Nearshore Software Development Teams
We build and operate top-10% nearshore software development teams in Latin America and Eastern Europe. You get:
- Your own nearshore tech team hired from scratch
- 30+ elite engineers in 3 months, 100+ in a year
- Up to 40% cost savings
- No need to set up a legal entity
- Fully managed back-office
- No buy-out costs or hidden fees
- Your direct management and corporate culture
Mexico
Colombia
Argentina
Chile
Poland
Romania
Ukraine
BulgariaYour Own Up and Running Nearshore Dedicated Development Team of
Can a Nearshore Software Team Provider Guarantee You
2.5 years
average tenure of developers
Cultural alignment
with your company values
Pricing transparency
no hidden or buy-out fees
Legal & compliance
and other needed operational support
Exceptional dedication
it’s literally your own team
Long-term partnership
shared responsibility & commitmentKey Things About a Nearshore Software Development Team
Advantages of working with a nearshore development team
Engaging with an external nearshore development team may be a profitable short-term solution due to:
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Operational functions are off your shoulders
Since your provider is responsible for tech hiring (if needed), employing, as well as handling payroll, accounting, equipment procurement, and other back-office functions, you won’t need to do this yourself.
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Access to trained professionals
Providers of nearshore software development services tend to already have an internal pool of pre-vetted engineers who are ready to join your team in mere weeks. But if your vendor lacks the needed software development experts, they will recruit them the traditional way.
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Employee management flexibility
If you have changes in your product requirements or business needs, your provider will rather quickly upsize or downsize a nearshore software development team. Plus, if you work with a reliable firm, they will provide you with a candidate replacement guarantee.
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Focus on core activities
Your in-house staff can focus on high-priority projects while a nearshore software team can overtake less strategic tasks.
Challenges of working with nearshore development team
In the long run, this approach also poses significant risks:
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Buy-out fees
If you want to hire a member or a whole nearshore software development team full-time, you’ll have to buy them out from your provider. Sometimes, this procedure entails stressful negotiations and ends with a hefty check that might reach up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a team.
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Project-centric mindset
As such teams transition from one client’s project to another, they may struggle to adapt to your company’s processes. This can create tension with your in-house crew, potentially leading to delayed responses, missed deadlines, and lower-quality work.
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No scaling opportunities
When you hire a nearshore software development team, it poses a challenge in winning over investors. Delegating your core competencies to developers who will eventually leave your team could be viewed as a shaky foundation, wouldn’t you say?
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Data security concerns
Entrusting a nearshore software development company with your product development means sharing sensitive company data and potentially exposing your valuable intellectual property rights to risks. Without robust security measures in place, there is a heightened risk of data breaches, leaks, or unauthorized access.
Nearshore development team vs alternatives
| Feature | Nearshore Software Development Team | Outsourced Vendor | Own R&D Center Abroad |
| Time Zone Compatibility | High (1–3 hour overlap ensures real‑time collaboration) | Low (6–12 hour gaps delay communication) | High (if set up in nearshore region) |
| Team Loyalty & Retention | Medium to High (depends on engagement model and hiring process) | Low (resources rotate across clients and projects) | Very High (direct hires under your brand) |
| Cost Efficiency | High (up to 40% savings vs. US/UK, no quality loss) | High (but often with hidden vendor fees) | Medium (requires upfront investment but pays off long‑term) |
| Control Over Processes | Moderate to High (with direct hiring or EOR model) | Low (vendor manages team, not client) | Full (you manage recruitment, HR, legal, and workflow) |
| Integration with In‑House Team | Strong (use your tools, KPIs, and processes) | Weak (minimal alignment and ownership) | Complete (team operates like your in‑house staff) |
| Scalability | Fast (hire 5–10 developers/month via proven nearshore recruitment) | Fast (but often lacks consistency in talent quality) | Slower (requires infrastructure and legal setup) |
| Legal/IP Protection | High (when working with a compliant R&D partner like Alcor) | Low (IP ownership and security often unclear) | Full (everything remains under your company’s jurisdiction) |
Types of projects best suited for nearshore software development
Not every project requires a nearshore development team, but certain types of initiatives gain a distinct competitive advantage from this model. Mission-critical systems that require continuous collaboration and frequent iterations are ideal, as a nearshore software development team works within a similar time zone, allowing for real-time feedback loops.
