2024 Global Software Outsourcing

Rates and Trends Guide

About the 2024 Guide

PAGE
For over two decades, Accelerance has been at the About the 2024 Guide 2
forefront of the software development outsourcing
landscape. As the premier Global Software 2023 In Review: When the Market 3
Outsourcing Authority®, we empower clients to Turned On a Dime
leverage outsourcing for strategic transformation
and adept navigation through business cycles. Our 2023 Predictions: What Happened? 4

Our 2024 Predictions: What to Expect in 5

Drawing upon our experience, we present the 2024
Software Development Outsourcing
edition of the Global Software Outsourcing Rates and
Trends Guide. Our insights are derived from our global 7
Understanding Rates Holistically
network – the world's most extensive group of
certified software development firms encompassing How to Save $1 Million+ by 8
over 30 countries and 60 industries. In today's Outsourcing Your Development
dynamic landscape, a global perspective is more
crucial than ever to comprehend the challenges and Huge Savings Offshore: Our 9
opportunities arising from skills gaps, geopolitical Methodology Explained
shifts, and economic fluctuations.
Cost Considerations For 2024 10
We understand that gaining a comprehensive
Low Cost But Subpar: A Scenario To Avoid 12
perspective is invaluable. In addition to our proprietary
insights, we have curated pivotal trends and the latest
Accelerance’s Proprietary Rates Analysis 14
data from industry thought leaders and certified
outsourcing partners. 15
Latin America - Rates & Insights

This guide offers in-depth information tailored to Latin America - 2024 Rates, Regional 16
bolster your software investment and guide Trends & Advice
decision-making in the upcoming year. It serves as a
resource for expert insights, benchmarking, proposal Eastern Europe - Rates & Insights 17
considerations, addressing skills gaps, understanding
tech priorities, professional development, and making Eastern Europe - 2024 Rates, 18
informed predictions in the realm of software Regional Trends & Advice
development outsourcing.
South Asia - Rates & Insights 19
Accelerance’s strength lies in the fusion of our
South Asia - 2024 Rates, 20
expansive global network, professional consulting
Regional Trends & Advice
proficiency, and our exclusive partner selection
process, which delivers results. Southeast Asia - Rates & Insights 21

This guide is a testament to our due diligence Southeast Asia - 2024 Rates, 22
capabilities, honed through the meticulous scrutiny of Regional Trends & Advice
over 8,000 software development companies
worldwide, certifying only the top 1% as premium Summary View: 2024 Global Software 23
enterprise-grade partners. Outsourcing Rates Per Region

New Book: Synergea - Coming Soon 24

2
2023 In Review:
When the Market Turned on a Dime
Challenging. That’s the only way to describe the
complex set of market conditions our customers and
global network of software development partners
faced throughout 2023.
Inflation ratcheted up cost pressure across the board,
with soft demand in many sectors leading to tech
projects being scaled back, delayed or shelved
completely. The weak economic conditions weren’t
felt evenly. Property, financial services, and
construction stuttered along, while healthcare
continued to experience reasonable growth. Tech
companies struggled to raise capital on greatly
reduced valuations.
The latest survey of our global partner network reveals
that over 55% of them saw their customers cutting
budgets, slowing their spending, or looking for more
cost-effective solutions in 2023.
Some partners resorted to discounting their
rates to bolster cash flow in this constrained
environment. On top of it all, we had the ongoing
specter of war in Ukraine. Our survey was completed
before war erupted in the Middle East. While Eastern
Europe remains depressed as an outsourcing
destination with the hostilities continuing, Israel’s
thriving tech sector will feel the impact of tens of
thousands of its workers being called up for the
war effort.
Outsourcing hotspots in Southeast Asia, as well as
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, have seen an uptick
in demand over the past year as work was pulled out
of Ukraine and sanctioned Belarus and Russia. Latin
America was an early beneficiary of the conflict in
Europe too. But during 2023, software development
firms in the region ran into trouble as the high prices
they paid to secure engineering talent in 2021 and
2022 came back to bite them.
Our survey shows that 41% of Latin American partners
decreased their workforce in 2023 to cut costs, with
customers eyeing Asia as a lower-cost development
destination. So what can we expect in 2024? While
central banks seem to be slowly getting on top of
inflation, interest rates will continue to remain high for
the next year.
The latest LinkedIn Workforce Report (September
2023) shows that hiring via the platform for roles in
the U.S. continues to decline, with the “technology,
information, and media” category down a whopping
42% in the same period in 2022. The slowdown set in
very rapidly. It means that developers are chasing
fewer jobs, which allows employers to pick and
choose the best talent. We are now in a buyer’s
market, which has implications for outsourcing
dynamics everywhere.
The defining theme of the year was the rise of
artificial intelligence. Our partners see it as posing
challenges and opportunities, but with every digital
transformation project now including AI in some
capacity, it's a trend that can’t be ignored and
generative AI will continue to mature rapidly in 2024.
Ultimately, the year ahead will be another difficult
period, but with light beckoning at the end of the
tunnel. Around the world, our developers have a
growth mindset, with 60% of them expecting to grow
revenue in 2024 and the majority planning on hiring
more developers.
It continues to be a time when a laser focus on value
for money, quality of service, and maintaining strong
relationships between outsourcing partners and their
clients is critical. Accelerance remains your trusted
outsourcing advisor as we prepare to turn the page on
another year.
Andy Hilliard
Accelerance CEO
3
Our 2023 Predictions:
What Happened?
We knew 2023 would be tough, but the mix of inflation, low business and consumer
confidence, plus geopolitical tensions turned out to be a more potent brew than expected.
PARTNERING TO
ACCESS SKILLS
Prediction: We saw outsourcing firms playing an
increasingly valuable role in offering specialist
skills in emerging technologies as skills shortages
in the U.S. continued to bite.
What happened?: The generative AI revolution,
which only kicked off in November 2022 with the
debut of ChatGPT, subsumed many other
categories of emerging technology. Partners and
customers alike had to scramble to evaluate the
potential impact of the technology. Our AI survey
of partners completed in July showed that most
of them were already developing and deploying
GenAI-powered products for customers and
investing in training and product.
OUTSOURCING AS
AN ANTIDOTE
Prediction: We expected U.S. firms to increasingly
look to outsourcing as an answer to their
economic woes.
What happened?: That played out as expected. We
saw companies implement hiring freezes in the U.S.
early in the year and only bolster software
development capacity with offshore partnerships to
take advantage of lower rates. But the work was
unevenly distributed, with Asian outsourcing
destinations the main beneficiaries of the search
for lower rates and geopolitical stability.
TECH
SPENDING
Prediction: We backed the analysts’ view that IT
spending would increase modestly during the year.
Forrester bullishly predicted 10.5% growth in tech
investment, while Gartner was more circumspect
with a 5.1% expected boost.
What happened?: In our own partner network, many
firms saw flat or even declining revenue as
customers tightened their belts. They postponed
projects, pushed out new ones, and the overall
cadence of work across our network slowed down
dramatically. When the analysts do their final sums
for 2023, IT spending will likely have come in lower
than many anticipated.
THE
NEARSHORE PIVOT
Prediction: We thought Latin America would be
the primary recipient of work displaced by the war
in Ukraine.
What happened?: The first half of 2022 saw sizable
projects head to locations like Brazil, Colombia,
Argentina, and Costa Rica as expected. But as the
year progressed, cost pressures on Latin American
partners who had paid top dollar for talent in
2021 - 2022 saw some firms shed staff, while Asia
increasingly won out as a destination with lower
developer rates the deciding factor weighing in
the region’s favor.
4
Our 2024 Predictions:
What to Expect in Software
Development Outsourcing
Whatever normal once looked like is unlikely to come back into view in 2024 with
lingering economic pain, geopolitical strife, and technological disruption coloring the
outlook for the year.

