Onshore US agency
Same time zone, local presence, highest rates. Worth it when you need people in the room or a large team fast.
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Outsourcing guide
Outsourcing software
development to Europe.
US companies outsourcing software usually compare onshore agencies with offshore teams. Europe is a third option that is less discussed. Here is an honest comparison — including the cases where Europe, and we, are the wrong choice.
Three options
Onshore, offshore
and Europe
Offshore team
Lowest hourly rates, large time difference with the US, and often higher coordination cost. Works best with very detailed specifications and a strong internal product owner.
European studio
Rates well below big-city US agencies, a daily morning overlap with US time zones, strong engineering education, and EU-grade privacy habits.
Freelancers
Flexible and affordable for small, well-defined tasks; a risk for business-critical systems that need continuity.
Nearshore Latin America
Close time zones and growing talent pools — a good option for teams that need full-day overlap.
In-house hire
Best for a core product long term; expensive and slow for a single project or internal tool.
Time zones
The overlap
that matters
From Italy, we are six hours ahead of the East Coast and nine ahead of the West Coast. That gives a daily window in your morning for calls and decisions, and a build that happens while you are offline.
For well-scoped projects, it works well: you send feedback in the evening and review a new version in the morning. For a team that needs to pair with your engineers all afternoon, it does not, and a closer option fits better.
Compared with teams ten or twelve hours away, the difference is that questions get answered the same day rather than the next.
Contracts and IP
Contracts, IP
and invoices
Work with a European supplier is straightforward: contracts in English, intellectual property assigned to your company, code in your repository from the first commit.
Our invoices to US businesses carry no Italian VAT, and payment is by international wire or card in euros. Projects are split into stages, each paid when delivered.
Data protection habits from the GDPR carry over well to US state privacy laws: minimal data collection, documented processing, encryption by default.
How to choose
Four questions
to decide
- Do you need people in the room?If yes, go onshore.
- How much overlap do you need?Full day: onshore or Latin America. A daily morning window: Europe works. Almost none: offshore can work with strong specifications.
- Who owns product decisions?Without a strong internal product owner, pick a partner that does analysis and design, not just coding.
- Can you stop after a stage?Insist on fixed-price stages that each deliver something usable. It is the best protection against any supplier.
FAQ
Quick answers.
Is outsourcing to Europe cheaper than a US agency?
Usually, yes — often a fraction of a big-city US agency's quote — because salaries and overhead are lower, not because less work goes in.
Is the code quality different?
Quality depends on the team, not the continent. Ask for code samples, references and code in your repository from day one.
How do we protect our IP?
Through the contract: IP assignment to your company, NDA where needed, and the code living in your own repository.
Do you work in English?
Yes, throughout: calls, documentation, code comments and contracts.
Want a real number for your project?
Thirty minutes on a call: we look at what you need and give you a fixed price in writing, with no obligation.
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