For example, U.S. companies building AI-driven SaaS platforms often hire nearshore developers to accelerate MVP creation while keeping intellectual property secure. Similarly, financial services enterprises expanding their product lines turn to nearshore software development teams in Eastern Europe and Latin America for expertise in data security and fintech compliance.
Other high-impact project categories include:
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Cloud migration and DevOps support requiring 24/7 uptime.
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Enterprise-scale product engineering where cultural alignment improves collaboration.
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Long-term R&D teams where retaining knowledge and talent continuity is critical.
In short, a nearshore team is best suited for complex, strategic projects that demand agility, security, and strong cultural compatibility.
Top nearshoring destinations
When choosing where to build your nearshoring team, two regions stand out for U.S. and Western European companies: Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Latin America (LatAm):
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Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil are leading markets with strong pools of English-speaking developers.
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Proximity to U.S. time zones (often just 1–3 hours difference) ensures seamless collaboration.
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Competitive salaries paired with technical expertise in cloud, AI, and mobile development.
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Example: U.S. tech companies often hire in Colombia for scalable R&D centers, benefiting from both cost savings and fast communication.
Eastern Europe:
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Countries like Poland, Romania, and Ukraine have become hubs for software development due to world-class STEM education and deep expertise in cybersecurity, fintech, and enterprise solutions.
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High cultural alignment with Western business practices.
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Example: Over 30% of Fortune 500 companies leverage teams in Eastern Europe for complex enterprise solutions.
Both regions provide scalable talent pools, secure IP protection, and cost efficiencies—making them strategic partners for companies aiming to accelerate growth without compromising quality.
What is a nearshore software development center
A nearshore software R&D center is a fresh alternative to traditional team extension approaches, such as nearshore development teams. With this solution, you get your own software research and development center turnkey ready and a team of 10 to 100 skilled engineers within a year. And when Alcor steps in?
IT recruitment
With a team of 40 experienced IT headhunters, we offer full-cycle IT recruiting services across 9 countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe to hire your dream engineers. We handle it all: starting with thorough sourcing and finishing with smooth onboarding of your developers. Within 2-6 weeks, we can find a perfect match for your team, ensuring top-notch quality as 98.6% of our candidates successfully pass the probation period.
EoR support
If you hire with Alcor, you don’t need to establish your legal entity in a target location. Leave all the nitty-greedy tasks to our experts! We’ll take care of the employment of nearshore teams and compliance with all local laws, with payroll and tax management covered. You can rest assured while focusing on your core tasks, as in case of a fine because of our mistake, we provide 100% compensation.
Full operational support
We go even further and offer a bunch of other additional services such as hardware procurement for your nearshore software team, office lease, your employer’s brand promotion in the local market, visa support, and more. Just choose what fits your business needs best.
We Reinvent Nearshore Development Team Concept
- From 0 to 100+ engineers in one key talent pool
- Employer of record – no entity compliant employment
- Comprehensive in-country support
- No buyout or other hidden fees
- Your team from day one. Your management. Your culture.
Assemble Your Perfect Nearshore Development Team
Get precise estimations according to your JDs.
Estimate my team costOwn R&D Center vs Nearshore Software Development
Tech R&D Center
- Silicon Valley-caliber talent We recruit 30+ elite senior developers in 3 months. All decisions regarding the team are up to you.
- Transparent pricing Detailed invoices help you be in control of your finances. Plus, your tech R&D team is x2 more affordable than an external one.
- Your team & branding You get a tech team with shared values for innovation and growth – 90% retention rate & an average tenure of 2.5 years.
- No setup & buyout fees No setup fee is needed to start building your software R&D team. Plus, there is no buyout process – your team now, free insourcing after.
- Intellectual property under control With direct agreements, you fully own your product and its source code, keeping unique expertise in-house.
Nearshore Software Team
- Junior/middle-level talent You can’t control the quality of talent. Plus, with planned moves to new customers after 1 year, your A-players will be snatched away.
- High markups Some providers charge up to 50% of talent compensation to earn more without the client knowing about it.
- Not your brand & practices Developers work under your provider’s brand. Thus, there’s no room for your corporate culture, policies, and direct oversight.
