Freelancing for software engineers
For engineers at every level — junior, mid, or senior. Compare employment vs freelancing on real numbers. Charge what your work is worth. Choose where you live. Build a small studio if you want to.
About the instructor
Hi, I'm Ali Hesari
Software engineer · Upwork freelancer · Course creator
I've been a software engineer for 13 years. The last six have been spent working with international teams across different countries — most of it on Upwork, sometimes full-time, picking up senior IC, consulting, and engineering team-lead roles along the way.
In the last three years alone, Upwork has paid out more than $250K in client billings — and given me the chance to ship code with teams in:
Freelancing also gave me the freedom to actually live and travel — to spend real weeks and months in:
Alongside all of that, I started my own business — courses, playbooks, and the products and open source I'm steadily building — and I'm expanding the share of my income that comes from things I own outright.
People often ask how I manage six-figure freelance income, build a business, ship open source, lead teams, and travel — without giving up my health, hobbies, or personal life.
The answer isn't superhuman or sacrificing sleep. It's a system — a crystal-clear VISION about what mattered most, and a framework for ACTION that made consistent progress inevitable, even when time was impossibly scarce.
- 1
VISION. Without a clear picture of where you're going and why it matters, you'll only excel at tasks that ultimately don't move your life forward.
- 2
ACTION. Once your direction is clear, progress isn't about willpower — it's about building systems that make consistent action inevitable.
This course is that system. It's the playbook I'd hand my younger self if I were starting today.
The numbers below aren't marketing — they're what 13 years of doing this in public looks like.
Most engineers freelance the wrong way
They undercharge, they get stuck on one platform, they pick the wrong visa or none at all, and they can never grow beyond their own inbox.
You don't know if freelancing makes more sense than your job
Engineers freelance because they think they should — without ever doing the math. Salary plus benefits plus stock vs. an hourly rate × billable hours minus self-employment tax: the comparison is rarely honest, and the wrong call costs years.
You undercharge for the work you do
Most engineers price themselves like junior contractors — by the hour, in their cheapest currency, against a global pool. Six months in, you realize you traded a steady paycheck for a worse one with no benefits.
You can't escape one platform
Upwork captures everything. Fiverr is a race to the bottom. You never learn how to bring your own clients, set your own rates, or choose where you live.
You don't know which visa to chase
Freelancing visas (Germany Freiberufler, Portugal D8, Spain digital nomad, Estonia e-Residency) each have different income thresholds, paperwork, and tax consequences — most engineers pick the wrong one or stall on none of them.
You're still alone at scale
Your inbox is the bottleneck. You want to grow into a small studio or agency, but you don't know how to delegate, hire, or price work that isn't your own.
Every platform that matters — covered
Where to start, where to expand, where to skip. With a clear verdict on each, not just feature lists.
Largest marketplace, hourly + fixed-bid
Top Rated Plus is the gold standard
Best for: building a track record fast. Worst for: keeping rates above $150/hr without a niche.
Curated top 3% pool, premium rates
Application gate is real — multi-stage screen
Best for: senior engineers who can pass the screen. Rates: typically $80–$200/hr.
Commission-free, focused on independents
Strong for design + frontend roles
Best for: keeping 100% of what you charge. Worst for: Volume — slower client flow than Upwork.
Productized gigs at the high tier
Pro vetting separates serious sellers from the bottom
Best for: turning a service into a fixed-price product. Worst for: hourly project work.
Your existing network, productized
Free; relies on your existing reach
Best for: senior engineers with 1k+ connections. Worst for: anyone starting from zero.
Cold email, referrals, your own funnel
Highest margins, slowest to start
Best for: clients you found yourself — no platform tax, recurring relationships, real leverage.
Use freelancing to choose where you live
Thirteen visa tracks worth knowing about. Real income thresholds, real tax consequences — no "everything is great everywhere" listicles.
