DevOps engineers are the folks who keep the software development cycle running smoothly. As AI gets baked into more of our workflows, the role just keeps getting more important.
That demand shows up in the paychecks. DevOps engineers are among the best paid in tech. Here, we dig into what they actually earn at different career stages, how salaries shift by city, and how they stack up against backend and full-stack roles.
How much do DevOps engineers earn by experience?
Junior DevOps engineer salary
The job market for entry-level DevOps engineers sits at a unique junction in the South African tech landscape. On the one hand, you have a job market where demand for entry-level and junior developers has fallen from the highs of the post-COVID tech boom, and companies are prioritising senior roles to help move the needle in a challenging macroeconomic context.
For entry-level roles, that's led to the bar being set higher than before. Many of the companies that are hiring at the entry-level are prioritising elite BSc Honours graduates from well-known and competitive university courses, and often at higher starting salaries.
On the other hand, the supply of DevOps skills is not as established as it is among many other entry-level roles and skills. DevOps, as a distinct discipline, has only really matured in South Africa over the last five to seven years. As a result, there isn't the same junior DevOps talent pool that exists for traditional backend, frontend, or full-stack roles.
This scarcity of DevOps skills at the entry level, in combination with the higher bar for all entry-level roles, is reflected in their starting salaries.
Among companies sending interview requests to entry-level DevOps engineers on OfferZen, the average salary is approximately R56,165 per month, with the majority of offers falling between R40,000 and R65,000. This gives them a sizable, double-digit advantage over both their backend and full-stack counterparts.
For DevOps engineers with between two and four years of experience, the average interview request salary rises 19.6% to R67,180. By contrast, Java and C# developers actually see their averages dip from the entry-level.
Beyond the smaller pool of DevOps engineers, this increase might also reflect differences in how they acquire their skills. Unlike many other junior roles in software development, where a CS degree gives you a reasonably transferable foundation, DevOps competency is highly practical and certification-driven. These can include cloud provider certifications (AWS, Azure, GCP), Kubernetes, Terraform, and CI/CD tooling.
That means DevOps engineers can acquire market-valuable skills relatively quickly and negotiate a higher salary as a result.
Intermediate DevOps engineer salary
At the four-to-six year mark, average salaries for DevOps engineer interview requests reach R74,189, a 10.4% increase from the previous level. At this stage of their careers, DevOps engineers typically own platform infrastructure, design deployment pipelines, and work across cloud providers.
Senior DevOps engineer salary
At the senior level, DevOps engineers with six to ten years of experience see the average salary on OfferZen rise 26.3% to R93,680 per month.
After they've more than a decade of experience under their belts, the average climbs to R102,442, with top-quartile earners reaching R120,000.
One factor behind high average salaries for senior DevOps engineers is the genuine scarcity of these professionals in South Africa, especially as more companies look to hire professionals who can architect their platforms, lead on security and compliance, and drive organisational DevOps maturity.
Additionally, the role is becoming increasingly strategically important. A senior DevOps engineer in 2026 is making decisions that directly affect system reliability, deployment frequency, cloud spend, and increasingly AI infrastructure.
DevOps engineer interview request salary by experience in 2026
| Experience | 25th Percentile | Average | 75th Percentile | Sample Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–2 years | R40,000 | R56,165 | R65,000 | 555 |
| 2–4 years | R50,000 | R67,180 | R85,000 | 546 |
| 4–6 years | R55,800 | R74,189 | R90,000 | 325 |
| 6–10 years | R75,000 | R93,680 | R110,000 | 242 |
| 10+ years | R80,000 | R102,442 | R120,000 | 91 |
How do DevOps engineer salaries compare to backend and full-stack developers?
DevOps engineers earn more than both backend and full-stack developers at every experience level. Here's how their average salaries compare.
DevOps vs backend developers
At the entry level, DevOps engineers earn about 35.1% more than backend developers, although the gap narrows steadily as experience grows: 31.8% at the two-to-four-year level, 18.5% at the intermediate stage, and 18.8% at the six-to-ten-year mark. With 10+ years of experience, the DevOps premium over backend has narrowed to 7%.
The early gap between the two roles is mostly down to the scarcity of DevOps skills at these levels. That gives DevOps specialists a clear salary premium over their backend counterparts. However, the narrowing gap at the senior level reflects high demand for backend specialists, particularly those with deep specialisations in Go, Spring, or ML-adjacent stacks, which allows them to command salaries closer to those of their DevOps counterparts.
DevOps vs. full-stack developers
The DevOps premium over full-stack developers follows a similar story. At the entry-level, DevOps engineers earn 19.5% more than their full-stack counterparts. The gap widens to 34.7% in the two-to-four-year market before narrowing to 18.5% and 18.8% at the intermediate and senior levels, respectively. In the 10+ years of experience bracket, the DevOps premium over full-stack is just 7.5%.
DevOps engineer interview request salary compared to backend and full-stack developers in 2026
| Experience | Backend developers | Full-stack developers |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 years | -35.1% | -19.5% |
| 2–4 years | -31.8% | -34.7% |
| 4–6 years | -18.5% | -18.8% |
| 6–10 years | -18.8% | -18.5% |
| 10+ years | -7.0% | -7.5% |
Do DevOps engineers earn more in Cape Town or Johannesburg?
