Outsource software development and save $225,860/year per engineer.
saved per year per engineer. Replace a $242,500 fully-loaded US Senior Full-Stack hire with a dedicated remote engineer at $16,640/year.
Full-stack, frontend, backend, mobile, DevOps, QA, AI/ML — dedicated full-time engineers placed globally starting at $5/hour. They sit in your Slack, attend your standups, own tickets in your Jira, and report to your engineering lead. 7-10 days to first commit.
Where the $225,860/year per engineer comes from.
Salary benchmarks reflect 2026 BLS data in major US metros. Net savings of 93% gross / 60–70% net are realistic once you account for management overhead.
| Cost Component | In-House (US) | Zedtreeo Dedicated | Annual Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary (US Sr. Full-Stack) | $150,000 | $16,640 | $150,000 |
| Benefits + payroll taxes (30%) | $45,000 | Included | $45,000 |
| Equipment + software licenses | $5,500 | Included | $5,500 |
| Recruitment (20% of salary) | $30,000 | $0 | $30,000 |
| Office, IT, HR overhead | $12,000 | $0 | $12,000 |
| Total Year 1 | $242,500 | $16,640 | −$225,860 (93% gross / 60–70% net) |
Six reasons buyers move first.
Talent shortage is structural, not cyclical
McKinsey projects an 85M-person global skilled labor gap by 2030, with software engineering one of the most acute categories. Posting a $170K req in San Francisco no longer guarantees a single quality applicant in 45 days.
Cost arbitrage that still holds in 2026
A vetted senior engineer through Zedtreeo costs $8-$10/hr (~$1,600/month). The same role in the US carries a fully-loaded cost of $200K+. The gap is structural and persists even after wage compression in Indian metros.
7-10 day time-to-hire vs 45-60 day US recruiting
Zedtreeo's median time-to-onboard for engineering roles is 7-10 business days from kickoff brief. Internal US recruiting averages 45-60 days plus another 60-90 days of ramp. The roadmap slip is real money.
AI augmentation lifts every dedicated engineer 25-40%
Engineers pairing with Copilot, Cursor, and Claude Code report 25-40% higher output per ticket. A $5/hour developer using AI tools effectively produces output that competes with an $80/hour developer who isn't.
Follow-the-sun development is now affordable
A ticket your London team opens at 6pm can be in code review when they log on the next morning. Dedicated engineers placed across timezones turn an 8-hour workday into a continuous 24-hour build/test/deploy cycle.
Burst capacity without W-2 risk
Hire 4 engineers for a product launch and contract back to 2 without severance exposure, unemployment liability, or contractor-classification risk. The 5-day risk-free trial removes commitment friction at the front of every placement.
From brief to first day of work.
Most engagements move from first conversation to a fully onboarded dedicated specialist in under two weeks.
Brief
45-min scoping. Stack, seniority, team context. Day 1.
Shortlist
Technical screen + 2–4 vetted profiles with code samples. Days 1–4.
Interview
You run your normal loop — technical, system design, behavioral. Days 5–7.
Onboard
NDA, VDI/laptop, Slack, Jira, GitHub access. Days 8–10.
Manage
Engineer reports to your engineering manager. We handle payroll, replacement, performance.
Tiered by experience, not by tricks.
No recruitment fees, no minimums, no per-task surcharges. Month-to-month.
Standard
Junior dev, QA, WordPress, frontend. 0–3 years experience.
- ✓Full-time dedicated
- ✓Your tooling + NDA
- ✓Equipment + benefits
- ✓Replacement guarantee
Mid
Mid full-stack, backend, mobile, Python, PHP. 3–5 years experience.
- ✓3–5 years experience
- ✓Code review participation
- ✓Sprint ownership
- ✓Cross-stack fluency
Senior
Senior dev, DevOps, AI/ML, architect, engineering manager. 6+ years experience.
- ✓6+ years experience
- ✓System design ownership
- ✓Tech lead capability
- ✓Mentor capacity
Common questions.
If you don't see your question, our team usually replies within 4 hours.
How much does it cost to outsource software development?
How fast can I hire an outsourced developer?
Are these freelancers or dedicated employees?
What if my outsourced developer doesn't work out?
Do they work in my timezone?
What about data security and IP ownership?
Can I outsource a single developer or only a full team?
Why outsource through Zedtreeo vs hiring direct contractors in India?
Save $225,860 per seat. Year 1.
Get matched with a dedicated specialist in 48 hours. Free 5-day trial. No contracts. No recruitment fees.