Portugal
D8 Digital Nomad visa
Threshold
~€3,500 / month income (4× minimum wage)
Lisbon / Porto on a remote contract or own clients; renewable to a 5-year path with IFICI tax incentives.
Spain
Digital Nomad visa (Ley de Startups)
Threshold
~€2,650 / month + remote employment / freelance proof
Madrid / Barcelona / Valencia with the Beckham tax regime (24% flat for 6 years); up to 5 years if renewed.
Estonia
e-Residency + freelance setup
Threshold
No income threshold — company-only
Run a fully digital EU company from anywhere; 0% tax on retained earnings.
Croatia
Digital Nomad residency
Threshold
~€2,700 / month income proof
Up to 18 months tax-EXEMPT while working remotely for non-Croatian clients — rare in the EU.
Greece
Digital Nomad visa
Threshold
~€3,500 / month income
1-year stays with a 50% income-tax break for new tax residents; lower cost of living than Portugal / Spain.
UAE (Dubai)
Virtual Work Visa
Threshold
$3,500 / month income + remote-employer proof
1-year stays with 0% UAE personal income tax; fast setup, English-friendly, high cost of living.
Mexico
Temporary Resident Visa
Threshold
~$2,600 / month income or ~$43K savings
Up to 4-year stays at low cost of living; renewable to permanent residency.
Germany
Freiberufler (freelance) residence permit
Threshold
Proven freelance income + 1–2 client letters
Berlin / Munich / Hamburg with German tax compliance (high effective tax, but strong path to PR).
Italy
Digital Nomad visa
Threshold
~€28,000 / year income + remote-worker proof
1-year stays as a "highly-skilled" remote worker, renewable; popular but bureaucratic.
Thailand
Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa
Threshold
$80K+ / year income, or $40K + qualifying employer
5-year stays with tax benefits — high earners only (LTR threshold is the gate).
Costa Rica
Rentista program
Threshold
$2,500 / month for 2 years OR $60K bank deposit
1-year renewable stays; remote / self-employment OK; smaller dev community than Mexico.
Indonesia (Bali)
B211A Social Cultural Visa
Threshold
Sponsor letter; no income threshold
Up to 6-month stays in Bali — short-term nomadding, not a long-term residency play.
Finland
Entrepreneur / startup residence permit
Threshold
Business plan + KEHA-keskus / Business Finland endorsement
Niche path for engineers building a product business inside the EU; high tax, narrow fit.
Built on first-hand experience with the Finnish entrepreneur visa (approved 2026) and active research into the German Blue Card and Australian PR tracks.
Eleven modules. One complete system.
From "should I freelance at all?" to a 2–4 person studio. Self-paced; most students finish in 6–8 weeks.
Employment vs freelancing: which one fits you?
Outcome: A clear-eyed, numbers-driven answer to whether freelancing actually beats your day job.
- The honest comparison: salary + benefits + stock vs. hourly rate × billable hours
- What employment gives you that freelancing doesn't (and vice versa)
- The hybrid path: full-time job + freelance income on the side (the option most engineers should try first)
- Career signals: how freelancing reads on a resume — pro and con
- When to switch — and when to stay employed and freelance only on the side
Foundations: positioning at any career stage
Outcome: A one-line positioning that says exactly who you serve and what you fix — junior or senior.
- Pricing tiers by experience: what juniors, mid-level, and senior engineers can realistically charge
- Niche vs generalist: why narrow positioning closes more clients (especially when you're early)
- Service ladder: hourly → fixed-bid → retainer → equity
- The "boring side" of engineering work that pays best at every level
Platforms: where to sell, where to skip
Outcome: A clear map of which platforms to use, in what order, and when to leave.
- Upwork from zero to Top Rated Plus (first 90 days)
- Toptal application: passing the screen and what to expect
- Contra, Fiverr Pro, LinkedIn Services: when each is worth setting up
- Building your first off-platform client list
Pricing: charge what your work is worth
Outcome: A pricing model that compounds: rates rise, hours fall.