Growth in The Lingering

Pent-Up Modest Asia and Partners
Impact of
Demand Rate Rises Latin America Productize AI
Inflation

Pent-Up Demand
The hesitancy to invest in IT projects in 2023 will likely
see budgeted spending pushed into 2024.
Transformation projects can only be put off for so
long and C-suite executives will be watching the
direction of travel in interest rates and inflation
carefully.
But increases will be in the order of 6%—10%, a far cry
from the double-digit increases common in
2021—2022. The exception is in Asia, which has
absorbed an influx of work in 2023 and development
firms there plan on adjusting rates in the range of
6%—15%.
Growth in Asia and Latin America

The revival in digital ad revenue reflected in the third
quarter 2023 results of tech giants like Google, Meta,
and Amazon points to a revival in consumer spending
and accompanying momentum for tech-driven
business transformation. Consumer spending overall
beat expectations in the September 2023 quarter. It all
makes Gartner’s forecast of 8% growth for global IT
spending in 2024 look realistic.
Eastern Europe, sadly, has cooled dramatically. Client
loyalty aside, we saw very little interest in nearshore
activity from the UK. Instead, it mostly went to South
Asia. The chill in Eastern Europe extends beyond
Ukraine to surrounding countries like Poland, Latvia,
Romania, and Hungary. Our discussions with
customers tell us that the region is simply seen as too
risky to trust important projects with at the moment.

That’s reflected in our survey, where 86% of

Modest Rate Rises
Our survey of partners suggests we can expect
modest increases in developer rates in 2024 to deal
with lingering high rates of inflation in many regions.
In our four key regions—Latin America, Eastern
Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia and —over 50% of
developers have indicated that they will increase their
rates in the next six months.
respondents had medium to low confidence about the
business climate in Eastern Europe. Workforce growth
expectations for 2024 are high in Latin America and
Asia, which should come as no surprise given the
strong demand we see in both regions. We don’t
anticipate the Israel-Hamas war to significantly
disrupt outsourcing markets, other than the volume
of work flowing from Israel to key outsourcing
destinations, which represents a small fraction
of the overall market.

5
Partners Productize AI

We expect the GenAI hype to die down in 2024, but also for AI to be more extensively drawn on in meaningful ways by
customers of outsourcing firms around the world. In Latin America and Asia, our partners fret that a lack of skilled and
experienced engineers in AI and related fields like data analytics will prove to be a constraint.

We are already seeing proactive partners move to build AI into their product offerings, developing accelerators to assist
their customers in piloting and deploying AI systems. In 2024, it will be easy to recruit a development firm touting its
capabilities in AI. Some firms are investing to stay ahead of the curve others are just being opportunistic. “Buyer beware”
remains the name of the game. AI will help to streamline software development and low-end coding to a greater degree
in 2024 and begin to yield results in the low-code/no-code space too.

