How to use the Offshore Development Cost Calculator
This calculator prices one software project at four hourly rate tiers: offshore South Asia, nearshore Latin America or Eastern Europe, US mid-market and US senior. You enter the build hours once, set a rate for each tier, and it multiplies the same hours by each rate. Use it to frame a budget range before you compare real quotes.
Step by step
-
Enter the build hours
Type your total engineering hours into Estimated build hours. It starts at 1,000 hours. The same number is priced in every region, so this is the figure that drives every total.
-
Set the offshore rate
Drag Offshore rate (South Asia) to the hourly rate you have been quoted. It runs from $15 to $80 an hour and starts at $35.
-
Set the nearshore rate
Drag Nearshore rate (Latin America / E. Europe) between $30 and $100 an hour. It starts at $60.
-
Set the two US rates
Drag US mid-market rate between $80 and $200 and US senior / boutique rate between $120 and $350, both in $5 steps. They start at $120 and $180. The current rate shows next to each slider label.
-
Read the range
Every change updates the results at once. Read the range at the top, then the verdict, the four region cards and the bars below them.
Reading the result
- Under Cost range for the same build, the headline runs from the cheapest region total to the most expensive. With the defaults, 1,000 hours gives $35,000 to $180,000.
- Each card is build hours times that region's rate, with the rate repeated under the total. The defaults give Offshore $35,000, Nearshore $60,000, US mid-market $120,000 and US senior $180,000.
- The verdict title shows the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive total as a percent of the most expensive. With the defaults, $145,000 out of $180,000 gives Up to 80.6% swing on identical work.
- The verdict text says how many times cheaper the lowest tier is, 5.1 times with the defaults. When the gap is under two times it says notably cheaper instead of a number.
- Each bar's length is that region's total compared with the most expensive one, which fills the full width.
Tips and common mistakes
- Pin down the hours first. Every total scales directly with Estimated build hours, so a weak hours estimate makes the whole range weak.
- The calculator uses the same hours in every column. If you expect a cheaper team to need more hours for coordination or rework, run it again with a higher hours figure and compare.
- The sliders have fixed ends, for example $15 to $80 for offshore. A quote outside a slider's range cannot be entered, so for that region multiply your hours by the quoted rate yourself.
- Treat the numbers as a budgeting range, not a quote. The page's own note says the rates are your estimates.
- Nothing is saved. Reloading the page resets every field to its default, so write down a range you want to keep.
Privacy and limits
All the math runs in your browser. The hours and rates you enter are not sent anywhere and are not stored, and the calculator makes no network requests while you use it.
How it works
Offshore, nearshore and onshore quotes for the same project can look wildly different, not because the work changes, but because the hourly rate does. This calculator strips that confusion away. You enter one number, your estimated build hours, and it prices that identical effort at four rate tiers: offshore South Asia, nearshore Latin America or Eastern Europe, US mid-market, and US senior.
The math is deliberately simple and honest. Each region's total is just your hours multiplied by that region's blended hourly rate. The bars and cards let you see the spread at a glance, and the headline gives you the full budgeting envelope from the lowest to the highest tier, whichever regions those turn out to be once you adjust the sliders. To hand the whole build to one team instead, see custom software outsourcing.
Rate alone never tells the whole story. A lower offshore rate can be offset by time-zone lag, more rework, or extra project-management hours, while a higher onshore rate often buys tighter communication and fewer surprises. Use the range to frame the conversation, then pressure-test it against a real scope. To size the underlying hours first, try our software development cost calculator, or weigh the whole approach with the build vs buy calculator.
cost per region = build hours × regional hourly rate
FAQs
What is a realistic offshore development hourly rate?
Offshore rates in South Asia commonly land between $15 and $50 per hour depending on seniority and specialisation, with nearshore Latin America and Eastern Europe sitting higher at roughly $30 to $100. US mid-market work typically runs $80 to $200, and senior or boutique US shops higher still. The calculator lets you slide each tier to match the quotes you're actually receiving.
Why is the same project so much cheaper offshore?
The deliverable and the hours don't change, the labour rate does. Lower cost-of-living markets can price the same engineering hours far below US rates. The trade-offs show up elsewhere: time-zone overlap, communication overhead, seniority depth and rework. Treat the price gap as one input, not the decision. Our ranking of custom software companies in India weighs the other inputs.
Are these rates a quote for my project?
No. Every number here comes from the hours and rates you enter, so the output is a budgeting range, not a fixed price. Scope, tech stack and team seniority all move the real figure. For a precise number on your exact requirements, talk to our team.