- Hourly vs fixed-bid vs value-based — which to use when
- Raising rates without losing clients (the 6-month review cadence)
- Currency strategy: pricing in USD/EUR, charging across borders
- The retainer trap (and the retainer dream)
Sales: outreach, proposals, calls
Outcome: A scripted, repeatable funnel — outreach → call → close.
- The 6-line cold-email template that opens real conversations
- Proposal anatomy: what to include, what to cut
- Discovery calls without sounding scripted
- Closing without discounting
Delivery: contracts, scope, and managing yourself
Outcome: Bulletproof scope and a finish-on-time engine.
- A lightweight one-page contract (covers 90% of cases)
- Scope creep: spotting it, pricing it, walking away
- Solo project management: weekly cadence, async updates
- Handover and handoff that protects future revenue
Company structure & taxes
Outcome: A legal entity that fits your income, country, and risk tolerance — plus a tax setup that doesn't blow up at year-end.
- Sole prop vs LLC vs Ltd vs OÜ vs GmbH — what each gives you and what it costs
- When to incorporate: income threshold, liability protection, tax savings
- Self-employment tax basics: 1099 / VAT / quarterly estimates / double-taxation treaties
- Bookkeeping that runs itself: tools (Wave, FreeAgent, Xero) and the "lazy" solo system
- Hiring an accountant: when, where, and how much it should cost
Tax-friendly jurisdictions for solo companies
Outcome: A clear pick of where to register your company — based on residency, real tax rate, and operational reality.
- Estonia OÜ + e-Residency: 0% tax on retained earnings, when it actually helps
- US LLC for non-residents: pass-through taxation and the "no US tax for foreign-sourced income" rule
- UAE Free Zones, Cyprus, Malta: real effective tax rates after compliance
- Bulgaria, Georgia, Portugal NHR / IFICI: niche but powerful for the right profile
- The tax-residency trap: how moving country mid-year can break a clever setup
Visas through freelancing
Outcome: A clear visa decision: which country, which permit, what threshold.
- Mapping freelancing income to residency requirements
- Germany Freiberufler vs Portugal D8 vs Spain digital nomad
- Estonia e-Residency: when it helps, when it's a distraction
- Tax residency mistakes that wipe out the savings
- Reference letters and evidence portfolios that work
Digital nomad logistics
Outcome: A working remote setup that survives moves, time zones, and tax seasons.
- Banking: Wise, Revolut, EU IBAN, US LLC payment rails
- Invoicing across borders without losing 30% to fees
- Picking a country: cost, taxes, internet, time-zone overlap
- Health insurance for global freelancers
- The "permanent traveler" myth and when it backfires
Beyond yourself: agency, team, leverage
Outcome: A path off the hourly hamster wheel: subcontract → studio → agency.
- When to hire the first subcontractor (and how to find them)
- Productizing a service: from $X/hr to $Y/project
- Building a 2–4 person studio: pricing, ops, profit margin
- Agency vs personal-brand boutique: which path fits you
- Selling work that isn't yours without losing your name on it
Future modules — free updates for everyone who buys
The course already covers the eleven decisions a senior freelancer faces today. These modules are landing in the next updates — and lifetime access means you get them free as they ship.
Retirement & wealth-building
SEP-IRA / Solo 401(k) for US, EU equivalents, the "pay yourself first" routine, and how to price retirement contributions into your hourly rate.
Insurance for senior freelancers
Professional indemnity, cyber liability, and business-owner policies — what one $50K mistake on a senior contract actually costs without coverage.
Difficult situations
Chargebacks, late payments, kill-fees, problem clients, and what to do if a contract goes legal. The patterns every senior freelancer eventually hits.
Continuing education
How to stay technically sharp without an employer paying for conferences — peer communities, mastermind groups, and the sustainable learning rhythm.
Burnout & sustainability
Solo-work isolation, the self-employed-anxiety pattern, sustainable cadence vs grind. The closing module that keeps the freelance career going for decades, not just years.
