Hiring a software engineer for remote roles? Across 2,715 live software engineer postings for remote roles, the market pays a $189K median salary (typically $162K–$222K). Recruiting from Scratch is the contingency technical recruiting firm for these hires — a 29-day average time to hire, 300+ placements, and a 2M+ candidate network.
A software engineer designs, builds, tests, and ships software across the stack as part of a product team. Hiring one for remote roles means competing with the companies below.
What employers actually screen for, aggregated across 2,715 active software engineer postings for remote roles:
| Percentile | Base salary |
|---|---|
| 25th | $162K |
| Median | $189K |
| 75th | $222K |
Based on 1,528 software engineer postings for remote roles that disclose pay. Base only — equity is typically on top.
Remote roles pay about 3% above the US median for this role ($184K).
Across the 1,921 software engineer postings for remote roles that spell out responsibilities:
The companies with the most live software engineer openings for remote roles, with what each pays and screens for (medians shown only where at least 3 postings disclose pay):
| Company | Open software engineer roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Top skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affirm | 75 | $211K | Python, Kotlin, AWS |
| Upstart | 62 | $199K | Java, Kotlin, Python |
| ClickHouse | 51 | $186K | Python, Go, Java |
| Coinbase | 46 | $218K | Go, AWS, Kubernetes |
| Sezzle | 38 | — | Go, MySQL, Python |
| Netflix | 31 | $473K | Java, Python, GraphQL |
| Twilio | 31 | $169K | AWS, Java, Kubernetes |
| Backblaze | 26 | — | Java, JavaScript, Python |
| Grafana Labs | 25 | $129K | Go, Python, Rust |
| 24 | $271K | Python, Java, Scala |
Where the software engineer demand sits across funding stages, across the 150 companies with the most live openings for remote roles:
| Stage | Companies hiring | Open roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 7 | 39 | $157K | Speechify, Pantheon AI, Anyone AI |
| Series A | 2 | 11 | — | Customer.io, Keycard Labs |
| Series B | 10 | 61 | $185K | Vannevar Labs, Ditto, Very |
| Series C | 22 | 164 | $205K | Owner, LILT, NinjaOne |
| Series D+ | 43 | 393 | $192K | ClickHouse, Grafana Labs, Chainguard |
| Public | 39 | 591 | $202K | Affirm, Upstart, Coinbase |
A further 27 of those companies have no funding stage on file and are not shown above.
Recruiting from Scratch is a contingency technical recruiting firm — no retainer and no upfront cost, so you pay only when you make a hire. The process: align on the role and must-haves → a curated shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified software engineers (not resume volume) → a 29-day average time to hire versus the 49-day industry average → a 90-day replacement guarantee. Backed by 300+ placements, a 2M+ candidate network, and named hires at companies like Decagon and Mercor.
A software engineer designs, builds, tests, and ships software across the stack as part of a product team.
What salary does a software engineer for remote roles command in 2026?Across 2,715 live postings for remote roles, a $189K median salary (typically $162K–$222K) — base only; equity is typically on top. Most postings expect 5+ years of experience.
What should you look for when hiring a software engineer?Depth in the skills these postings require (Python, AWS, Go, React, Java, TypeScript, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL), plus solid engineering fundamentals, clean code, and the ability to own features from design to production. Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified candidates, not resume volume.
Tell us about your open roles and we'll start sourcing within 48 hours.