At the entry-level, less than 2% separates the country's two largest tech hubs. However, Johannesburg holds a slight 1.3% edge over Cape Town. For DevOps engineers with two to four years of experience, Cape Town takes a 1.6% lead.
Johannesburg re-establishes its lead over the Mother City for intermediate DevOps engineers. At this stage of their careers, intermediate DevOps engineers earn 4% more than they would in Cape Town.
At the six-to-ten-year career stage, Cape Town-based DevOps engineers earn about 6.1% more than their peers in Johannesburg. At a 10+ years of experience level, the relationship reverses again. At this point, averages in Joburg are 6.2% above those in Cape Town.
Joburg's edge at the senior level is likely down to the types of companies concentrated in the city. On average, FinTech and large enterprise companies pay at the higher end of the salary range. In general, Joburg has a higher concentration of these companies.
Difference in DevOps engineer salaries in Cape Town vs Johannesburg
| Experience | Cape Town vs Johannesburg |
|---|---|
| 0–2 years | -1.3% |
| 2–4 years | +1.6% |
| 4–6 years | -4.0% |
| 6–10 years | +6.1% |
| 10+ years | -6.2% |
What factors influence a DevOps engineer's salary?
- Cloud platform expertise: Earning AWS, Azure, or GCP certifications is one of the best salary levers for DevOps engineers. That's reflected in the 35% entry-level premium they command over backend developers, as many companies are willing to pay for demonstrable cloud skills even at the junior stage.
- Infrastructure-as-code depth: DevOps engineers with strong skills in Terraform, Pulumi, or Ansible tend to earn more than those primarily focused on CI/CD tooling. Deeper, more transferable knowledge of infrastructure automation is becoming increasingly useful in salary conversations.
- Security and compliance: DevSecOps expertise, including integrating security practices into the development pipeline, offers another option for a salary premium, particularly in FinTech and enterprise environments where compliance requirements are the most stringent.
- AI fluency: 35.5% of developers surveyed say AI fluency has positively affected their earning potential, and DevOps engineers who can integrate AI tooling into platform operations are increasingly sought after.
- Industry: FinTech and large enterprise companies often pay at the higher end of the DevOps range. The concentration of these companies in Johannesburg is likely a factor contributing to the city's senior DevOps premium.
Frequently asked questions
What is the starting salary for a DevOps engineer in South Africa?
Entry-level DevOps engineers on OfferZen typically receive interview requests, with an average monthly salary of R56,165. However, this ranges from R40,000 for developers in the 25th percentile to R65,000 for those in the 75th percentile.
How much does a senior DevOps engineer earn in South Africa?
On OfferZen, the average interview request salary for senior DevOps engineers with six to ten years of experience is R93,680 per month. Developers with more than ten years of experience average R102,442 per month.
Do DevOps engineers earn more than backend developers?
Yes, they do at each stage of their careers. The premium ranges from 35.1% at the entry level to 7% at the 10+ years-of-experience bracket. The gap narrows considerably with experience as senior backend specialists, particularly those with Go, Spring, or ML-adjacent expertise, have the opportunity to negotiate higher averages as a result.
Do DevOps engineers earn more in Cape Town or Johannesburg?
It depends on their experience level. Cape Town holds an advantage at the six-to-ten year level (+6.1% over Johannesburg). At the 10+ level, Johannesburg leads Cape Town by 6.2%. The concentration of large FinTech and enterprise companies in Johannesburg is likely a factor contributing to the city's senior DevOps premium.
About the data
The insights in this article are based on OfferZen platform data and represent developers on the platform, not the entire industry.
OfferZen is a curated marketplace where we pre-screen candidates for quality. This means that the data from our platform will vary from other resources like our 2026 Salary and benefits report, which is based on survey responses from over 2400 South African developers from the country's tech community.
For this article, we've used data from DevOps engineer job descriptions and interview requests on the OfferZen platform, with salaries stipulated upfront, over the past 12 months.
Our data shows that 79% of accepted offers on OfferZen match or exceed the salary listed in the job description or interview request. This makes the data a good representation (79% accurate) of the salaries at which developers are actually being placed.
Average salaries are single data points and only one part of a bigger story. Many respondents are expected to earn significantly more or less than these averages. However, we aim to provide a picture of underlying trends by mapping the average salaries for different experience levels.
These averages should not be used to estimate what your actual salary will or should be.
Salaries depend on the industry, the individual, benefits, and the nature of the work. These factors influence the salary a company will offer prospective hires. In addition, most developers are "fluent" in several languages, which will affect the final figures.
It's also important to remember that every individual's context is different. Ultimately, salary is a personal conversation that should take place between employee and employer.
On OfferZen, you can hire DevOps engineers and find DevOps engineer jobs.
Further reading
- 2026 Salary and benefits report
- SA's Playbook for Building Next-Gen Engineering Teams
- Tech leadership resources for leading with AI
- Underpaid? Here's How to Make the Most Of Your Next Salary Conversation
- How to Negotiate a Job Offer That's More Than Just the Money
- Java Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- PHP Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- Node.js Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- JavaScript Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- React Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- Azure Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- C# Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- TypeScript Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- Go Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- Ruby Developer Salary Trends in South Africa
- Kotlin Developer Salary Trends in South Africa