Okay, real talk. I’m Kayla, and I’ve hired offshore software teams for three real projects. Some parts felt smart. Some parts made me groan. You know what? I’d do it again—but only with guardrails.
Below is what worked, what didn’t, and the little things that saved me from late-night chaos.
For a blow-by-blow recap of all three engagements, I documented the process in a longer case study on Cupid Systems here.
The Quick Version
- Offshore can save money and time.
- Talent is strong, but trust is built, not assumed.
- Clear scope, daily touchpoints, and good handoff notes matter.
- Time zones can be a gift or a headache, depending on how you plan.
What I Needed, For Real
I’m a product lead who wears too many hats. I needed:
- A new mobile app MVP.
- A backend rescue for a project that stalled.
- A round of QA and test automation without hiring full-time.
I had a budget, a deadline, and a coffee habit. I also had Slack, Jira, GitHub, and Zoom ready to go.
Try #1: APIs With a Team in Pune, India
I hired a small team in Pune to build a set of APIs for a client portal. We used Node.js, Postgres, and Swagger docs. We met on Zoom twice a week, with a 30-minute overlap in the morning for me and evening for them. It felt tight, but fine.
Wins:
- They shipped a working login flow in week one.
- Test coverage hit 72% by week three.
- CI ran on GitHub Actions, with branch rules I set up. No cowboy commits.
Pain:
- My specs were vague at first. My bad. They built what I wrote, not what I meant.
- Diwali slowed things down for a few days. I forgot to plan for it.
Result:
- 7 weeks. $18,400. Clean code, stable API, clear README. I slept better after we fixed auth scopes.
Try #2: A Flutter MVP With a Team in Ho Chi Minh City
This one was a mobile app for booking local classes. Flutter front end, Firebase on the back. Figma designs were 90% done. We used Loom for quick videos, which helped a lot.
Wins:
- Fast sprints. A working “book a spot” flow by day 10.
- Pixel-perfect UI. They cared about spacing and states. Loved that.
- Tet holiday came up; they flagged it early, so we planned around it.
Pain:
- Push notifications broke on iOS for a week. Certificates, ugh.
- I had to simplify the feature list. Too much for an MVP. That wasn’t on them though.
Result:
- 6 weeks. $22,100. Live TestFlight build. We got 200 beta users in two weeks.
Try #3: Backend Rescue With a Team in Kraków, Poland
This was a tough one. A legacy .NET app needed a port to Node and a proper queue. The Polish team handled the gnarly parts: jobs, retries, and slow queries.
Wins:
- Strong senior dev who talked straight. Great code reviews.
- They gave me a rollback plan, step by step. Calm under stress.
Need a refresher on disaster-recovery best practices? This candid review of DR software breaks it down.
Pain:
- Higher rates than the other teams—still fair.
- Some standups felt too formal. I wanted more quick Slack updates.
Result:
- 5 weeks. $29,800. Queue with RabbitMQ, 58% faster batch jobs, fewer timeout errors. My on-call phone stayed quiet. Sweet relief.
What Worked Well (Across All Three)
- Daily written updates in Slack: yesterday, today, blockers.
- Real specs: short user stories with sample data and edge cases.
- Shared tools: Jira for tickets, Figma for design, GitHub for code, Notion for docs.
- Short Loom videos to explain weird bits. Saved hours.
- Weekly demo calls with a live screen share. No smoke, no mirrors.
Want a deeper checklist? I borrowed a lot of my own playbook from this guide on offshore software development best practices.
What Hurt (And How I Fixed It)
- Time zones: I kept a 60-minute overlap window. Non-negotiable.
- Holiday gaps: I asked for a list up front. I shared my list too.
- Vague scope: I wrote a simple “definition of done” for each task.
- Quality dips: I set code owners and branch rules. Reviews before merges.
- Surprise bills: Fixed-fee milestones with a small buffer. I like no surprises.
Money Talk (Because You Asked)
- India team: $30–$50 per hour, small team of three.
- Vietnam team: $35–$55 per hour, two devs and a QA.
- Poland team: $55–$90 per hour, one senior, one mid.
I spent less than a local team would cost me. But guess what? The real value was speed and sleep. Shipping on time helps you keep clients. That’s worth more than the rate.
Tools and Habits That Saved Me
- Slack with channels per feature. Threads only. Emojis are fine.
- Jira with clear labels: backend, mobile, QA, blocked.
- GitHub with branch protection and required checks.
- Figma for handoff. Redlines and named frames.
- Notion for docs. One page per module, with “how to run” notes.
- Loom for 3-minute explainers. No essays needed.
Security note: I granted access by role, not by trust. Least access that still lets them work. Simple, safe.
Time Zones and Culture: The Human Stuff
- I booked standups at 8:30 a.m. my time. Yes, I drank coffee. A lot.
- I learned hello and thank you in Vietnamese and Polish. Small thing, big smiles.
- We sent gift cards for big launches. People matter. Work is work, but still.
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Red Flags I Watch For Now
- “We’ll figure it out later.” No. Tell me how.
- No demo by week two.
- No tests at all, and no plan for them.
- One person who knows everything. That’s a risk.
- Vague bills. I want itemized time and tasks.
Who Should Try Offshore—and Who Shouldn’t
You should, if:
- You can write a clear goal and a short spec.
- You’ll show up for a quick daily check-in.
- You can trade a little control for speed and cost.
Maybe don’t, if:
- You hate writing things down.
- You need heavy R&D with lots of unknowns.
- Your data is super sensitive and your setup is not ready.
Still feeling brand-new to the software game? These beginner wins and fails might resonate.
If you're looking for a curated shortlist of offshore pros, Cupid Systems can connect you with teams that already know how to hit the ground running. If you’re evaluating partners yourself, this primer on choosing an offshore development company spells out the key questions to ask before you commit.
My Verdict
Offshore software development worked for me. Not magic. Not cheap in spirit. But with clear scope, steady habits, and kind people, it felt strong and steady.
Would I do it again? Yes—with good specs, real demos, and tight feedback. And coffee. Always coffee.
If you’re on the fence, start small. One feature, one sprint, one demo. Watch how they work when no one’s grandstanding. That tells you the truth.