The Lingering Impact of Inflation

Our survey respondents point to inflation and economic conditions as the key factors that will determine what their
biggest challenges will be in 2024 - and what will determine the level of demand.

They are right to be nervous about inflation. In October, the International Monetary Fund boosted its projection for global
inflation for 2024 to 5.8% from 5.2%. At the same time, it trimmed its forecast for economic growth in 2024 to 2.9% — it
picked 3% for full-year 2023. Interest rates will likely remain high and monetary policy tight everywhere as central banks
continue their efforts to get inflation under control. That means continuing cost pressure and limited access to capital
for firms seeking investment to expand.

For software outsourcing firms that are well run, pay staff well and, therefore, avoid high attrition at times of high market
activity, 2024 shouldn’t pose dramatic challenges. For customers considering outsourcing, options are opening up.
Outside of the main U.S. centers, it may again be cost-effective to recruit software development teams onshore.
Developer rates demanded in the big centers will continue to make outsourcing an attractive proposition.

There are very stable, cost-effective and quality outsourcing destinations all over the world that are ready and waiting to
assist with your software development needs.

Inflation Won’t Slow as Much as Previously Anticipated

World consumer-price growth (YoY) New forecast Old forecast

9%
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1996 2000 2004 2009 2013 2017 2021 2024

Source: International Monetary Fund

6
Understanding
Rates Holistically
When you are considering outsourcing software development, it's natural to focus on
finding the lowest hourly rate, particularly in this economic climate.
However, obsessing over this metric alone can lead to
subpar results. It’s crucial to look at the value software
developers can offer as partners beyond just their
hourly rates. For instance, you may be able to recruit a
collection of contractors to build your application at a
$5 per hour discount on the rate charged by a credible
outsourcing firm.
But are you up to the challenge of wrangling a group
of contractors who haven’t collaborated before? That
may work for a short-term project, but tends to unravel
in the long run.
Will you opt for a low-cost provider over one that
invests in developing its workforce and providing
experienced team leaders and managers who
understand your business goals and can keep projects
on track? The age-old adage of “you get what you pay
for” applies particularly to software outsourcing.
Your focus should be on where the value lies, and in
software development, value goes beyond coding. It
encompasses factors like communication skills,
project management capabilities, problem-solving
abilities, and experience in working with similar
projects or industries.
A Focus on Value, Not Price
A team of highly skilled and experienced developers
will deliver better results more quickly than one with
simply low rates but limited expertise. A good
development partner will be able to help you realize
your vision by offering up technical architects, product
owners and building accelerators to help you create
solutions quickly and efficiently.
A good partner will be prepared to push back on your
ideas and plans, if they don’t think they will help you
achieve your business goals. Some customers don’t
know exactly what they want and a proactive partner
will help you answer those fundamental questions.
Accelerance can also help steer you through the
discovery phase of a project to help set up an
outsourcing relationship for success.
Your focus should be on where the
value lies, and in software development,
value goes beyond coding.
This guide is full of the most up-to-date software
development rates from around the world. Knowing
them is hugely important to benchmarking yourself
against the market. But our customers usually work
with a whole budget number in mind and spend that
budget strategically to get the best possible outcome.
Don’t get buried in the weeds obsessing over hourly
rates for developers. Look at the big picture and stay
focused on the overall value the outsourcing
relationship offers.
7
How to Save $1 Million+ By
Outsourcing Your Development
Scrum Intermediate QA
Based on a
Master (Automated)
model team of 10: 1 2
Europe
Total Cost $1,250,480
39% Savings
North America
Total Cost $2,052,429
Latin America
Total Cost $1,172,080
43% Savings
At Accelerance, we urge our customers to take a
holistic view of software development rates rather than
fixating on the hourly rate you can expect to pay in
various outsourcing destinations.
That’s because when you engage an outsourcing
partner, you are most likely to be seeking to build a
development team rather than one or two contractors
to augment your needs. When outsourcing
development, it is important to look at the costs you
can expect across the entire team, as well as the
savings you can anticipate compared to maintaining an
on-shore team.
We’ve modeled the overall savings you can make in
various outsourcing regions, assuming you are looking
to hire a team of 10 people. The results are dramatic,
ranging from a saving of 39% ($801,000) per annum in
Europe, to 72% ($1.49 million) in Southeast Asia.
Intermediate Senior Software
Software Developer Developer
5 2
South Asia
Total Cost $776,160
62% Savings
Southeast Asia
Total Cost $564,480
72% Savings
If you extrapolate those numbers to a large
development team of 50, the on-shore cost would be
around $11.3 million in the U.S. per annum. By
outsourcing, you can save $5.5 million in Europe, $5.8
million in Latin America, $7.75 million on the Asian
subcontinent, and almost $9 million savings in
Southeast Asia. If those overall savings sound too
good to be true, read on. We’ll explain exactly how
we came to those conclusions.
The bottom line is that when you look at the total cost
of recruiting and maintaining a skilled development
team in the U.S., including factors like 401K employer
contributions, health benefits, and management
overheads, you are looking at a major investment.
Huge savings beckon offshore, but you need to
work with quality outsourcing partners. That’s where
Accelerance comes in. We help you find them and
make sure that if you are working on a fixed
budget, you’ll get everything you need to see your
project succeed.
8
Huge Savings Offshore:
Our Methodology Explained

Drawing on data from the Robert Half 2023 Annual Salary Survey, we estimated that a typical software development
team of 10 will cost just over $2 million per annum in the United States. We looked at a mix of roles including senior
and intermediate software engineers, a scrum master and a QA engineer. Our model included base salaries in key
U.S. markets such as New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, and Raleigh. We included the average,
or 50th percentile, salary rate reported by salary survey respondents.

