Short answer: a software developer in the US costs a median of about $133,000 a year in salary alone (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2024), before benefits, payroll taxes and recruiting. A dedicated full-time developer in India through a firm like ours costs about $900–1,800 a month, or roughly $11,000–22,000 a year, with no employer costs on your side. The saving is real; the trade-offs are time zone, communication and how well you manage remote work.
The comparison
| Hire at home | Dedicated developer in India (Infovion) | |
|---|---|---|
| US | Median salary about $133,000 a year (BLS), plus benefits and payroll taxes | $900 – 1,800 a month, all-in |
| UAE | Salary plus visa, mandatory health insurance in many emirates, and end-of-service gratuity of 21 days' basic pay per year for the first five years | AED 3,300 – 6,600 a month, all-in |
| UK, Europe, Australia | Salary plus employer social charges, pension contributions and recruitment fees | $900 – 1,800 a month, all-in |
A worked example: 12 months, one developer
| US in-house hire | Dedicated developer in India | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary or fee | About $133,000 (BLS median) | $1,400 × 12 = $16,800 (mid-range) |
| Benefits and payroll taxes | Added on top of salary | Included |
| Recruiting | Agency fee or weeks of your time | None; replacement included |
| Equipment and software | Yours to buy | Included |
| Notice to stop | Employment law applies | End of any month |
Even if the developer in India needs more of your time in the first month, the difference in cash is large. The question is whether the work is right for remote delivery, not whether it is cheaper.
What you get at each price level
- $900–1,200 a month: a developer with a few years' experience, working on clear tasks in a stack they know, reviewed by a senior.
- $1,200–1,800 a month: a senior developer who can design features, make technical decisions and work with less direction.
- Hourly ($12–25): right for short pieces of work, reviews and unblocking, not for a product you will build for months.
How to judge quality before you commit
- Ask for one small paid task and read the code, or have someone you trust read it.
- Check how questions are asked: good developers ask about the edge cases before building.
- Look at the first staging link: is it working, tested and explained?
What "all-in" covers
- The developer's salary, equipment and office.
- Replacement if the developer leaves, without you re-hiring.
- No recruitment fees, notice periods or end-of-service payments for you.
- Stop at the end of any month.
Hidden costs of outsourcing
- Your time: someone on your side must set priorities and test the work every week.
- Overlap: from the US West Coast, questions wait a night. From the UK, Europe and the Gulf, the whole day overlaps.
- Ramp-up: expect two to four weeks before a new developer is fully productive on an existing product.
- Rework if the scope was vague. A written scope and fortnightly reviews prevent most of it.
When outsourcing does not save money
- When nobody on your side can give clear direction.
- When the work needs daily in-person contact with customers or machines.
- When you need deep knowledge of a regulated domain that the vendor does not have.
A sensible way to start
Begin with a small fixed-price piece of work or one month of a dedicated developer. Judge the code, the communication and the speed, then decide. Prices by country, including AED and SAR: outsourcing to India, for US companies, for Dubai and the UAE.
Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Software Developers; Mondaq: end-of-service benefits in the UAE (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021).
