Top 12 Countries for Outsourcing Software Development

Outsourcing software development has become a global trend and continues to gain traction as companies now understand the benefits of going this route. Companies can have the same high-quality of work done at a fraction of the cost when outsourcing their projects and looking for software solutions.

Staying within a budget can be difficult for some companies since software development does not come cheap locally. To stay on budget and save, companies look into outsourcing software development which may be vital to its survival.

Software outsourcing involves hiring a third-party vendor to help with any software development project. The third-party vendors can be employed to work on the full project or part of the project.

When looking to outsource a software development project, the deciding factor of which country is best often poses a problem. This article focuses on bringing some of the best software development countries to the forefront and highlighting their strengths.

Best software development countries in Asia

The Asian region consists of some of the best software development countries with some countries ranking among the top 10 in the world according to a 2017 Index Report. The region has over 200 software agencies with over one million employees.

India

India is a popular outsourcing destination with a large number of software developers and programmers. The reason for this is because the urban population is highly educated and semi-skilled with most of its youths turning towards IT.

The country has about 120,000 IT professionals added to its workforce every year. Moreover, it is the second-largest English-speaking nation in the world so communication is fairly easy.

A software developer in India charges $10 - $15 while a developer in the US can charge anywhere from $50 - $60 an hour. When compared to other countries, India stands out from the rest in terms of scale and the availability of skills.

Vietnam

Fairly new to the IT outsourcing field, Vietnam only started about 20 years ago but is rapidly becoming one of the top outsourcing countries. The country has come a far way in terms of technology and now hosts large companies such as IBM, Intel, Samsung, Microsoft, and Nokia.

With labor cost 90% less than the US, Ho Chi Minh City was named one of the best cities for outsourcing due to quality, costs, and infrastructure. The city is famous for the quality services at a comparatively lower price than anywhere else in the world. The local population is well-educated and excels in IT especially artificial intelligence.

Vietnam is another really affordable destination for the IT sector. An IT specialist can be hired for anything between $15-$40 per hour depending on the expertise of the professional.

Philippines

With the rise of IT professionals graduating from top technical universities across the Philippines, the country is now able to meet the demands of rising industries with over 30,000 graduates in the IT and technical fields.

The country is the third-largest English-speaking nation with a 94% English literacy rate which is ideal when outsourcing. The cost of hiring a software developer from the Philippines costs a fifth of what developers in the western world charge yet the quality of work is fairly equivalent. A decent developer from the Philippines can cost you anywhere from $10 to $50 per hour.

Thailand

Thailand was ranked number 6 in a 2016 survey by A.T Kearney as a country that is an efficient offshore software development center. Boosting their IT sector is a robust university and college system that enables citizens to zero in on their IT skills.

The country is trying to improve their English level to attract foreign business owners. It is now one of the best countries for mobile application, IT consulting, and software testing services on budget, costing businesses anywhere from $15 to $40 per hour for a very decent developer.

China

China offers some of the best tech and IT services across the globe with an education system that prioritizes Maths and Science. Many companies are setting up in China to take advantage of their expertise such as UI, full-stack, mobile, enterprise, and game software which are present in the country.

China has taken up the initiative to develop, educate, support, and train its citizens to be experts in the IT field. China’s IT talent pool is huge and consists of over 30,000 professionals with excellent skill sets that could cost you between $20-$50 per hour.

Top outsourcing countries in Eastern Europe

According to the same report in 2017, countries in Eastern Europe offer high-quality work, reasonable prices, great communication skills, and convenient time zones. There is a huge talent pool in this region with most developers in the software development sector having a university technical degree.

Ukraine

With a skill pool of 100,000 IT experts, Ukraine is shaping up to be one of the most promising countries for outsourcing software development projects. Companies such as Intel USA, Microsoft, and Nokia are already taking advantage of Ukraine’s software services.

