Top 6 Countries for IT Outsourcing in Eastern Europe

Iva Kozlovskaya
Managing Partner

Updated – August 21, 2023

The times of associating software development outsourcing primarily with India are long gone, with Central and Eastern Europe gaining momentum as a growing IT talent hub.

The countries that were once isolated by the Iron Curtain of the Soviet regime are now quickly gaining force as capable competitors to India and other Asian countries traditionally chosen as suppliers of the IT labor force.

The report prepared by Qubit Labs on the rates of software developers across Central and Eastern Europe provides detailed by-country information for clients planning their outsourcing budgets and considering various locations to outsource software development.

Here are some basic facts about countries in this region offering excellent outsourcing opportunities and worth being considered as outsourcing destinations. If you are interested in other outsourcing regions as well, please check this Outsourcing Guide by Country.

 

10 Reasons to Outsource to Eastern Europe

Outsourcing to Eastern Europe has grown in popularity in recent years for many reasons.

  1. Focus on innovation
    Local developers show great potential in terms of keeping pace with the latest technology and possess a broad array of highly demanded skills. Their full compliance with the modern technology demands is proven by numerous international awards, and prizes coders from this region get in the IT sector.
  2. Cultural fit
    IT outsourcing always involves communication and interaction between the headquarters and the outsourced staff, which may become way harder in case of a cultural misfit. Representatives of different cultures have various attitudes to punctuality, conflict resolution, management, teamwork, etc., so the clash of two fundamentally different cultures may cause the project’s failure. Western clients may not fear such a challenge if they prefer to outsource software development to Eastern Europe as people here possess a mindset highly similar to that of Westerners.
  3. Affordability
    Eastern Europe is a location offering IT outsourcing with the best combination of price and quality. While most coders from this region possess a solid technical background and can deliver exceptional services, their rates are highly competitive as compared to Western programmers’ rates. Besides, additional costs such as office rental, office supplies, software, and equipment are also cheaper in this region, which makes all aspects of outsourcing more cost-effective here.
  4. Broad choice of talented coders
    The large (and increasing) number of programmers with a solid technical background and in-depth engineering knowledge may be explained by the long-standing emphasis on high-quality education in the Soviet Union retained by most former republics until today. Higher education is more affordable here than in many other regions of the world, which enables young people to follow the latest tech trends and acquire the needed skill set to enter the IT workforce.
  5. High level of English proficiency
    One of the greatest challenges scaring international companies off the outsourcing solutions is the language barrier. Indeed, it’s very problematic to reach the desired goal in case you cannot reach the basic common understanding with your staff. However, this is not the case for Eastern Europe software outsourcing as coders here are predominantly proficient in English.
  6. Comfortable geographic location
    Eastern Europe software outsourcing is convenient for many Western clients because of the convenience of work scheduling and travel. Moreover, unlike Asia, this region is low-risk in terms of calamities and natural disasters that may challenge the operation of an outsourced team and cause delays or data losses.
  7. High growth potential
    Since the CEE labor markets are quite young on the global scale and are only beginning their entry into the international IT sector, they have already revealed an enormous growth potential. Today Ukraine offers more than 20,000 skilled IT professionals ready to offer their services, while Romania has approximately 100,000+ IT experts for outsourcing projects.
  8. Convenient time zone
    The region is maximally convenient for outsourcing for Western European companies because of the minimal time difference between the states. In such a way, both in-house and outsourced teams may operate in conjunction, and any meetings may be scheduled with no overtime hours in any of the offices.
  9. Ease of arranging business travel
    Clients from both Western Europe and more distant regions may find it super easy to visit their outsourced teams and offshore development centers in Eastern Europe due to the highly developed infrastructure and convenience of flight schedules. Every European country has several transportation hubs to which any business traveler can get hassle-free.
  10. Ease of team scaling
    Most Eastern European countries have a large pool of talent to choose from and numerous experts of various tech stacks to hire to your existing team. Therefore, companies looking for IT outsourcing decisions may easily start by hiring one or several developers and then expand the team on-demand in the same location. Once the team grows to become an independently functioning outsourced unit, it’s easy to establish an ODC in most states of Eastern Europe, which also adds comfort and cost-effectiveness to outsourcing in this region.

