How much to pay Filipino remote talent in 2026

Hired directly, Filipino remote workers are paid from $3 an hour at beginner level to as much as $22 at expert level in OnlineJobs.ph’s published table^[3], and software engineers more^[5]. Published agency prices for the same roles start at $7 an hour^[6][7]. For comparison, Metro Manila’s minimum wage is ₱755 a day^[10], about $1.50 an hour; Fairshore’s lowest minimum is $5.

Local: Indeed’s average^[1], converted. Hired directly: the lowest to the highest level in OnlineJobs.ph’s table, or Second Talent’s for software engineers; the median ask where no table has the role. Agency: the lowest to the highest published price we found. Each role’s figures and sources are below.

Experience. In every source that splits rates by level, the top of the range is more than twice the bottom. Ask for a portfolio, references or work samples to see where someone sits in it.

Specialist skills. Copywriting is priced above content writing in both sources that split them, and local job ads pay front-end developers more than general web developers.

Hours. Working your business hours from the Philippines often means working nights there. If you need someone online at set hours, say so in the job and expect to pay for it.

Full-time or part-time. The figures above are hourly or full-time monthly. We found no published data on how part-time rates compare, so we don’t give one.

An agency finds, hires and often manages someone for you, and charges for it. Hiring directly, you do that work, and the whole amount you pay goes to the person. Here is general VA work, side by side, from published prices:

$1,600 a month

Stealth Agents’ core EA/VA package, 160 hours^[8]

$800 a month

the median a general VA asked for in Armasourcing’s survey^[4]

$800–$1,100 a month

OnlineJobs.ph’s monthly range for an intermediate VA^[3]

The agency’s price is twice the median ask, for the same kind of work. Part of that difference pays for the work the agency does for you. On Fairshore you do the hiring yourself, posting is free, and nobody takes a cut of the pay.

Minimum wage. In Metro Manila it’s ₱755 a day for non-agriculture work, for a normal working day of up to 8 hours, from 26 September 2026^[10]. Other regions set their own rates.

13th-month pay and night shifts. Philippine law gives employees a 13th-month pay^[11][12] and at least 10% extra for each hour worked between 10 PM and 6 AM^[13]. Most people hired directly by overseas clients work as independent contractors, and we found no official guidance on whether these rules apply to a foreign client with no business in the Philippines. If you’re unsure, ask a lawyer: this guide isn’t legal advice.

We read every figure on its source page on 2 October 2026. We quote each one as the source states it and say what it measures. Where we convert, we use the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reference rate of ₱62.748 to the dollar^[9], 160 working hours a month and 8 hours a day, the same as every job on Fairshore. We don’t average sources into one number, because they measure different things.

We’ll check the sources again every quarter, and add what employers actually pay on Fairshore once there’s enough of it to report. Spotted something wrong or out of date? Email hello@faireshore.app.

1. [1]Indeed Philippines, salary pages. Average base pay per month in Philippine job ads from the past 36 months, with the number of salaries behind each figure. Updated 23–28 September 2026. Indeed runs a job board.
2. [2]Jobstreet Philippines, salary insights. Typical monthly salary range in Philippine job ads that disclosed pay. No sample size given. October 2026. Jobstreet runs a job board.
3. [3]OnlineJobs.ph, salary guide. Hourly rates by role and level (beginner, intermediate, expert), from OnlineJobs.ph’s own database. No sample size or method given. Last updated April 2026. OnlineJobs.ph sells subscriptions to employers.
4. [4]Armasourcing, Filipino virtual assistant salary report. What applicants asked to be paid, not what they were paid: 1,385 applications from October 2025 to July 2026, median per month, converted by Armasourcing at ₱56 to the dollar. Refreshed August 2026. Armasourcing is a VA staffing agency.
5. [5]Second Talent, developer rate card: Philippines. Hourly rates for remote developers working for international clients, by seniority. No method given. August–September 2026. Second Talent sells developer hiring.
6. [6]VA Masters, pricing by role. What the agency charges employers per hour, full-time. Says there are no placement fees. April 2026. VA Masters is a staffing agency.
7. [7]Virtual Coworker, pricing and savings guide. What the agency charges employers, “starting at” per hour, for 20–40 hours a week, with its fees built into the rate. February 2026. Virtual Coworker is a staffing agency.
8. [8]Stealth Agents, package pricing. What the agency charges employers per month for 160 hours, plus an onboarding fee it doesn’t state. Undated; checked 2 October 2026. Stealth Agents is a staffing agency.
9. [9]Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, reference exchange rate bulletin. ₱62.748 to the US dollar: the weighted average in the USD/PHP market on 1 October 2026. Used for every conversion on this page. 2 October 2026.
10. [10]Wage Order No. NCR-28, Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, NCR. Daily minimum wage in Metro Manila: ₱755 for non-agriculture work, for a normal working day of up to 8 hours. In effect from 26 September 2026.
11. [11]Presidential Decree No. 851 (13th-month pay). The law requiring a 13th-month pay for employees. 1975, as amended.
12. [12]Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of the 13th-Month Pay Law. Covers all rank-and-file employees “regardless of their designation or employment status”, if they worked at least one month in the year. 16 November 1987.
13. [13]Labor Code of the Philippines, Article 86 (night shift differential). At least 10% of the regular wage extra for each hour worked between 10 PM and 6 AM, for employees. 1974, as amended.