- High setup & buyout fees Most vendors require contractual & financial obligations first. Then, you pay 20% of a developer’s annual compensation in buy-out fees.
- Intellectual property risks IP rights over your product initially belong to developers of your provider. You get minimum security and a tedious transfer process.
Companies Scaling with Alcor
Alcor is a reliable partner that meets our hiring needs. We finally hired experienced software engineers in Eastern Europe with strong tech skills and business acumen. Account Managers are awesome!
With Alcor’s all-in-one solution, we got a software R&D office with 15 senior PHP devs and a compliant operational coverage. I really appreciated their transparent pricing structure and deep expertise.
We interviewed a lot of EoR platforms and companies, but Alcor was the only one that provides a combo package of EoR and Recruting offerings. Alcor helped us build a full stack team in 1.5 month.
We wanted to switch from our outsourcing provider, and Alcor has become really game-changing for us. Within a mere 6 months, we got a fully-fledged team of 30 engineers in our own R&D office.
Alcor’s R&D solution eclipses full-cycle recruitment, EOR service, and operational support for our offshore team. Their ‘all-in-one place’ approach is far more cost-effective than I could’ve imagined.
I value their commitment to going the extra mile. We evolved from an outstaff project into an independent company, and Alcor’s support was crucial. They hired and ondoarded 15+ professionals for us.
Thanks to Alcor, we hired four engineers and a designer that strengthened our team. Beside stellar recruitment, Alcor flawlessly handled our payroll. Their approach was seamless and swift.
Alcor closed our 4 QA positions in a month and more than doubled the team in a year! We chose Alcor because of their communication style, cost, scope of services, and ideas to help us be successful.
Expanding our engineering team outside the US with Alcor was a game-changer! They found 15 talented developers and provided seamless EOR & operational support. Great responsiveness to our needs!
Alcor’s flexible model helped us scale from 0 to 30 devs in a year first, and then to 50! No buy-out fees, seamless hiring, and top-tier talent. A hassle-free way to grow without setting up a subsidiary!
FAQ
What are the top regions to nearshore development team services?
Latin America and Eastern Europe are top destinations for establishing a nearshore software development team. Both regions host R&D centers of such tech sharks as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and others. Together, LATAM and EE boast a rich pool of tech talent amounting to over 3 million. Plus, both regions offer a more cost-efficient salary rate than the US. Thus, on average, developers from Latin America earn $38,350 a year, while Eastern European engineers get $52,180. That’s a 2-3 times difference compared to their counterparts in the United States.
As for location, Latin American countries are easily accessible from major US cities, sharing the same time zone with most of them, which ensures smooth management of nearshore dedicated teams. On the other hand, Eastern Europe is just a 1-2 hour flight away from major European capitals like London, Berlin, and Paris. The time difference can also be advantageous, allowing businesses to benefit from an almost 24-hour workday (your in-house devs start work after your nearshore development teams are done with theirs).
What are the top countries to nearshore software development?
Countries like Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Chile have thriving tech ecosystems in LATAM, whereas Poland, Romania, Ukraine, and Bulgaria stand out as tech frontiers in Eastern Europe.
These destinations are top choices among product tech companies looking to set up a nearshore dedicated development team, each offering a rich talent pool with diverse tech stacks, moderate salary rates, and vibrant tech environments.
Unsure which country is the best fit for your tech business? Share your goals with your strategic partner, Alcor, and we’ll help you select the perfect destination!
How do cultural differences impact nearshore software development?
What is the difference between onshore vs. nearshore teams?
Onshore development means hiring software teams within your own country. While this provides the highest level of cultural alignment, native language fluency, and no time zone differences, it also comes with significantly higher costs and often limited access to specialized talent.
Nearshore development, by contrast, places your team in nearby countries with similar time zones—such as U.S. companies working with teams in Latin America, or Western European firms partnering with Eastern European engineers. This model combines cost efficiency with strong cultural compatibility and overlapping working hours. For example, a U.S. company partnering with a team in Mexico can save up to 40% on development costs while maintaining daily real-time collaboration.
What about time zones differences with nearshore teams?