 

10 reasons to Outsource to Eastern Europe

 

Why Outsourcing Software Development to Eastern Europe is Gaining Notability Among Other Regions?

We all know that Eastern European programmers are getting more popular each year. Foreign companies hire developers not only for excellent skills but because of affordable rates, good English, and an “easy-to-get-along” mentality.

According to HackerRank, Eastern European countries got to the top 20 of the list with the best developers in the world. 

Developers from five Eastern European countries have also won places on the list of the top countries with the best programmers globally, according to SkillValue: 

1st place – Slovakia

2nd place – Poland 

3rd place – Hungary

4th place – Ukraine 

5th place – Czech Republic 

Another critical aspect is the financial affordability of this region. The average hourly rates of professional software developers are lower in Eastern Europe than in the US, the UK, and the majority of Western Europe. In addition, the competition for tech talent in Eastern Europe is much lower than in Western Europe or the USA. As a result, a few global leaders are hiring directly in these countries. Instead of your regular 10 to 14 weeks, you can outsource software developers in Eastern Europe in 3 to 7 weeks, depending on your needs and the capabilities of the selected vendor. With Qubit Labs, it takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks to find the best candidate for you.

 

IT Outsourcing Eastern Europe: The Number of Companies 

Eastern Europe remains one of the most vibrant software development destinations due to the constant growth and development of its IT sector and a high level of digital technology adoption. Countries like Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Belarus, and Romania have defined IT as a significant catalyst for sustainable growth and technological advancement. As a result, between 4,000 and 6,000 vendors specialize in software outsourcing in Eastern Europe.

Let’s have a look at the most popular outsourcing companies in different countries in Eastern Europe:

Ukraine

Ukraine is one of the leading and fastest-developing outsourcing destinations in Eastern Europe. More than 1,000 outsourcing companies offer their help with hiring the best coders with different skills. As a result, Ukraine is a perfect place for successful startups where foreign companies are happy to invest. 

Poland 

Poland has approximately 700 outsourcing companies in the IT sector. Also, Poland scored 70.56 points in the US Chamber of Commerce IP Index 2020, which makes it the safest country among popular outsourcing destinations.

Romania 

Romania is one of the top outsourcing IT destinations in Eastern Europe due to its location, high-quality services, and high English proficiency among developers. Country has more than 250 outsourcing companies. 

Hungary

Hungary counts around 80,000 coders, making this country a vast talent pool that proliferates. This country is not as popular with outsourcing companies but still has great ones. It counts approximately 50+ outsourcing companies.

 

Eastern European Outsourcing Market Analysis by Country

IT outsourcing Eastern Europe is not homogeneous since all countries in the region are unique and varied in terms of salaries, the pool of talent, and work terms.

Therefore, it is strongly recommended to consider each of the best countries in Eastern Europe for outsourcing software projects separately and analyze the IT outsourcing market existing there to make a wise decision for the long-term objective. So, let’s find out which of the following countries is the top outsourcing destination?

Belarus

Belarus IT outsourcing market

Belarus is thus far largely under-explored as an IT outsourcing location though the IT sector occupies 3rd place in its economy. The country has a vibrant talent pool exceeding 80,000 programmers, and over 20,000 new specialists enter the sector every year after graduation from universities.

There are four major IT hubs to outsource software development in Belarus: Minsk, Grodno, Gomel, and Vitebsk, while developers charge $2,500 – $5,000 for their services on average. If you wish to hire a Java developer here, you will need to pay from $2,500 for a junior-level specialist to $5,500 for a senior-level expert.

PHP development costs from $2,000 to $5,000.

Belarus is a highly affordable country both in terms of living and in terms of IT outsourcing.

For instance, the cost of living in Minsk, the country’s capital, is estimated at around $600 per month for a single person, while a four-person family might need $2,000 without rent to live a well-to-do life here.

