Engineer salary expectations in the Netherlands (2026): what 133 engineers ask, by level and stack
Gepubliceerd 2 november 2026 · laatst bijgewerkt · Chavez Peters · 3 min lezen
Not what employers offer, but what engineers ask. Salary expectations of 133 software, data, cloud and AI engineers in the Netherlands, by level and by stack.
Short answer
A senior engineer in the Netherlands asks a median of €6,075 gross per month in 2026, about €79,000 per year including the 8 percent holiday allowance. A medior asks €4,650 (about €60,000) and a lead €7,350 (about €95,000). That is what 133 software, data, cloud and AI engineers told us since January 2025. Two things stand out: engineers with AI as a core skill ask no more than cloud and .NET engineers, and PHP and Java engineers ask the least, while exactly those vacancies stay open longest.
The Dutch version: Salariswensen van engineers in 2026.
By level
Gross per month, median, with the middle half of answers. Annual = month x 12.96 (12 months plus 8 percent holiday allowance).
| Level | Count | Median per month | Middle half | Median per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | 9 | €3,400 | €3,050 to €3,950 | about €44,000 |
| Medior | 24 | €4,650 | €4,200 to €5,375 | about €60,000 |
| Senior | 44 | €6,075 | €5,525 to €6,850 | about €79,000 |
| Lead | 15 | €7,350 | €6,950 to €8,000 | about €95,000 |
| All 133 engineers | 133 | €5,800 | €5,000 to €6,550 | about €75,000 |
By stack
All levels combined, only stacks with at least five engineers.
| Stack | Count | Median per month | Median per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | 24 | €6,975 | about €90,000 |
| .NET | 36 | €6,000 | about €78,000 |
| Security | 18 | €5,900 | about €76,000 |
| AI and LLM | 16 | €5,800 | about €75,000 |
| Machine learning and data science | 6 | €5,800 | about €75,000 |
| Cloud and DevOps | 76 | €5,800 | about €75,000 |
| Python | 24 | €5,650 | about €73,000 |
| Data engineering | 8 | €5,650 | about €73,000 |
| Frontend | 44 | €5,500 | about €71,000 |
| Java | 20 | €5,225 | about €68,000 |
| Test and QA | 14 | €5,200 | about €67,000 |
| PHP | 7 | €4,500 | about €58,000 |
Levels are mixed per stack, so a stack with many seniors, such as architecture, comes out higher.
What stands out
AI engineers ask no more than cloud engineers. The median for engineers with AI or LLM as a core skill is €5,800 per month, the same as cloud and DevOps. The highest AI expectations in our data are €8,000 to €8,500 per month. Employers do pay a premium for proven AI work in production; the value is in what someone has built, not in the word AI on a CV.
The stacks that stay open longest ask the least. In our October 2026 count, PHP vacancies stayed open a median of 185 days and Java 122 days, against 91 days for developers overall. Salary is rarely the bottleneck there; the talent pool is.
Method and limits
We used the salary expectation candidates gave us themselves (gross per month, excluding holiday allowance and bonus), only for engineers with a technical core skill and contact since 1 January 2025: 133 people. Level is known for 92. Groups under five are not shown; juniors (9) are indicative. These are engineers who talked to a recruiter, not the whole market, and an expectation is an ask, not a final offer.
About Chase IT Recruitment
Chase IT Recruitment recruits software, data, cloud and AI engineers for permanent roles across the Netherlands. No cure no pay, first qualified candidate within 5 working days, free replacement within 100 days. Why engineers move: 159 switching reasons. Feel free to use these figures with a credit and a link to this page.
Oprichter van Chase IT Recruitment. Bemiddelt al acht jaar niets anders dan Software en AI engineers, met 25.000+ actieve engineers in zijn netwerk. Spreekt elke week engineers en CTO's, en schrijft op wat hij daar hoort.
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What does a senior software engineer earn in the Netherlands in 2026?
In conversations of Chase IT Recruitment since January 2025, a senior engineer asks a median of €6,075 gross per month, about €79,000 per year including holiday allowance. The middle half asks €5,525 to €6,850 per month.
Do AI engineers in the Netherlands ask more salary?
Not at the median: engineers with AI or LLM as a core skill ask €5,800 per month, the same as cloud and DevOps engineers. The highest AI expectations are €8,000 to €8,500 per month.
What does a lead engineer earn in the Netherlands?
A median of €7,350 gross per month, about €95,000 per year including holiday allowance.