Robert Half 2023 Annual Salary Chart

Role Intermediate Senior
Scrum Master QA Engineer
(50% Percentile) Software Engineer Software Engineer
Seattle,
New WA NY
York City, $162,840 $136,620 $178,000 $201,480
San
San Francisco,
Francisco, CA
CA $159,300 $133,650 $174,500 $197,100
Chicago, IL
Boston, MA $155,940 $131,760 $172,000 $194,180
Raleigh, NC
Seattle, WA $152,200 $127,710 $167,000 $188,340
Chicago,
New IL
York City $146,320 $122,760 $160,000 $181,040
Raleigh,MA
Boston, NC $122,100 $102,465 $134,000 $151,110
Avg. Base
Avg. Base Salary
Salary $149,955 $125,828 $164,250 $185,542
Avg. Fully
Avg. Fully Loaded
Loaded Salary
Salary $193,444 $163,284 $211,313 $237,927

We then accounted for the extra expenses that go with employing a development team in the U.S., including
overhead such as federal and state taxes, benefits and health insurance, and a $500 per month allowance for tools
of trade. This ‘fully-loaded’ cost is the true cost of hiring a development team on-shore. But we haven’t included the
cost of housing a development team as that can vary greatly depending on real estate prices and the extent to
which team members work remotely. However, all of these costs add at least 25% on top of the cost of paying base
salaries for a development team. It all adds up. For instance, hiring an intermediate developer in Seattle, WA on a
salary of $167,000 will cost $231,450 fully loaded.

Fully Loaded Employee Cost Calculator (Example: Intermediate Software Engineer in Seattle, WA)

How is my fully loaded onshore development costs calculated?

Base Salary $167,000

+15% for Benefits (PTO, 401K, Healthcare, etc.) $25,050

$231,450 +10% for Federal and State Employment Taxes $16,700
Fully Loaded
Cost +10% for Management Overhead $16,700
+$500/month for Facilities and Tools of the $6,000
Trade (laptop, software, etc.)

Total Fully Loaded Employee Cost: $231,450

The opportunities to either save money or to scale your team to increase speed to market and improve product
quality through partnering with a quality outsourcing firm really are quite stunning. We are helping our clients
achieve savings of 30%—70% with every engagement.

9
Cost Considerations
For 2024

It will be a buyer’s market early in 2024 as changing labor dynamics and the
belt-tightening ease upward price pressure further. But other factors will also
influence overall software development costs…

Outsourcing Location

Where you choose to outsource to will have a major influence on your total cost
of ownership of software projects. Asia’s attractive rates will see the region win
more business, particularly on the subcontinent. Latin America’s rates are
tracking up, but the region still offers incredible value and in convenient
nearshore destinations. Don’t focus on cost alone but consider factors such as
language proficiency, cultural compatibility, time zone differences, and
communication abilities when selecting an outsourcing location.

Trending Tech

If you are looking for general software engineering talent in the main coding
languages and employing established platforms, you will find a favorable
outsourcing market in 2024. There will be more competition, and therefore price
pressure, in trending areas of tech, and the one trending like no other is artificial
intelligence. Firms with a strong track record in AI, which have invested in
accelerator programs to help customers deploy AI rapidly, will be in hot
demand, particularly when backed up with solid data science and
analytics capabilities.

Professional Services vs. Staff Augmentation

Are you looking to hire a team of developers to accelerate what you are doing,
or seeking a partner for a more transformative impact on your business? A
body shop will offer lower rates but a short-term focus. Software partners
specializing in more strategic long-term relationships will charge more but likely
deliver greater value. Focus on finding a balance between cost and the
expertise offered by an outsourcing company. By investing in a team with
specialized skills and experience, you are more likely to achieve high-quality
results and avoid potential headaches down the road.

10
Partner Overhead

Most of Accelerance’s partners have some staff on shore in the U.S. to work
directly with customers, undertake presales work and build networks. That’s
great for accountability and maintaining the relationship between partner and
customer. But it adds overhead at U.S. rates. In 2024, due to the softening of
the IT labor market, we can expect modest increases in U.S. overhead rates in
line with inflation.

Overall Demand

With lingering economic uncertainty and war continuing to cause instability in

Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the appetite for investment in tech projects
will remain muted. But there is also pent-up demand, similar to what we saw
toward the end of the pandemic when firms scrambled to secure developer
talent as they sought to adapt to contactless business models, with a surge in
e-commerce and online business across the whole value chain. As business
confidence improves, IT budgets will be loosened, which could occur toward
the end of 2024.

11
Low Cost But Subpar:
A Scenario To Avoid

Inadequate software development processes, lack of communication, and

compromised standards are just a few of the pitfalls companies encounter when
partnering with the cheapest bidder.

Viewing software outsourcing as merely a financial
transaction overlooks the complexities involved in
developing high-quality applications. Subpar outputs
tend to generate added expenses, along with missed
opportunities, making any initial savings appear as
nothing more than false economies.
The opportunity cost can be dear. Shareholders who
ultimately bear the cost of software development
projects can miss out on the potential to add
significant value to their stake in the company due to a
project that fails to deliver.
The revenue and cash flow implications of an
unsuccessful business transformation project, or a
new application or platform that arrives dead in the
water, can be disastrous for a business, particularly in
a high interest rate environment where debt has
become expensive and harder to obtain.

