Offshore Software Development Rates by Country: $14-$180/hr
Quick Overview: A mid-level full-stack or back-end developer costs $20 to $52 an hour in India, $28 to $68 in Vietnam and $44 to $70 in Latin America, against $85 to $135 in the United States.
At the midpoints, that puts the cheapest Asian markets 56% to 67% below a US contractor and Eastern Europe about 41% below.
The rates below are freelance and contract rates in US dollars, taken from the same grid as our cost-to-hire guides.
The ten Asian markets are rates we quote and place at; the other regions are set against US pay from BLS and Stack Overflow 2025 data.
Offshore Developer Hourly Rates by Country (2026)
Each row is a full-stack or back-end developer, the most common offshore hire. The last column compares the mid-level midpoint with the US mid-level midpoint of $110 an hour; it is our arithmetic, not a published figure.
| Market | Junior (USD/hr) | Mid-level (USD/hr) | Senior (USD/hr) | Staff / Lead (USD/hr) | Mid-level vs US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | $14 to $24 | $20 to $52 | $30 to $72 | $42 to $95 | 67% lower |
| Philippines | $16 to $28 | $22 to $58 | $32 to $80 | $44 to $100 | 64% lower |
| Indonesia | $18 to $30 | $24 to $62 | $34 to $86 | $48 to $110 | 61% lower |
| Vietnam | $18 to $30 | $28 to $68 | $40 to $95 | $55 to $120 | 56% lower |
| Thailand | $19 to $32 | $30 to $70 | $42 to $98 | $58 to $125 | 55% lower |
| Malaysia | $20 to $34 | $32 to $75 | $45 to $105 | $60 to $130 | 51% lower |
| China | $22 to $38 | $35 to $82 | $50 to $115 | $68 to $145 | 47% lower |
| Taiwan | $22 to $38 | $37 to $86 | $53 to $120 | $72 to $152 | 44% lower |
| Hong Kong | $27 to $46 | $43 to $96 | $62 to $135 | $82 to $175 | 37% lower |
| Singapore | $28 to $48 | $45 to $100 | $65 to $140 | $85 to $180 | 34% lower |
| Africa (region) | $27 to $42 | $34 to $54 | $44 to $69 | $56 to $85 | 60% lower |
| Latin America (region) | $35 to $54 | $44 to $70 | $57 to $89 | $73 to $111 | 48% lower |
| Eastern Europe (region) | $40 to $61 | $50 to $80 | $65 to $101 | $82 to $126 | 41% lower |
| Germany | $37 to $57 | $47 to $74 | $61 to $94 | $77 to $117 | 45% lower |
| United Kingdom | $42 to $64 | $53 to $84 | $68 to $106 | $87 to $132 | 38% lower |
| United States (baseline) | $67 to $104 | $85 to $135 | $110 to $171 | $140 to $213 | Baseline |
Two patterns stand out. First, the gap between markets narrows at the top: a staff-level engineer in Singapore bills up to $180 an hour, within reach of US senior rates, while India's lead band tops out at $95.
Second, the Asian ranges are wide because they run from a solo freelancer to an engineer placed through a vendor with full vetting and management.
What an Offshore Developer Costs per Month
Hourly rates tell you what a contractor bills. A full-time offshore engineer on a salary usually costs less per hour, because the premium a freelancer charges for gaps between projects disappears.
US senior engineer, all-in
US mid-level contractor
Vietnam mid-level contractor
Full-time engineer from Asia via Second Talent
The US figures line up with the Bureau of Labor Statistics median of $135,980 a year for software developers (May 2025), before benefits and payroll tax. The contractor rows are our own arithmetic at 160 hours a month.
The all-in figures come from our pricing page, and the gap between them is where the 50% to 70% saving on a full-time offshore hire comes from.
Time is the other cost. Ashby's 2026 benchmark puts the median time to fill a technical role at 75 days in-house. Our clients typically go from first call to a working engineer in one to two weeks.
Offshore Rates by Region
Price is one input. The working-hours gap with your team and the depth of the local market decide how well an offshore hire works day to day. The time differences below are for September, against New York on daylight time.
South Asia (India)
Southeast Asia
East Asia
Latin America
Eastern Europe
Africa
What Moves an Offshore Developer Rate
Key Rate Drivers for 2026
- Stack: the table above is full-stack and back-end. On our US benchmarks, AI and machine learning work pays about 39% more at the same level, mobile about 24% more and data engineering about 8% more, and our cost-to-hire guides apply the same premiums in every market.
- Seniority: a staff or lead engineer bills roughly 3.5 times a junior in the same country at the midpoints, from $14 to $95 in India and $28 to $180 in Singapore.
- English and client experience: in the Philippines, English proficiency is the single largest separator between two candidates, which is why its mid and senior bands are wider than seniority alone would explain.
- Engagement model: a freelancer, an agency contractor and a full-time employee through an employer of record carry different margins. Staffing agencies add their own markup; our guide to staffing agency fees shows typical US markups.
- Demand: Deloitte's Global Outsourcing Survey found 80% of executives plan to maintain or increase outsourcing investment, with skilled talent now a driver alongside cost.
Hiring Offshore Developers with Second Talent
Second Talent places vetted engineers from Asia as full-time members of your team. We source and vet them, then employ them through our own entities in nine Asian markets, so you need no local company.
You get 6 to 8 pre-vetted candidates within 24 hours of a brief, at $29 to $39 an hour per engineer, billed monthly.
We have placed 8,000+ engineers with 200+ companies and keep 92% of them. To compare a single role in more detail, start from the developer rate cards or the recruitment cost calculator, or tell us what you are hiring for.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average hourly rate for offshore developers by country?
For a mid-level full-stack or back-end developer: India $20 to $52, the Philippines $22 to $58, Vietnam $28 to $68, Latin America $44 to $70 and Eastern Europe $50 to $80 an hour, against $85 to $135 in the United States.
What is a fair hourly rate for a senior offshore software engineer?
$30 to $72 in India, $40 to $95 in Vietnam, $57 to $89 in Latin America and $65 to $101 in Eastern Europe. The top of each range is a senior engineer with strong English and years of work for foreign clients.
Which country is cheapest for offshore software development?
India has the lowest rates in this table, followed by the Philippines and Indonesia. The cheapest rate is not always the cheapest hire: time-zone overlap, English and how long the engineer stays change the real cost.
Is it cheaper to hire an offshore developer full-time than on contract?
Usually, yes. A full-time engineer from Asia through Second Talent costs $29 to $39 an hour, billed monthly ($4,640 to $5,999 for 160 hours), while a mid-level Vietnamese contractor at 160 hours a month bills $4,480 to $10,880.
