CI/CD freelancers:
What the market really pays and wants.
Demand, rates, frameworks and trends for CI/CD – calculated from 891 real project and job postings of the last 90 days. No survey, no guesswork without data.
- Listings (90 d)
- 891
- Rank 4 of 531 skills
- Trend (90 d)
- ▼ 3 %
- Market share compared with the 90 days before. IT postings overall: ▲ 42 %
- Of which must-have
- 24 %
- Rated for 891 postings (AI analysis), otherwise “nice to have”
- Median hourly rate
- €80
- 75 data points, incl. converted salaries
- Remote possible
- 89 %
- 31 % fully remote · stated in 87 % of postings
In demand and stable.
CI/CD is among the most in-demand skills, at rank 4 of 531. Its market share is stable (▼ 3 %).
What is CI/CD – and why do companies hire CI/CD freelancers?
The postings that mention CI/CD fall into these types of project (share of the classified postings):
Typical roles
The roles hired most often are DevOps Engineer (29 %), Backend Developer (20 %), Data Engineer (10 %) and Fullstack Developer (9 %). Of the postings that state an experience level, 73 % explicitly ask for senior profiles.
Demand over the last 12 weeks
new listings per weekWeekly postings for CI/CD are rising: from an average of 54 to 103 per week (+92 %).
What do CI/CD freelancers earn?
The median is €80 per hour. The middle 50 % of all figures lie between €74 and €93.
| Segment | Median | Middle 50 % | Data points |
|---|---|---|---|
| All figures | €80 | €74–93 | 75 |
| Senior | €85 | €73–100 | 54 |
| Mid-level | – | not enough data | 14 |
| Junior | – | not enough data | 3 |
| Fully remote | – | not enough data | 19 |
| Partly remote | €83 | €77–96 | 48 |
| On site | – | not enough data | 7 |
| Senior · Partly remote | €89 | €80–100 | 34 |
Basis: 75 figures of the last 90 days – 43 hourly rates from postings and 32 converted annual salaries from job ads (salary ÷ 1,000). We do not show segments with fewer than 30 data points. Figures in CHF are not included.
Which skills CI/CD is wanted with – and which ones pay off
Kubernetes appears in 32 % of CI/CD postings.
Often named together
Kubernetes32 %(opens in new tab)Docker32 %(opens in new tab)Python31 %(opens in new tab)Java28 %(opens in new tab)Git28 %(opens in new tab)AWS22 %(opens in new tab)REST API21 %(opens in new tab)TypeScript19 %(opens in new tab)Share of CI/CD postings that also name the skill.Frameworks and systems: where CI/CD runs today
Jenkins is the most frequently named framework, in 14 % of CI/CD postings. Jenkins loses the most (▼ 9 %).
Who wants CI/CD – and under which conditions
Seniority
Senior dominates (73 %). Pure junior roles are rare (3 %).
Stated in 99 % of listings
Industries
public_sector grows the most (+16 % vs. the previous quarter).
Stated in 66 % of listings
Contract type
Freelance dominates (76 %).
Stated in 100 % of listings
Workplace
Partly remote dominates (58 %). Anyone working fully remote only reaches 31 % of postings.
Stated in 87 % of listings
Regions (on site)
Frankfurt am Main leads (15 %).
Stated in 58 % of listings
Project language
German dominates (80 %).
Stated in 100 % of listings
Market dynamics: how contested is CI/CD?
Who posts CI/CD projects
Current CI/CD projects
- Do you fit? CheckJava/Angular Developer mit Spring-Boot/OpenShift-Erfahrung (m/w/d) - 100% Remote(opens in a new tab)Frankfurt am Main · fully remote · 3 months · 03.11.2026, gerne früher
- Do you fit? CheckHamburg · 50 % remote · 13 months · 01.01.2027
- Do you fit? CheckHannover · fully remote · 3 months · 01.01.2027
- Do you fit? Check50 % remote
- Do you fit? Checkfully remote · 5 months · 01.11.2026
- Do you fit? Check
Frequently asked questions about CI/CD freelancing
How much does a CI/CD freelancer earn per hour?
The median is currently €80 per hour, with the middle 50 % between €74 and €93.
How many CI/CD projects are there right now?
In the last 90 days, 891 projects and jobs mentioning CI/CD were posted. That is around 70 per week. The market share changed by ▼ 3 % compared with the previous quarter.
Is CI/CD still in demand for freelancers?
CI/CD ranks 4 of 531 skills.
Which frameworks and systems are named most often with CI/CD?
Named most often is Jenkins (14 %), followed by GitHub Actions (9 %).
Are CI/CD projects possible remotely?
89 % of CI/CD postings allow remote work. 31 % are fully remote.
Which skills should I learn as a CI/CD freelancer?
Kubernetes (32 %), Docker (32 %) and Python (31 %) are most often required together with CI/CD. What actually pays off for your profile is shown by the free CV check.
Who posts CI/CD projects?
The 6 most active recruiters account for 39 % of all CI/CD postings of the last 90 days.
Methodology: We count IT postings of the last 90 days that mention CI/CD. Projects posted several times that are detected as duplicates count once; postings without an assignable IT category are missing, so the figures are a lower bound. The trend compares the share of all IT postings with the 90 days before and only appears with enough comparison data. We do not show figures based on fewer than 30 data points. The rating “must have” or “nice to have” comes from an AI analysis of the posting texts. Hourly rates come from postings and from annual salaries in job ads that we convert into hourly rates (salary ÷ 1,000); we state the basis for each analysis. Frameworks and systems follow our skill taxonomy; multiple mentions are possible, so the shares do not add up to 100 %. Distributions only refer to postings that state the respective attribute; we state the coverage alongside. Recruiters are the posters of the listing according to the source, only above a minimum number of postings. An AI assigns the project type and role of each posting from its title, category and skills; the shares are counted postings, not estimates, and only appear with enough classified postings.
Basis: 10,565 IT listings in the window
You now know the CI/CD market.
Now let the jury judge your profile.
Your CV against 891 CI/CD listings – with findings, strengths and an hourly-rate check.