Case in Point: How Wrong It Can Go

Consider the case of Jeff Shules (name changed to protect the unfortunate): He was a Vice President of
Engineering who had spent five painstaking months (at about $15K per month – his salary at the time)
accomplishing nine site visits in three countries to select an offshore outsourcing vendor.

He investigated India, China, and South America. Ultimately, he selected a U.S.-owned outsourcing vendor with an
operation in China. This vendor was in the process of acquiring a second team of programmers who were perfect
for Jeff’s needs.

When the vendor’s acquisition of the second Chinese team fell through, a junior team from another operation was
assigned to Jeff’s project. The junior programmers’ English skills were limited, making communication difficult and
inefficient. Their programming skills were worse. Because of the 16-hour time difference with China, managers in
the U.S. spent many late nights emailing detailed instructions (even pseudo code) and answering questions by
phone when it was daytime in China.

Severe morale problems emerged in the U.S. staff. Missed deadlines and extreme employee frustration eventually
elevated the issue to the board level.

Finally, after a long six-month learning curve, the Chinese team became more efficient. But the damage was done.
Despite Jeff’s careful research and painstaking attention to detail, he had made a critical outsourcing mistake and
found himself resigning from the company.

12
 Low Cost But Subpar:
A Scenario To Avoid

Why Do Software Outsourcing Projects Fail? Are You at Risk for a Software Mismatch?

The ills that befall software projects are similar to the

Check the box if you are going through that point in
flu that lays many of us low during the winter months
your project. The more boxes you check, the more
— there are unique variants each year, but perennial
at-risk your project is.
problems too.
Does your chosen vendor...?:
A key one is the down to the customer. It stems from
not investing enough time in assessing and testing the
Say they were solely dedicated to your project,
product market fit for what you are asking a software
but they’ve over-extended themselves to
partner to help build. Too often, the customer pushes
multiple clients?
ahead and builds the wrong product.

Charge you for a room full of programmers you

Sometimes they have laid the groundwork for a
ended up managing and directing yourself?
successful product, but skimp on the development
budget. A software developer who is paid toward the
Procrastinate communicating IP protection
upper quartile of the going market rate, in whatever
policies and procedures until it’s too late?
location, is likely to be more engaged, experienced,
and useful to you than someone who is paid in the
Fail to provide adequate specs?
bottom quartile.

Neglect to choose a team with a full-time,

Many projects go off the rails because the outsourcing
English-speaking liaison who can communicate
partner hasn’t got the right team in place to ensure
effectively with you?
success. Beware any software firm that tells you
they’ve got the exact team needed for your project
Have a great price and solid skills but too many
ready and waiting to go.
cultural barriers to be able to deliver a proper
user interface?
By embracing both value and cost-effectiveness in
equal measure when choosing an outsourcing partner,
Regularly lose engineers because of high
businesses can avoid these risks and embark upon a
attrition rates?
successful collaboration that delivers remarkable
results.
Have to to work long, odd hours due to
conflcting time zones?
Read more: Avoiding Software Outsourcing Disasters -
Set Your Team Up Right
Fail to use a bug tracking system?

Disagree about measurements of success?

Is your project going all

wrong? Talk to a trusted
Accelerance advisor today Let’s Talk
to get on the right track.

13
 Accelerance’s Proprietary
Rates Analysis

Using a detailed set of criteria, Accelerance has It’s also an approach that lays the foundation for a
researched more than 8,000 software development partnership that has a much greater chance of
companies to identify the top 1% worldwide to create a success. Our analysis covers rates for nearshore and
premium pool of certified outsourcing partners. The offshore partner locations:
global software outsourcing rates for 2024 outlined in
this report represent benchmarks gathered from our Nearshore partners are defined as firms that are
unique, worldwide insight into hundreds of firms that within three time zones away from your location:
meet the highest standards.
Pro: More workday
Software development outsourcing rates vary overlap of business
house and less travel
considerably by region, skill level, experience, the
time for on-site visits.
specific technology stack involved, and the length of
commitment required. The rates presented here are Con: Often more costly
based on a six to eight-person team working full time than offshoring.
for 12 months or more.
Offshore partners are defined as firms that are more
than three time zones away from your location:
Rates in the following charts have been
assessed on the basis of building a blended Pro: Usually greatest
team, not augmenting staff by engaging individual cost savings.
contractors. While this may involve more upfront costs,
Con: Navigation of a
it usually works out at a lower overall rate per resource.
greater discrepancy in
work times and cultural
difference.

The 25th percentile represents up

$54
to 25% below median.

How to Read The median rate represents the

Accelerance’s Global Rates Table $64
50th percentile.

The upper quartile represents up to

$82
$54 $64 $82 25% above median.

These tables are based on data captured by the

25th percentile Median 75th percentile Accelerance research team from several hundred
enterprise-grade software development firms in key
Hourly software engineering rates are shown in outsourcing regions across the world. All of the
U.S. dollars and presented as a range, broken companies surveyed deliver more than 50% of their
down into four quartiles: work into the U.S., UK, Europe or Australia. Data was
not gathered from IT staffing companies where rates
may be slightly lower.