The state has seven airports and is also quite comfortable to travel to and from. For example, it takes only 3 hours to travel from Minsk to Tel Aviv, 2 hours 40 minutes – to London, and 9.5 hours – to New York.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria IT outsourcing market

Bulgaria is another popular IT outsourcing destination in Eastern Europe, with over 400 IT companies functioning in the market and guaranteeing the country’s leadership in the region.

Companies prefer to outsource software development to Bulgaria because of a great talent pool exceeding 80,000 IT specialists (50% of which are ICT-certified) and a high English proficiency level among Bulgarian programmers (with English included as a compulsory subject in the higher education curriculum).

Companies prefer to establish outsourced teams and R&D centers here because of the expertise and variety of programming languages supplied by the Bulgarian workforce.

The country has received a score of 87.2 out of 100 by HackerRank, which granted it the 12th position among other states. Local developers charge on average from $1,300 to $3,500 per month, with the most popular technologies of specialization including Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, and C#.

There are four major Bulgarian IT hubs, including its capital Sofia and large cities such as Varna, Burgas, and Plovdiv.

The country has five international airports to and from which business clients can easily get to any corner of the world.

For instance, it takes only 2 hours 53 minutes to get to London, 10 hours to reach New York, and 2 hours 17 minutes – to get to Tel Aviv.

The cost of living in Bulgaria is affordable in the context of average regional indicators; for instance, a single person may live comfortably on $650 per month without rent, while a family of four needs $2,500 for comfortable living.

Life in Burgas is cheaper, with $546 needed for one person for comfort, while a family of four requires a monthly income of $1,680.

Hungary

Hungary IT outsourcing market

Hungary is another location that companies preferring to outsource software development to Eastern Europe may consider as an option.

It is not that famous as an IT outsourcing hub, but due to its under-explored potential, it offers a great number of advantages in this sector.

First, the EU membership and a central location make the country closer to Western Europe in terms of mindset, legislation, financial institutions, and time zone, thus ensuring better cohesion between the in-house and outsourced teams.

Second, over 2% of the country’s population is actively employed in the IT sector, making IT outsourcing Hungary a hub with a great talent pool and a diversity of candidates to choose from.

There are over 100,000 software developers in Hungary, and their number increases exponentially, with around 21,000 tech university graduates joining the talent pool every year.

Hungarian IT spending is expected to grow at 2% through 2022, driven mainly by an increase in public sector spending.

The country occupies 12th place in the HackerRank rating with a score of 87.2 and offers a workforce in a variety of technologies with JavaScript, C#, Java, Python, and Ruby prevailing.

In terms of salaries, companies should be ready to pay from $1,800 to $4,500 per month to local developers.

Five large cities are considered IT hubs here: Budapest, Debrecen, Miskolc, Szeged, and Veszprem. Hungary has only four international airports, but they are easily reachable because of the country’s small geographical area, which makes business travel convenient and fast.

In this way, clients from London can get to Budapest in 2 hours, clients from New York reach Hungary in 9 hours 20 minutes, while a trip from Tel Aviv takes only 3 hours.

Hungary is also attractive in terms of the cost of living.

One person living in Budapest needs around $577 for comfortable expenditure, while a family of four requires $1,967 for a well-to-do lifestyle.

Life in other cities is even more affordable, with a single-person budget for living in Debrecen constituting $505.5 and $477 in Szeged.

Poland

Poland IT outsourcing market

Poland is a top-rated IT outsourcing destination in Eastern Europe because of its labor market’s maturity, the long-standing EU membership, the Western culture and mindset, and high English language proficiency.

The software companies in Poland boast an impressive developer talent pool exceeding 88,636 people, with over 15,000 university graduates entering the sector every year. In terms of technical skills, Polish coders enjoy a very high HackerRank rating of 98 out of 100.

When it comes to IT department outsourcing to Poland, clients can find a handful of skills and talent, with programmers specializing in both common and rare technologies, while the commonest specialization includes Java, C#, C/C++, JS, .NET, and Python.

There are five major tech hubs in Poland: Krakow, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Lodz, and Poznan, while rates charged by programmers across the state range from $750 to $5,500.

The cost of living in Poland is higher than in many other neighboring states; a single person requires $650 without rent for comfortable living in Krakow, while the cost of living in Warsaw amounts to $700 per month for one individual.

