06 October 2023 · People Like You · Poland
Remote Developers Choosing Krakow: Real Costs & Community
Written by Danylo, full-stack engineer from Kyiv, currently pairing coffee with code in Krakow’s Kazimierz district.
Why Krakow keeps popping up on developer Slack channels
When I left Kyiv in spring 2022, my baseline criteria for a new home were straightforward:
- Same time-zone as most of my EU clients
- Quick train/flight back to family
- Stable infrastructure (power, internet, cappuccino supply)
- Tech community big enough to replace the one I was leaving behind
Krakow ticked every box—and then some. It’s compact, medieval-pretty, and obsessively caffeinated. But the real clincher? A cost structure that lets a mid-senior remote dev save aggressively without sacrificing quality of life.
Let’s unpack the numbers and my experience after 12 months on the Vistula.
Salary vs. Living Costs: the 40-hour equation
Remote salary benchmarks in 2023
| Contract type | Typical net monthly (EUR) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-level EU contractor | €3,500 – €4,500 | Paid in EUR, B2B |
| Senior EU contractor | €5,500 – €7,000 | Germany/Netherlands clients |
| U.S. fully remote | €6,500 – €8,500 | Paid in USD, through Deel/P-vendor |
| Polish in-house (UoP) | €2,500 – €3,200 | After tax on employment contract |
I’m on the second row: €6,100–ish take-home (USD fees deducted).
Hard costs (per month, single dev, 2023 Krakow data)
| Category | Budget (€) | Comfort (€) | My current spend (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent (1-bed, Stare Miasto) | 700 | 1,100 | 980 |
| Utilities + blazing 1 Gbps internet | 120 | 180 | 160 |
| Groceries & household | 250 | 350 | 290 |
| Eating out (3–4 meals/week) | 180 | 300 | 240 |
| Co-working desk | 180 | 300 | 240 (24/7 access) |
| Transport (tram + occasional Uber) | 25 | 60 | 40 |
| Health insurance (private) | 55 | 100 | 75 |
| Gym & sport | 35 | 70 | 50 |
| Misc. (streaming, phone, laundry) | 60 | 90 | 70 |
Total: €1,900 – €2,600. I average €2,145—about 35 % of net income.
Back in Kyiv my ratio was closer to 55 %.
Pull-quote: “Krakow is one of the few European cities where a remote developer can still save >50 % of net salary without living like it’s a hackathon sleep-over.”
Inflation watch
Yes, Poland’s CPI hit 18 % in early 2023, but rents in Krakow cooled after Q2 as supply returned. Groceries are ~12 % up YoY; lunch specials remain stubbornly 30 zł (~€6).
Co-working spaces review: power sockets, coffee, community
I trialled nine spaces before locking my membership. Here’s the shortlist that kept me productive (and sane):
1. Hub:raum
Location: Zabłocie arts district
Price: 850 zł / €185 (24/7 hot desk)
Why I like it: Ex-telecom incubator, ergonomic chairs, decent nap room. Start-up events twice a week, so networking is baked in.
2. Yolk Co-work
Location: Kazimierz, near Plac Wolnica
Price: 1,100 zł / €240 (dedicated desk)
Vibe: Industrial loft, specialty coffee roasted on-site. White-noise ceiling panels = productive deep-work heaven.
3. O4 Coworking @ High5ive
Location: Main railway station complex
Price: 900 zł / €200
Perks: Free standing desks, literal five-minute sprint to airport train (handy for my monthly Berlin stand-ups). Downsides: corporate crowd, limited after-hours access.
4. BEEP co-studio
Location: Podgórze riverside
Price: 780 zł / €170
Notes: Dog-friendly. Every Friday ends with craft-beer tasting; pair responsibly.
5. Academic Hackerspace
Location: AGH University campus
Price: 400 zł / €88 (students/alumni)
Catch: Basic furniture, but lightning-fast 10 Gbps fibre. Great if you’re grinding GPU-heavy models.
I ultimately chose Yolk for coffee proximity and 24/7 fingerprint entry—my Kiev night-owl coding habit dies hard.
Where code meets pierogi: networking events for tech folks
Krakow might be half Warsaw’s size, but its event calendar packs a punch.
Recurring meet-ups
- Krakow Software Craftsmanship – monthly, 100+ devs dissecting clean code and DDD over pizza.
- AI & Machine Learning Krakow – bi-monthly lightning talks; expect TensorFlow war stories.
- Girls.js – inclusive JS workshops; allies welcome, obviously.
- DevRelCon Krakow Satellite – quarterly, superb for folks juggling community & code.
Conferences worth blocking in your calendar
| Event | Month | Ticket (early-bird) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACE! (Agile + UX) | May | €180 | Focus on product & process, not just code. |
| JDD (Java Developers Days) | Oct | €150 | Polish and English tracks. |
| Sphere.it | June | €250 | Multi-stack, great hallway track. |
| PyData Krakow | Sept | €120 | You’ll never eat more pierogi in two days. |
The post-talk pierogi & beer rituals are where contracts are offered and side-projects born. Bring business cards or, you know, a QR code on your phone—you’re still a developer.
Visa options for non-EU developers (2023 edition)
Disclaimer: I’m not your lawyer; I’m the guy who inevitably merges on Fridays. Do your own due diligence.
