Side by side

Platform Engineer vs Software Engineer

Platform Engineer pays more: a median of $135,500 against $125,500. There is 2.4× more demand for Software Engineer. Listings for Software Engineer move faster — median age 68 days against 94.

Comparison

Side by side

MeasurePlatform EngineerSoftware EngineerGap
Open postings38,35292,298-53,946
Posted this week1,1183,101
Median salary$135,500$125,500+$10k
25th percentile$107k$99k
75th percentile$168k$156k
Salary disclosed4.6%6.2%
Remote share11.5%13.0%-1.5pp
Median age of posting94d68d
Open over 60 days32.1%43.1%
Visa sponsorship18.1%23.5%
Pay

Pay distribution

Platform Engineer

$61k$234k

Software Engineer

$56k$217k
Freshness

How old the listings are

Platform Engineer

just posted94d median90d+

Software Engineer

just posted68d median90d+
Demand

What each side asks for

Platform Engineer — technologies

Snowflake
72.0%
Kubernetes
65.8%
Python
59.6%
Swift
53.4%
JavaScript
47.2%
Azure
41.0%
Figma
34.8%

Software Engineer — technologies

HubSpot
72.0%
AWS
65.8%
Java
59.6%
Swift
53.4%
GCP
47.2%
JavaScript
41.0%
Azure
34.8%

Platform Engineer — employers

Tidewater Insurance
9.4%
Vantage Logistics
8.7%
Brightline Retail
8.0%
Rivergate Media
7.2%
Solstice Biotech
6.5%
Beacon Robotics
5.8%
Fairmount Legal
5.1%

Software Engineer — employers

Kestrel Health
9.4%
Northwind Systems
8.7%
Fairmount Legal
8.0%
Cobalt Financial
7.2%
Meridian Software
6.5%
Umbra Security
5.8%
Tidewater Insurance
5.1%

Track this slice

A weekly note when openings, pay or freshness move for Platform Engineer vs Software Engineer.

More comparisons

Other Engineering comparisons

Android Engineer vs Backend EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Civil EngineerAndroid Engineer vs DevOps EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Electrical EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Embedded EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Frontend EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Full Stack EngineerAndroid Engineer vs iOS EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Mechanical EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Mobile EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Platform EngineerAndroid Engineer vs QA EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Security EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerAndroid Engineer vs Software EngineerBackend Engineer vs Civil EngineerBackend Engineer vs DevOps EngineerBackend Engineer vs Electrical EngineerBackend Engineer vs Embedded EngineerBackend Engineer vs Frontend EngineerBackend Engineer vs Full Stack EngineerBackend Engineer vs iOS EngineerBackend Engineer vs Mechanical EngineerBackend Engineer vs Mobile EngineerBackend Engineer vs Platform EngineerBackend Engineer vs QA EngineerBackend Engineer vs Security EngineerBackend Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerBackend Engineer vs Software EngineerCivil Engineer vs DevOps EngineerCivil Engineer vs Electrical EngineerCivil Engineer vs Embedded EngineerCivil Engineer vs Frontend EngineerCivil Engineer vs Full Stack EngineerCivil Engineer vs iOS EngineerCivil Engineer vs Mechanical EngineerCivil Engineer vs Mobile EngineerCivil Engineer vs Platform EngineerCivil Engineer vs QA EngineerCivil Engineer vs Security EngineerCivil Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerCivil Engineer vs Software EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Electrical EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Embedded EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Frontend EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Full Stack EngineerDevOps Engineer vs iOS EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Mechanical EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Mobile EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Platform EngineerDevOps Engineer vs QA EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Security EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerDevOps Engineer vs Software EngineerElectrical Engineer vs Embedded EngineerElectrical Engineer vs Frontend EngineerElectrical Engineer vs Full Stack EngineerElectrical Engineer vs iOS EngineerElectrical Engineer vs Mechanical EngineerElectrical Engineer vs Mobile EngineerElectrical Engineer vs Platform EngineerElectrical Engineer vs QA EngineerElectrical Engineer vs Security EngineerElectrical Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerElectrical Engineer vs Software EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs Frontend EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs Full Stack EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs iOS EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs Mechanical EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs Mobile EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs Platform EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs QA EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs Security EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerEmbedded Engineer vs Software EngineerFrontend Engineer vs Full Stack EngineerFrontend Engineer vs iOS EngineerFrontend Engineer vs Mechanical EngineerFrontend Engineer vs Mobile EngineerFrontend Engineer vs Platform EngineerFrontend Engineer vs QA EngineerFrontend Engineer vs Security EngineerFrontend Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerFrontend Engineer vs Software EngineerFull Stack Engineer vs iOS EngineerFull Stack Engineer vs Mechanical EngineerFull Stack Engineer vs Mobile EngineerFull Stack Engineer vs Platform EngineerFull Stack Engineer vs QA EngineerFull Stack Engineer vs Security EngineerFull Stack Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerFull Stack Engineer vs Software EngineeriOS Engineer vs Mechanical EngineeriOS Engineer vs Mobile EngineeriOS Engineer vs Platform EngineeriOS Engineer vs QA EngineeriOS Engineer vs Security EngineeriOS Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineeriOS Engineer vs Software EngineerMechanical Engineer vs Mobile EngineerMechanical Engineer vs Platform EngineerMechanical Engineer vs QA EngineerMechanical Engineer vs Security EngineerMechanical Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerMechanical Engineer vs Software EngineerMobile Engineer vs Platform EngineerMobile Engineer vs QA EngineerMobile Engineer vs Security EngineerMobile Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerMobile Engineer vs Software EngineerPlatform Engineer vs QA EngineerPlatform Engineer vs Security EngineerPlatform Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerQA Engineer vs Security EngineerQA Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerQA Engineer vs Software EngineerSecurity Engineer vs Site Reliability EngineerSecurity Engineer vs Software EngineerSite Reliability Engineer vs Software Engineer
Both sides are counted the same way on the same day, so the gap is comparable even where the absolute numbers move. Salary figures use only postings that publish a range — the disclosure rate is in the table because a median over 20% of a cohort is a weaker number than one over 70%.