This is a topic I&#x27;m really interested. Hoping that there would be more replies!<p>This will be a long post but if you have anything to say, please comment.<p>Here is my story;<p>I have more than 7 years of experience on programming, I started at 16 years old with PHP. I have a degree on computer engineering. I have 4 years of Rails experience, 1,5 years professionally. I have a good portfolio of projects I was part of, some of them are open-source.<p>Also, I&#x27;m doing mentorship and training on pair-programming platforms(HackHands, Codementor, AirPair) and I have dozens of happy clients and reviews from them on there.<p>I started freelancing 6 months ago at $55(€50)&#x2F;hr and I thought I was getting overpaid because I was seeing that people are getting $20-$30&#x2F;hr. But my client was really happy and I delivered everything they needed.<p>I believe the way getting good clients is through networking not platforms like Upwork or Freelancer. My first client reached me through Reddit. But the thing is I live in a 3rd world country and its hard to get high paid clients here.<p>I&#x27;ve talked with a talented developer who is at Toptal, and he said he is working at $30&#x2F;hr and rates are generally around $30-$40&#x2F;hr. Toptal says; &#x27;Hire the top 3%&#x27; and they are paying $30&#x2F;hr to top talented people!<p>So seeing that people are working $100-$200&#x2F;hr sounds crazy to me after all this.<p>Now I have a gig at $35&#x2F;hr which I really don&#x27;t want to work on because I think I&#x27;m underpaid, but it&#x27;s the only one I have and I&#x27;m struggling to find a new client.