The country has a total of 20,000 students graduating in IT and IT-related fields every year with as much as 57% of them having STEM degrees. Ukraine is an ideal choice for companies looking for an excellent ratio of quality and price with the average rate of anywhere from $25 - $40 an hour for a Ukraine outsourcing developer.

Romania

Romania is another emerging IT outsourcing destination. The country has 41 technical universities with over 5000 IT graduates per year.

Romania contributes almost 20% to the outsourcing software development sector in Central and East Europe. Developers from this country are skilled in various software methodologies and languages such as C, C++, .NET, Java, PHP, Mobile. Their work is evident in some of the big names in the IT world such as Microsoft, Dell, and IBM.

These services could cost your business anywhere between $25 to $50 per hour, depending on requirements and experience of the engineer.

Poland

Poland has 80,000 students majoring in IT and IT-related fields with an average of 15,000 graduates from 18 local technical universities every year.

Poland is also the IT partner of over 100 companies with over 255 software specialists ready to offer offshore custom software development services. Poland’s talent pool is full of professionals who are experts in Java, Python, and Ruby.

This allows the country to be ranked among the top Eastern European countries with affordable programming experts who are well versed in software development technologies. Generally speaking, you can avail of the services of a software specialist for around $40-$60 an hour.

Hungary

Hungary, as research shows, ranks as the fifth-best country to outsource to. It is one of the top destinations to find the best software developers. Hungarian developers are well trained and experienced to help you with building databases, writing code in Shell, C++, and JAVA.

Despite the small size of this country, its IT sector has grown significantly over the years. When placed side by side with their counterparts in the Westen Hemisphere, the cost per project is significantly lower.

Hungarian IT specialists are relatively affordable, ranging from as low as $20 to a high of $55 for intermediate engineers.

Czech Republic

Offering affordable software solutions and development skills to companies overseas, the Czech republic is another high ranking IT outsourcing country. Top IT conglomerate Google has an office in the Czech Republic to take full advantage of the software development sector.

The reason for this is because the country offers over 15,000 IT graduates every year since there are many famous technical universities. Besides, Czech Republic is also one of the most affordable countries for IT specialists ranging in price between $15 to $50 for beginner, to expert level engineers.

Top outsourcing countries in Latin America

In a location report done in 2017, countries in Latin America showed up as a popular choice for businesses looking for outsourcing software development. Countries in this region are a popular choice for most North American countries because of the cost, minor cultural differences, and small time zone differences.

Brazil

Brazil ranks 9th in the world for providing software solutions and services according to the Panorama and Trends 2018 report.

Additionally, Brazil’s software market is worth a whopping $19 billion with the IT sector, taking up as much as 50% of the Latin American Software market, specializing in programming languages such as Java, Python, SQL.

With 6.8 million English speakers, communication is not a problem when it comes to hiring a Brazilian developer to work on your software development project. The average rate for a web development developer is from $20 - $50 an hour.

Argentina

Argentina offers free education opportunities to its citizens which leads it to rank as one of the most educated countries in Latin America. They are also the highest-ranked country for the highest level of English in Latin America.

Both of these combined provide a workforce that is highly skilled and able to communicate effectively. The country has over 70,000 IT professionals and over 1000 companies involved in the outsourcing software development industry.

The universities on average produce about 100,000 tech specialists each year who are proficient in C, PHP, Java, JavaScript, .NET Framework, and Data Science.

To hire a web developer in Argentina, that could cost you around $30-60 on an average, depending on the experience of the engineer.

Conclusion

Software development is definitely not the easiest of industries to get into and so, it requires great effort, skill, and understanding in order to be successful. Thus, choosing a country to outsource to can be a tedious task as it will all depend on the needs of the client.

There are many different aspects to choosing the best country and is based on personal preference. Some factors to take into consideration are location, language level, costs, political stability and technical capabilities. Ultimately, the software developer should have the necessary skills required to complete the job, charges a competitive price, and can communicate effectively.