14
 Latin America
Insights & Rates

From Brazil and Argentina, to Colombia and Costa
Rica, Latin American outsourcing destinations were
in hot demand in early 2023 due to the uncertainty
war brought to Eastern Europe.
Development houses took up the slack as work
migrated across the world and nearshoring became
the strategy of choice for North American customers
seeking stability. The influx of work to the region saw
hourly rates increase across the board — over half of
our survey respondents in the region put their rates up
in 2023, with two-thirds citing salary demands from
engineers and inflation as the key reasons.
That influx of work has already evened out and
challenging economic conditions have even seen
customers dial back their resourcing in Latin America
as a cost-cutting measure, instead taking on
developers in Asia. Gearing up to support AI projects
became a major priority during 2023, with 20% of the
region’s developers offering new training programs
to help upskill staff in AI and data analytics.

R O LE (U SD) $30 $40 $50 $60 $70 $80 $90

Junior Developer $38 $42 $52

Intermediate Developer $50 $57 $64

Senior Developer $65 $70 $74
Lead Developer $68 $75 $82
Architect $80 $82 $92

Junior QA Engineer (Automated) $38 $41 $47

Intermediate QA Engineer (Automated) $49 $53 $60
Senior QA Engineer (Automated) $60 $68 $72

Junior QA Engineer (Manual) $34 $38 $42

Intermediate QA Engineer (Manual) $41 $46 $54
Senior QA Engineer (Manual) $50 $57 $65

Project Manager $62 $67 $77

Scrum Master $57 $67 $72
Business Analyst $57 $61 $69
Graphic Designer $49 $60 $66
Dev Ops $62 $70 $80

Data Scientist $62 $74 $77

Data Analyst $61 $76 $81
Data Engineer $60 $67 $71

15
Latin America
2024 Rates, Regional
Trends & Advice
After attracting a sizable inflow of development work in 2022 and early 2023, Latin America saw its fortunes change
by mid year as biting inflation in the region as well, as clients’ countries, saw attention shift to the price-competitive
Indian subcontinent.

Cost pressure remains a concern for Latin American governments, particularly in Argentina, where the rate of inflation
had reached 140% by October 2023. But the U.S. dollar’s strength against the peso continues to afford good buying
power in one of the region’s strongest outsourcing centers.

Nearshore development remains a strategic priority for many North American businesses, so Latin America continues
to be a highly attractive destination to send development work. The region’s focus on education continues to build the
pipeline of development talent.

Rate Changes Through the Years

Around 40% of firms we surveyed reduced their developer

workforce in 2023, though typically resulting in less than
Latin America
Senior Developer Rate Comparison
10% head count reduction. Many of those engineers are
now back on the market in the big cities of Latin America. $80

$71 $70
As such, we don't see room for significant rate increases
Senior Developer Rate

$70 $66
in Latin America in the short term, and the firms we
surveyed pointed to single digit rate increases in 2024. $60 $55

$50
The plateau in rates after nearly 40% growth over a $49
$50 $47
three-year period is similar to what we saw between $43
2018 and 2020. The state of the global economy and
difficulties securing specialist skills in AI and data $40
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
analytics are the key issues preoccupying firms in Year
the region as they look with cautious optimism
toward 2024.

Latin America | 2024 Key Trends

Developer rates will plateau in 2024, with any
modest increases largely attributable to lingering
inflation and exchange rate fluctuations.
It will be a buyer’s market for development talent
following the reduction in staffing at firms
through 2023.
Building AI capability will be a big focus
with many development companies investing
in training for AI, machine learning, and data
analytics.
Expect a modest 6%—10% increase in rates to cover
rising costs due to inflation.
There’ll be pressure on budgets, with 55% of
development firms expecting customers to cut
spending in the next six months.
An overwhelming three-quarters of respondents expect
to increase revenue in 2024, pointing to the resilience
and popularity of Latin America even in a bear market.

16
 Eastern Europe
Insights & Rates

Development houses in Eastern Europe are
tempering their expectations for 2024 as
confidence in the region as a reliable outsourcing
destination remains low.
It’s not that locations like Ukraine or neighboring
Poland aren’t valued for their skills and development
capabilities. The prospect of the war flaring from
stalemate to widespread conflict over winter and
spring has nevertheless made the whole area a
no-go zone for clients from North America and
Western Europe.
Rates barely rose during 2023, reflecting that soft
demand. Nevertheless, development firms in Eastern
Europe coped as best they could, incorporating AI into
their offerings and upskilling staff. A highly-capable
workforce awaits an improvement in the region’s
fortunes, with 90% of survey respondents confident of
their ability to attract and retain talent, and most
anticipating revenue growth in 2024.

R O LE (U SD) $30 $40 $50 $60 $70 $80 $90

Junior Developer $37 $45 $52

Intermediate Developer $53 $60 $68

Senior Developer $64 $75 $78
Lead Developer $75 $83 $88
Architect $75 $94 $101

Junior QA Engineer (Automated) $40 $43 $62

Intermediate QA Engineer (Automated) $50 $59 $63
Senior QA Engineer (Automated) $65 $70 $76

Junior QA Engineer (Manual) $37 $44 $58

Intermediate QA Engineer (Manual) $44 $48 $61
Senior QA Engineer (Manual) $54 $60 $71

Project Manager $59 $75 $77

Scrum Master $55 $70 $74
Business Analyst $55 $70 $83
Graphic Designer $59 $73 $87
Dev Ops $74 $80 $84

Data Scientist $80 $85 $87

Data Analyst $80 $85 $87
Data Engineer $75 $80 $86

17
Eastern Europe
2024 Rates, Regional
Trends & Advice

It has been disheartening to see the slowdown in development work in Eastern Europe as a result of the tragic war
in Ukraine, an outsourcing destination with incredible depth of talent and capability.

