Comparison

Nearshore vs in-house engineering.

In-house engineers are the right answer for the core of your product and the institutional knowledge that compounds over years. Nearshore is the right answer for everything else: elastic capacity, specialist skills, and speed when hiring locally would take a quarter.

A loaded-cost view

A US senior engineer at $180k base typically costs $240k–$280k loaded (benefits, taxes, equipment, recruiter fees, manager overhead). An equivalent EU-based nearshore engineer runs $110k–$150k all-in, with no recruiter fee, no severance overhang, and no 90-day ramp before they touch code.

When in-house wins

Core IP, platform architecture, security-critical systems, and the people who will be there in five years.

When nearshore wins

Net-new product lines, AI features you need to ship this quarter, migrations, and any bench of specialists you only need part-time.