1. Poland Business Harbour (PBH) Visa
If you’re in IT and hold a job offer or run a tech company, this one’s gold. Six-month single-entry “D” visa leading to one-year residence permit, spouse & kids included. Zero labour market test.
I wrote a full rundown inside BorderPilot’s Poland Business Harbour visa guide. Spoiler: I used PBH to enter, then switched to a two-year temporary residence card (karta pobytu) after 8 months.
2. Temporary Residence & Work Permit (TRC)
Classic route: Polish employer sponsors. Processing now averages 3–4 months in Krakow voivodeship, longer in Warsaw. Good option if you’re moving to an in-house role.
3. EU Blue Card
Higher salary threshold (7,799 zł gross/month in 2023) but grants easier mobility across EU countries after 18 months. Helpful if you plan a future hop to Berlin or Amsterdam.
4. Student visa + part-time work
Popular with junior devs entering Krakow’s well-regarded MSc programmes (AGH, Jagiellonian). Gives you work rights up to 20 h/week; enough to freelance evenings.
5. Humanitarian & temporary protection (Ukrainian citizens)
Under the 2022 special act, Ukrainians receive PESEL UKR, allowing work and public healthcare until at least March 2024; renewable. Integration offices even reimburse 40% of your rent for three months if you find a Polish host. I used this for my first half-year before converting to PBH.
Handling money like a local (and avoiding ATM rage)
Poland’s banking UX lives about three years in the future compared with most of Europe, but you need the right toolkit:
-
Multi-currency account – I use Wise for incoming USD/EUR, then push PLN to mBank for domestic bills. Understand multi-IBAN logic? If not, skim our IBAN options explained before you lose money on FX fees.
-
BLIK payments – QR code or phone number gets you contactless transfers in seconds; friends will giggle if you ask for an IBAN.
-
PEP approval – Non-residents sometimes flagged as “Politically Exposed.” Yawn. Keep a pdf of your contract and PBH visa; mBank accepted mine within 24 hours.
Tax snapshot for freelancers (B2B)
- Pay 19 % flat tax (“liniówka”) on profit
- Plus 4.9 % health and ~300 zł social contributions
- Total effective: ~24 %.
If you operate via a Ukrainian LLC receiving USD, you could remain taxed abroad for 183 days and then switch. Check double-tax treaty and, again, actual accountants exist for a reason.
Krakow living: my first-year observations
Commute is optional, culture is everywhere
Tram network is surgical; I’m door-to-desk in 15 min. Yet weekends turn into UNESCO sightseeing: Wawel Castle, Nowa Huta’s socialist-realist blocks, bike rides to Tyniec Abbey. Warsaw friends envy.
English: surprisingly frictionless
My Polish peaked at ordering kawa biała na wynos, but 95 % of interactions can be handled in English. Tech industry is a bubble, yes, but legal offices, clinics, even city hall counters have English windows.
Winters? Bring a daylight lamp
November–February can feel Game of Thrones, Extended Edition. Co-working night owls survive on vitamin D gummies and piernik (gingerbread). On the plus side, Christmas markets look like Netflix sets.
Cost caveats
- Dentist: cheaper than Germany, pricier than Ukraine—plan €60 per filling.
- Mobile data: 60 zł (€13) for 50 GB + unlimited calls.
- Electricity: price-capped at 0.69 zł/kWh up to 2,000 kWh annually. Heavy GPU miners, you’ve been warned.
Choosing a neighbourhood (and ISP, let’s be honest)
| District | Rent (1-bed) | Vibe | Latency to AWS Frankfurt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stare Miasto | €950–1,300 | Touristy, cafes per square meter record | 36 ms |
| Kazimierz | €800–1,100 | Hipster Jewish quarter, nightlife | 34 ms |
| Zabłocie | €700–950 | Post-industrial loft, art galleries | 35 ms |
| Podgórze | €650–900 | Riverside, calmer, family-friendly | 34 ms |
| Bronowice | €550–800 | Suburban, trams to centre, AGH campus | 38 ms |
All major fibre ISPs—UPC, Orange, Play—offer 1 Gbps for ~90 zł (€20). I chose UPC; speed tests show 940 / 110 Mbps at 6 pm while half the building streams Netflix.
My Krakow tech-survival gear
- eSIM Dual – Orange Flex for local calls, Airalo for travel.
- Standing desk converter – apartment rentals rarely include legit desks.
- Mondeo Monorail card – monthly public transport pass (109 zł).
- Loud budgeting app – pierogi calories and craft-beer prices add up faster than PRs.
Why I’m staying (for now)
Financially, Krakow lets me hit a 55 % savings rate—crucial when you’re stacking a safety net during uncertain times at home. Professionally, I’ve signed two new EU clients thanks to random coworking intros. Socially, the city balances medieval charm with enough expats to avoid isolation, yet not so many that it feels like a theme park.
Plus, the baker below my flat slips an extra zapiekanka into my bag every other Friday. Hard to put a KPI on that.
Is Krakow the right sandbox for your code?
If you crave:
- EU residence with reasonable admin friction
- Walkable city where Uber isn’t mandatory
- Coffee addiction enabled by Hario-wielding baristas
- Rent that doesn’t eclipse your GitHub-sponsorship side income
…then yes, Krakow is worth a three-month trial run.
Ready to turn data into action? Build your personalised, no-cost relocation blueprint with BorderPilot and see exactly how Krakow compares to your current base. Hit Start my free plan—and I’ll catch you at the next pierogi-powered stand-up.