Development firms working in Ukraine and neighboring countries seem to be resigned to the conflict dragging on in
the east of the country and are instead fretting about the global economic climate.

The inevitable slowdown in venture capital deals in Eastern Europe also has implications for tech investment.
Ukraine isn’t a lost cause, and significant development work continues there. But businesses should carefully
evaluate the risks involved in outsourcing to the region and have contingency plans in place to deal with the fallout
of the conflict widening.

Rate Changes Through the Years Eastern Europe

Senior Developer Rate Comparison
Development rates inevitably plateaued in 2023 as a
$80 $75
direct impact of the geopolitical situation. We don’t $71 $71
see much room for upward movement in 2024 with
$67
60% of surveyed firms flagging an increase in the $70
Senior Developer Rate

region of 1%—10%.
$58
$60 $56 $55

The strength of the region’s software engineering

expertise, and the solid track record of development $50 $45
firms based there, continue to be reflected in
developer rates, which remain the highest of the
$40
four regions we compare. 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Year

Eastern Europe | 2024 Key Trends

Single digit rates increases will be the norm across
Eastern Europe in 2024.
Despite the slowdown in development deal flow,
two-thirds of companies surveyed plan to increase
headcount in 2024.
While 67% of respondents expect some increase in
demand in the next six months, most are still cautious
about that, noting a "slight" increase.
The majority of surveyed firms expect to increase rates
in 2024 to the tune of 1%—10%.

Appetite to base development work in countries like It’s no surprise that finding new work, the impact of the
Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria will remain war in Ukraine, and securing enough specialist talent in
subdued, while inflation and broader economic the AI field are the primary risks identified by developers
factors will weigh on demand. in the region.

18
 South Asia
Insights & Rates

After the interest in nearshoring wore off, Asia was
once again the outsourcing destination of choice in
the second half of 2023 as businesses looked east to
reduce costs.
The work was welcomed with open arms, but had
implications for building development teams, with
77% of firms in the region encountering challenges in
finding qualified candidates for job openings. In
places like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh,
candidates cited a preference for work from home
arrangements, harkening back to the negotiations that
played out in most regions in 2021—2022.
Business confidence in Asia was high, despite
lackluster global economic conditions, and 87% of
survey respondents reported that their clients
responded positively to developer rates they quoted
with minimal requests for discounts. That shows the
extent to which businesses facing scaled-back
budgets saw Asia as a safe harbor in 2023.

R OLE ( U SD) $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 $70

Junior Developer $28 $30 $32

Intermediate Developer $35 $37 $41

Senior Developer $40 $45 $46
Lead Developer $44 $47 $51
Architect $54 $64 $70

Junior QA Engineer (Automated) $24 $29 $35

Intermediate QA Engineer (Automated) $33 $38 $45
Senior QA Engineer (Automated) $39 $45 $51

Junior QA Engineer (Manual) $24 $25 $30

Intermediate QA Engineer (Manual) $29 $32 $37
Senior QA Engineer (Manual) $30 $39 $44

Project Manager $43 $49 $57

Scrum Master $38 $45 $51
Business Analyst $38 $40 $43
Graphic Designer $37 $37 $42
Dev Ops $38 $42 $48

Data Scientist $39 $40 $43

Data Analyst $37 $40 $43
Data Engineer $37 $40 $43

19
South Asia
2024 Rates, Regional
Trends & Advice

Demand for software outsourcing is booming in Asia, particularly on the Indian sub-continent where India, Pakistan,
and Bangladesh are winning deals based on sharp pricing and the ability to resource projects with highly capable
developer talent.

In countries like Vietnam and the Philippines, the talent pool of skilled and experienced engineers isn’t as deep, which
means business process and call center outsourcing continue to be the bread and butter of a fast-evolving outsourcing
industry in Southeast Asia.

The region represents incredibly good value for money — if you find the right company to work with and can be assured
of getting the right people assigned to your software projects.

South Asia
Rate Changes Through the Years Senior Developer Rate Comparison
$50
$46 $46
$45
Firms in the region reported hourly rates that were lower $43
$45
overall than the peak in 2022. Asia is the only region
Senior Developer Rate

where this occurred and suggests discounting was used $40 $37
$36 $36
to attract work to the region, a strategy that appears to
have paid off. $35
$30

$30
We can expect rates increases in the region of 6%—15%
across Asian outsourcing destinations in 2024.
$25
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Year

South Asia | 2024 Key Trends

We will likely see upward pressure on rates in Asia
(6%—15%) as the market responds to the
international demand that built steadily through 2023.
Business confidence in the region will remain high.
Firms report high customer satisfaction with the
rates they charge, and in 2024, rates will generally
still represent good value for money.
Demand is anticipated to remain high, with 83% of
firms surveyed planning to increase their workforce in
2024 and the vast majority planning on growing
headcount by 11% or more.
Many in the region see the accelerating adoption of
cloud computing platforms as a key opportunity for
solution providers in the next 12—18 months.