A nearshore software development team is typically located within 1–4 hours of your headquarters’ time zone. For U.S. companies, this means real-time collaboration during the working day—standups, reviews, and brainstorming sessions can happen without delays. For example, executives in New York can coordinate easily with a nearshore team in Bogotá, enjoying just a one-hour difference. In contrast, offshore destinations like India or the Philippines come with 10–12 hour gaps, often forcing communication into late nights or early mornings. Nearshoring ensures your developers remain an extension of your in-house team, not just external contractors.
How do you choose where to expand your tech business?
When choosing the ideal nearshoring destination for your tech business, key factors to consider include the size of the talent pool, local salary rates, and the overall business environment. In Latin America, Mexico stands out with a vibrant talent pool of around 800,000+ software developers, followed by Colombia with 165,000+, Argentina with 150,000+, and Chile with 100,000+. In Eastern Europe, Poland boasts over 650,000+ tech professionals, while Ukraine has 302,000+ developers, Romania offers 250,000+, and Bulgaria contributes over 116,000+.
Regarding salary ranges, the average wage for LATAM developers spans from $35,400 to $42,360, while in Eastern Europe, salaries range from $45,000 to $59,000 per year. To be more specific, JavaScript developers in Poland get around $69,000 annually, while their counterparts in Mexico earn around $42,000—a stark difference compared to the US, where these engineers charge $103,000 yearly.
The business environment in each country is unique, offering different opportunities for tech businesses, as well as varying tax rates and legal compliance requirements. The good news is that regardless of which country you choose for software nearshoring, you don’t have to navigate these complexities alone. At Alcor, we help you select the best destination based on your business needs and goals, hire the top 10% of talent in the market for your software team, and navigate the peculiarities of each location, handling employment, payroll, tax management, legal compliance, and more.
What are the alternatives to a dedicated software team?
To bypass the pitfalls of this collaboration model, tech companies opt for nearshoring and offshoring by establishing their own software R&D centers, rather than relying on providers’ nearshore software teams. With this approach, you gain your own research and development office, backed by comprehensive support services, including full-cycle tech recruitment, office leasing, end-of-relationship (EoR) services, legal compliance, employer brand promotion, and office maintenance. With Alcor, you can hire a nearshore software development team and expect your brand-new office to be launched in just 2 months.
Can a nearshore software development team handle a rare tech stack project?
Yes. Nearshore software development teams are well‑equipped to support rare or specialized technology stacks, including Rust, Elixir, Go, Scala, and AI/ML frameworks. Partnering with an experienced provider like Alcor gives you access to a curated talent pool of over 600,000 pre‑vetted engineers in Eastern Europe and LATAM. These regions have mature tech ecosystems, strong engineering education, and proven success in sourcing senior‑level talent for complex, high‑skill projects. You get speed, quality, and skill coverage—even for hard‑to‑fill roles.
What are the best development methodologies for nearshore dedicated software teams?
Nearshore software development teams perform best with methodologies Scrum or Kanban. These frameworks promote continuous delivery, collaboration, and iterative development—ideal for real‑time coordination within similar time zones. For more complex or regulated projects, nearshore software teams can also support hybrid models, including DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, or Test‑Driven Development (TDD). The key advantage lies in seamless integration with your in‑house team’s workflow, allowing shared sprint planning, stand‑ups, and retrospectives that align with your product goals and delivery standards.
What are the cost benefits of nearshoring?
Software development nearshoring offers significant cost savings—up to 40% lower than hiring devs in the US or Western Europe—without sacrificing talent quality. Countries like Poland, Romania, Mexico, and Colombia provide access to senior‑level developers at competitive rates, often between $30 and $50 per hour. Unlike traditional outsourcing, nearshore development teams also reduce overhead by minimizing timezone misalignment, communication friction, and rework. When built through a transparent hiring model, nearshore dedicated software development teams eliminate hidden fees and vendor markups, giving you full budget control and better ROI over the long term.
Can I manage a nearshore team like my in-house staff?
Yes, managing a nearshore software development team is very similar to working with your in‑house staff—especially when you use modern collaboration tools and direct hiring models. Nearshore developers operate in overlapping time zones, speak fluent English, and adopt your company’s tools, workflows, and sprint rituals. You can involve them in planning sessions, product demos, code reviews, and team retrospectives. With the right onboarding, performance tracking, and regular feedback, nearshore software development teams integrate seamlessly into your engineering culture. The result is higher ownership, better delivery, and long‑term commitment that matches in‑house standards.