Hire Software Developers in Costa Rica vs Ukraine: Overview and Risks

These days, many companies are interested in outsourcing software development to other countries to optimize costs, and many US businesses consider Costa Rica as an outsourcing destination and want to hire an engineering team in Costa Rica. If you are interested in how to find and hire software developers in Costa Rica, as well as if there are any alternatives, this article will come in handy.

Why US Companies Want to Hire Software Developers in Costa Rica?

According to the Deloitte Doing Business in Costa Rica report 2020, this country boasts of stable growth and development of IT services, in particular, being one of the primary software development outsourcing destinations for the US. Costa Rica software developers tend to work in R&D, FoodTech, and MedTech projects. 300+ US tech companies have Costa Rica dedicated developers working on their projects, and 24% of these organizations are among Fortune 100 companies. While utilizing Amazon AWS managed services or hire backend developer might meet certain technological needs, the decision to hire software developers in Costa Rica versus Ukraine involves a careful assessment of various factors such as cost, language proficiency, cultural compatibility, and time zone differences.

Besides, according to The Global Innovation Index 2020, Costa Rica and Mexico are among the innovation leaders of Latin America. Thus, the businesses that used to hire dedicated development team in Mexico now see this country as a good alternative.

The geographical proximity of the location to the US and good command of English of Costa Rica developers for hire make the country an outsourcing haven for US businesses.

That’s why many US organizations consider how to hire software developers in Costa Rica and what are the advantages and disadvantages of having a dedicated development team in Costa Rica.

Perks & Pitfalls of Hiring a Dedicated Development Team in Costa Rica

Hiring a dedicated team in Costa Rica comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s start with the pros of having a Costa Rica dedicated team working on your business needs:

  • Reduced costs when US companies hire software developers in Costa Rica vs. in the US;
  • Flexible labor laws that come with significant tax incentives if US companies hire developers in Costa Rica;
  • A positive business climate;
  • Well-established cooperation with US organizations;
  • One of the strongest educational systems in Latin America;
  • The geographic proximity of a Costa Rican software developer to the US;
  • Convenient transport infrastructure;
  • Stable Internet bandwidth.

However, there are some pitfalls and risks associated with hiring a dedicated team Costa Rica. Among the main cons are the following:

  • Difficulties with compliance with business laws when US organizations hire Costa Rica developers;
  • Hard to hire software developers in Costa Rica with many years of experience in a particular field;
  • Rates of Costa Rican IT experts are lower than of the US workers, yet higher than rates of programmers from other countries;
  • Potential data breach and security risks when working with an unreliable dedicated team provider;
  • Remote team management and communication difficulties.

Hire Software Developers in Costa Rica: Alternatives

Besides the possibility to hire developers in San Jose, US businesses tend to be interested in other countries: 

  • Germany;
  • The UK;
  • Ukraine;
  • India;
  • Pakistan, and more.

Ukraine is a perfect alternative to companies planning to hire developers Costa Rica, being not as expensive as European countries but not as far away and culturally different as Asian ones. 

According to the latest KPMG report, Ukraine is a cost-effective outsourcing destination with a large IT labor pool and highly-qualified experts. As per the Deloitte report, a significant number of the US and global corporations have successfully opened 160+ R&D and SSC centers in Ukraine (including IBM, Microsoft, Apple, and Samsung Electronics).

Besides, there are 14+ million people with higher education in Ukraine, with 200,000 developers among them, and 36,000+ IT graduates annually. Ukrainian IT experts are known for their IT expertise and dedicated approach to work globally, and no wonder that dedicated Ukrainian software development teams are in high demand.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Building a Dedicated Development Team in Ukraine

Here are the pros of considering Ukraine for hiring dedicated programmers:

  • The largest IT talent pool in Europe;
  • A lot of senior software developers experienced in working with US companies; 
  • Convenient time zone difference;
  • Well-developed transport infrastructure;
  • Much more affordable rates compared to hiring a San Jose dedicated team, as well as to other Latin American and European countries.

The cons of hiring a Ukrainian professional instead of a Costa Rica developer for hire are more about risks that can be easily mitigated:

  • Possible communication difficulties;
  • Importance of cooperating with a reliable dedicated team provider.

* Ukrainian salaries are provided based on Mobilunity’s Recruitment Team research on the local job markets. All salaries are net and do not include the service fee (in case of hiring on a dedicated team model). The salaries are provided for comparison purposes and could be not entirely accurate. Contact us to know the exact cost of hiring a developer corresponding to the required parameters.

Mobilunity as Your Reliable Outsourcing Services Provider

Mobilunity is a credible Ukrainian IT company that has been providing dedicated development teams to global businesses for 10+ years. 

If you were considering hiring a dedicated development team in Costa Rica and now interested in learning more about the Ukrainian IT market, get in touch with our representative and let us help you hire the dedicated development team you are looking for.

Want to get a dedicated development team at affordable costs? Mobilunity is a partner to rely on!

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