AI is a hot topic in the region, but firms will have to 50% of respondents plan to increase their rates by
dig deep to find the skills to advance their customers’ 6%—15+% in 2024, while the other half anticipate no
projects, with 50% of firms expecting to encounter change as cost remains a priority for many customers.
significant challenges in recruitment.

20
 Southeast Asia
Insights & Rates

Southeast Asia also benefited from a pivot away from
Latin America due to price in 2023 as well as a more
general search for lower developer rates to combat
pressure on clients’ budgets.
The uptick in demand had a flow-on effect on
developer rates, with increased of 6%—10% most
common. Others held off on increasing rates, sensing
a hesitancy among clients to commit to ongoing
projects and engagements due to economic
uncertainty.
Overall thought, developers based in the region report
that clients are happing with their rates and pricing
structure. While customers are seeking out good
deals, they prioritize quality, expertise, and efficiency
in negotiations.

R OLE ( U SD) $20 $30 $40 $50 $60

Junior Developer $16 $23 $24

Intermediate Developer $25 $26 $27
Senior Developer $29 $32 $42
Lead Developer $35 $37 $49
Architect $42 $50 $61

Junior QA Engineer (Automated) $21 $23 $25

Intermediate QA Engineer (Automated) $27 $27 $28
Senior QA Engineer (Automated) $30 $32 $37

Junior QA Engineer (Manual) $21 $22 $22

Intermediate QA Engineer (Manual) $24 $26 $27
Senior QA Engineer (Manual) $27 $30 $32

Project Manager $31 $35 $41

Scrum Master $32 $40 $44
Business Analyst $30 $31 $37
Graphic Designer $27 $36 $44
Dev Ops $30 $38 $39

Data Scientist $37 $44 $50

Data Analyst $32 $39 $45
Data Engineer $35 $44 $48

21
Southeast Asia
2024 Rates, Regional
Trends & Advice

In countries like Vietnam and the Philippines, the talent pool of skilled and experienced engineers isn’t as deep as on
the subcontinent.

Business process and call center outsourcing continue to be the bread and butter of a fast-evolving outsourcing industry
in Southeast Asia, though the region’s focus on STEM education is seeing skilled, specialized teams of developers
starting to proliferate.

The region represents incredibly good value for money - if you find the right company to work with and can be assured of
getting the right people assigned to your software projects.

Southeast Asia
Rate Changes Through the Years Senior Developer Rate Comparison

Firms in the region disclosed that their hourly rates either $40 $38 $38
$37
matched or, in certain instances, were even lower than the peak
rates observed in 2022. This indicates an intentional use of $35
Senior Developer Rate

discounting as a tactic to attract business to the region, a $35

strategy that seems to have yielded positive results.

$29
Anticipated trends suggest that hourly rates will likely maintain $30

stable, with some projections indicating nominal increases

ranging from 3% to 10% across outsourcing destinations in
Southeast Asia in 2024. $25
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Year

Southeast Asia | 2024 Key Trends

The majority of survey respondents from Southeast
Asia plan to hold rates steady in the next six months
or make modest increases in the range of 1%—5%.
Development firms anticipate stable or increasing
revenue in the next six months.
Increasing salaries to remain competitive with the
market is the main reason cited for anticipated rates
increases in 2024.
Development firms point to a shortage of skilled
developers, concerns about recession and inflation,
and clients’ budgetary constraints as the key
challenges they’ll face in 2024
Two-thirds of developers plan to increase their head-
count in 2024 in the range of 6%—15%.
Many in the region see the accelerating adoption of
cloud computing platforms as a key opportunity for
solution providers in the next 12—18 months.

22
 Summary View:
2024 Global Software
Outsourcing Rates Per Region

L ATIN EASTERN SOUTH S O U T HE AS T

R OLE AMERICA EUROPE ASI A AS I A

Junior Developer $38—$52 $37—$52 $28—$32 $16—$24

Intermediate Developer $50—$64 $53—$68 $35—$41 $25—$27
Senior Developer $65—$74 $64—$78 $40—$46 $29—$42
Lead Developer $68—$82 $75—$88 $44—$51 $35—$49
Architect $80—$92 $75—$101 $54—$70 $42—$61

Junior QA Engineer (Automated) $38—$47 $40—$42 $24—$35 $21—$25

Intermediate QA Engineer (Automated) $49—$61 $50—$63 $33—$45 $27—$28
Senior QA Engineer (Automated) $60—$72 $65—$76 $39—$51 $30—$37

Junior QA Engineer (Manual) $34—$42 $37—$58 $24—$30 $21—$22

Intermediate QA Engineer (Manual) $41—$54 $44—$61 $29—$37 $24—$27
Senior QA Engineer (Manual) $50—$65 $54—$71 $30—$44 $27—$32

Project Manager $62—$77 $59—$78 $43—$57 $31—$41

Scrum Master $55—$72 $55—$74 $38—$51 $32—$44
Business Analyst $57—$69 $55—$83 $38—$43 $30—$37
Graphic Designer $49—$66 $59—$87 $37—$42 $27—$44
Dev Ops $62—$80 $74—$84 $38—$48 $30—$39

Data Scientist $62—$77 $80—$87 $39—$43 $37—$50

Data Analyst $60—$71 $75—$86 $37—$43 $35—$48
Data Engineer $61—$81 $80—$87 $37—$43 $32—$45

23
 Thank you for your interest in our
2024 Global Software Outsourcing Rates and Trends Guide.

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