Which is the best option Onshore, Nearshore or Offshore?

Nowadays, it is very common that businesses, universities, non profit organizations and startups, outsource a company, to develop their web or mobile products.

When we talk about outsourcing, there are different options we can afford such as: onshore, nearshore and offshore. These options can be taken into an account when we are out of time or money.

When you are looking for the right software company, you must have clear some things:

• What are you looking for? The best developer? The best price? The best quality?


• Is communication an important factor for you?


After taking this things into an account, the main question you must do is if you should onshore, offshore, or nearshore the company?

That’s why, here we´ll  explain you the main difference between them, and their main advantages and disadvantages.

Onshore Outsourcing:

When you choose the onshore outsourcing option, you are hiring a company that is located in the same country you are.

The main advantage you’ll have with this option, is that you will work with a company which has the same culture as you, and if you are located in the USA, probably the team will be highly skilled.

Despite this, the main disadvantage you will face if you hire an onshore outsourcing company, is that the hourly rate price will be high, from approximately 150 dollars onwards.

Offshore Outsourcing:

If you choose the offshoring option, you’ll be working with a team that will be probably located in the middle east. (USA-India) Although, the cost of working with offshore companies is very low, there are some disadvantages to consider.

Firstly, communication is more difficult as the time zone is different. There are around 12 hours of difference.

Beside this, communication can also be difficult because of cultural differences and language barriers.

But if your main priority is low price hourly rate, definitely this is the best option.

Nearshore Outsourcing:

The last option is to hire a nearshore company, in this case your team members will be localized in a similar time zone, (USA- Latin American countries) making communication more fluent and easy.

Despite, nearshore companies can’t compete with the  hourly rates of offshore companies, their price is more accessible than onshore prices.

In my opinion, it is more important to have a good communication with your team in order to follow them, answer and ask questions, than having a team which is located in another time zone and it’s difficult to communicate and understand each other.

In long term, maybe it is more expensive to offshore, because you can spend more hours of work because of communications difficulties, high travel costs (if necessary) and production problems that end in not fulfilling the agreed deadlines.

To conclude, the nearshore option offers a mix of onshore and offshore advantages,  it offers good communication, and an excellent price-quality relation.

So if you are looking for an nearshore outsourcing company, don’t doubt in contacting us, as we were identified us as one of Clutch’s top web & mobile application developers, in Latin America.