There are 11 airports in Poland, which makes it very easy for clients to get to their outsourcing teams on business. The time needed for travel is also moderate; it takes 9 hours 18 minutes to get from Krakow to New York, 2 hours – to get to London, and 3 hours 20 minutes – to Tel Aviv.

Moldova

It outsourcing to Moldova

Moldova is quite promising and fast-growing IT location which is full of driven and motivated developers. It is an attractive, but a bit untold destination for hiring great developers for your team. Moldova has the potential to become a leader of innovations and technology development with highly-skilled, multilingual professionals who are ready to develop complex projects and help companies achieve their business goals.

Companies prefer to hire developers there because of its great talent pool exceeding 60,000 which is an impressive number for a relatively small country. High English proficiency is another solid factor why companies choose Moldova for IT outsourcing

The number of IT companies located in Moldova has increased as well, and now, in 2022, such a small country has 2300 IT companies that mostly export their services and digital products in central and western Europe. 

There are 3 major IT hubs in Moldova namely Chisinau, Tiraspol and Balti.
The most popular technical languages are Java, Javascript and Python. 

As for salaries, junior-level developers on Java language earn $750 monthly while mid-level developers receive $1527 per month. The senior developer on the same technology can earn $2000. JavaScript developer salary ranges from $900 and can go up to $2300 monthly. 

Python developers make around $1200 for entry-level. The middle-level Python developer earns $1700 while the senior developer charges around $2650.

The UTC+2 time zone makes Moldova quite convenient to communicate with and communicate with the Western market without any issues. The geographic point is also well-located as it is only 2-3 hours away from central European locations. In addition, there is a visa-free entrance for citizens to the majority of countries.The cost of living in Moldova is quite affordable. A single person requires $500 without rent for comfortable living in Tiraspol, while the cost of living in Chisinau amounts to $650 per month for one individual.

Romania

Romania IT outsourcing market

Romania has all chances to take the lead among Eastern Europe software outsourcing locations.

It takes first place in the region in terms of IT outsourcing and exhibits quick growth in this area.

Reasons for which clients prefer Romania outsourcing companies to others are the multilingual talent pool (with English, French, Italian, and German enjoying the highest popularity), expert IT knowledge (the HackerRank score of 81.9 out of 100), and affordable rates ($1,000-$7,000).

The most popular technologies in the IT sector here are PHP ($1,600 to $3,750), Java ($1,000 to $2,750), and JavaScript ($1,300 to $3,900).

The cities in which IT outsourcing Romania talent is concentrated include Bucharest, Galati, and Cluj.

There are only four airports in Romania, but given the country’s small area, this number still ensures the convenience of getting to any major city by air.

It takes 2 hours 20 minutes to get from Bucharest to Tel Aviv, 10 hours – to New York, and 3 hours – to London.

The cost of living in Romania is generally more affordable than in many neighboring countries.

For instance, the monthly cost of living in Bucharest constitutes $488 for a single person and $1,706 for a family consisting of four persons. For comparison, living in Cluj costs $460 per person and $1,593 per four-person household without rent.

Ukraine

Ukraine IT outsourcing market

The largest talent pool attracts companies that choose to outsource software development to Ukraine in Eastern Europe (over 160,000 programmers) and immense growth potential that the country reveals (18 local outsourcing companies included in the IAOP Global Outsourcing 100 list).

Ukrainian developers are ranked 88.7 out of 100 by HackerRank and specialize both in common programming technologies and in rare, even exclusive, ones.

Software developer salaries in Ukraine range from $500 to $3,500 per month on average here.

The cost of living in Ukraine is highly affordable, ranging from around $350-400 per one person (maximum $500 in Kyiv). There are 21 airports in the country.

In addition, the ease of travel to and from Ukraine is impressive: it takes only 3 hours to get from Kyiv to London, 10 hours – to New York, and 3 hours – to Tel Aviv.