What you walk away with
- A clear answer to "should I freelance?" — backed by your own numbers.
- A freelancing rate that matches your actual experience and holds during downturns.
- A platform-independent client pipeline (most clients found yourself).
- A visa decision you can act on, not just read about.
- A digital-nomad setup that survives the first border move.
- A documented path from solo freelancer to small studio, if you want it.
Is this for you?
This course is for you if
- Software engineers at any career stage — junior, mid, or senior
- Comparing your day job's comp package against potential freelance income
- Considering moving country (visa, digital nomad, or both)
- Wants to grow beyond solo work eventually — small studio, not a big agency
- Already freelancing and hitting a ceiling you can't name
This is not for you if
- Total beginners with no coding experience yet — finish a foundations course first
- Founders going all-in on a single product (see DevOptionality instead)
- Anyone uncomfortable with negotiation or honest sales conversations
- Anyone hoping a single platform will keep them safe forever
Built on real freelancing
This isn't a course written by someone who freelanced for six months. It's 13 years of receipts.
13 years engineering
Senior IC and team-lead roles across web, mobile, cloud — TypeScript, Node.js, React, PHP, Rust.
Top Rated Plus on Upwork
100% job success rate. $250K+ in lifetime client billings across multi-year contracts.
Multi-country freelancer
Worked from Iran, Lithuania, Finland — currently building toward German PR via the Blue Card track.
Built and shipped products
MakeV1, Productivity Track, Hunter Kit, Toolkits — freelancing was the launchpad, not the destination.
View projects →One price. Lifetime access.
Pay once, watch the visa, platform, and tax materials get updated as the rules change.
Launch-window price — saves $200 vs. regular pricing
- 11 modules — employment vs freelancing, foundations, platforms, pricing, sales, delivery, company structure & taxes, tax-friendly jurisdictions, visas, digital nomad logistics, agency growth
- Lifetime access + free updates as visa rules and platforms evolve
- Lightweight contract and proposal templates included
- Visa-decision worksheet covering 13 country tracks across Europe and globally
- Direct email access to the instructor for the first cohort
Payment plans (3 × $107) and bundle pricing with DevOptionality available at checkout.
Questions
Should I quit my job to take this course?+
No — and Module 1 actively discourages quitting before the math is on your side. Most students start the course while still employed; the comparison module is built precisely so you can make that decision honestly.
I'm a junior / mid-level engineer. Is this for me?+
Yes. Module 2 covers pricing tiers by experience level and how to position yourself credibly when your résumé is shorter. The trap most junior freelancers fall into is competing on price against a global pool — the course covers what to do instead.
I have a full-time job. Is this still useful?+
Yes — most students keep their job during the first months of the program. Module 6 covers managing freelance work alongside a full-time role, and Module 1's "hybrid path" lesson is specifically about running both at once.
Will the visa material apply to my country?+
The course covers 13 tracks across Europe (Germany, Portugal, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Croatia, Greece, Italy) and globally (Thailand, Indonesia / Bali, Mexico, Costa Rica, UAE / Dubai) — the most common destinations for European, North American, and Asian freelancers. The framework for picking a track and building an evidence portfolio applies regardless of where you end up.
Is this just an Upwork course?+
No. Module 3 covers Upwork in depth because it's the largest platform, but the goal of the course is to make you platform-independent. Half of the curriculum is about clients you find yourself — the highest-margin work.
Will you teach me how to start an agency?+
Module 11 walks through the practical path: subcontracting → productized service → 2–4 person studio. It's not a "build a 50-person agency" course — it's how to grow off the hourly model without setting up a venture-backed services business.
How long is the course?+
Self-paced. Most students finish the eleven modules in 6–8 weeks. The employment-vs-freelancing, company-structure, tax-jurisdiction, visa, and agency modules tend to take longer because they're decisions, not lessons.
Stop guessing. Start charging.
One course. Eleven modules. Thirteen visa tracks. A complete map from employed engineer to confident freelancer to small studio.