z. - developer in South Africa
Sphelele Z.
Senior Mobile Developer

I hold a BSc in Computer Science and am experienced in implementing software applications. I am primarily interested in Mobile Development roles. Over the course of my career as a software engineer, I underwent deep training through the IBM internship and the ABSA graduate programme. I subsequently became an Oracle-certified Java Programmer, was chosen for the best permanent role after training at Absa (in the architecture department), completed an Agile boot camp at IQ Business and hold around 3 years of exposure to iOS (Objective-C). I hold over 8 years of .NET experience, have under 1 year of experience in Android and I've been doing Xamarin for over 4 years. I am passionate about Cyber Security. I place a lot of importance on continued education and research, as I truly believe that learning never ends. Therefore, I take it upon myself to up-skill where needed.

Matt D. - developer in South Africa
Matt D.
Highly rated Python, Java & Javascript expert

I've taught at a top 5 UK University, worked with top European tech companies, and freelanced since 2011. With me, you can learn the professional techniques to help you get full marks in University courses or level up to become a Senior Developer.

Salary reports by technologies

Now that you know the software engineer salaries in South Africa, take a look at developers’ salary expectations based on the technologies they’re experienced in.

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