 

Outsourcing Software Development to Eastern Europe: Salaries of Eastern European Developers by Technology

Belarus Bulgaria Hungary Poland Romania Ukraine
PHP $11,360 $21,550 $15,350 $21,950 $17,660 $25,000
Java $14,100 $22,000 $18,270 $25,270 $21,740 $24,000
Python $15,160 $20,200 $18,805 $24,370 $19,140 $27,900
JavaScript $14,200 $25,000 $17,850 $21,790 $21,300 $22,300
C++ $16,550 $27,600 $20,400 $25,000 $19,540 $28,000
React $12,520 $18,000 $17,500 $22,800 $22,300 $12,840
Node.js $14,560 $26,600 $17,780 $26,800 $18,470 $24,300
Unity $12,500 $24,000 $15,650 $15,700 $21,460 $15,130

 

    • PHP developer salaries in Eastern Europe range from $11,360 in Belarus to $25,000 in Ukraine.
    • IT outsourcing Europe implies paying Java developers $14,100 in Belarus, $18,270 in Hungary, $21,740 in Romania, $22,000 in Bulgaria, $24,000 in Ukraine, and $25,270 in Poland.
    • Python developer salary in Eastern Europe is the highest compared to other technologies, which ranges from $15,160 in Poland, $20,200 in Bulgaria, and $27,900 in Ukraine.
    • The highest JavaScript programmer salary in terms of software development Eastern Europe is in Bulgaria – $25,000 per annum.
    • C++ developers make $16,550 per year in Belarus and $28,000 in Ukraine.
    • React IT outsourcing Hungary is $17,500, which is lower than in Poland – $22,800.
    • Node.js programmers in Poland have the highest payments in the region – $26,600, while in Belarus, such software engineers make $14,560, and in Romania – $18,470.

IT outsourcing Romania implies paying $21,460 for Unity developers, and in Bulgaria, their wages are slightly higher – $24,000.

Get access to the full report by filling in this form.

 

The Best IT Outsourcing Companies in Eastern Europe

Qubit Labs 

Qubit Labs is a company that has extensive experience in hiring developers for various business models. The company’s professionals can match you with top-notch programmers, be it mobile or web development, game design, or FinTech. The company provides legal support, takes care of payrolls and onboarding, and ensures hassle-free and transparent hiring processes.

SCAND

The company aims for long-term business relationships by providing tailored development services options. SCAND has extensive experience in the area of outsourcing and provides services in web and mobile application development, cloud computing, and UI/UX.

Accedia 

Accedia helps clients scale their team size and finds the developers with the required skills to minimize operational overhead. It has clients from many countries and provides great opportunities for leveraging remote collaboration.

IncQuery Labs

The company is one of the leaders in IT outsourcing Hungary. It provides tailored business solutions and helps clients to streamline team adaptation and technology transfer. They have many successful cases, including the ones in the aerospace industry.

JCommerce

Being a trusted IT company Poland, JCommerce can be rightfully referred to as the top-rated local outsourcing vendor. It has experience in projects in e-learning, healthcare, and e-commerce.

AROBS

This is one of the leading Romania players in the IT outsourcing market, which has 20+ years of experience. AROBS is capable of developing projects in the Automotive, IoT, and travel & hospitality industries.

 

Qubit Labs: Eastern Europe Software Outsourcing Company

Based on the provided data, Eastern Europe seems to be a perfect outsourcing location where the pool of programming talent is impressive, and its combination with low rates is ideal for any employer.

If you have decided to outsource software development to this region, Ukraine is offering the best cost-benefit balance.

Hiring developers in Ukraine is not hard because of the abundance of talent and availability of diverse tech stack here; Qubit Labs can help you with the recruitment process by completing the hiring of any complexity – from a single specialist to the entire coding team.

We offer excellent scaling opportunities for clients by finding one or two programmers according to their requirements at first, then expanding the team with additional staff, and even helping the clients open their R&D office in Ukraine.

Get started with outsourcing to Eastern Europe together with Qubit Labs, your trusted professional recruiter!

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Iva Kozlovskaya
Managing Partner
Iva Kozlovskaya is a Managing Partner of Qubit Labs. Iva has been working in operations, sales and project management from the beginning of her career path. Nowadays Iva runs her company that helps clients from the USA, Europe, and the Middle East to establish their development teams in Ukraine.