I don’t put much weight on “best nearshore companies” rankings, because I can almost never see how they were put together. What I trust more is a vendor’s answers to specific questions, in writing, before any contract.
To evaluate a nearshore development partner, send eight questions by email before the first call: who runs the technical interview, how many candidates you’ll see, the exact working hours, who owns the code, how you exit, who employs the engineer, what the rate includes, and who you call when something breaks. Vendors who answer in writing, with specifics, tend to be the ones who do the work.
I sell nearshore placements myself through my company, Softronic, so run every question on me too; I’ve put my own answers next to them where it’s useful. The ones who reply “let’s discuss on a call” to all eight are also giving you an answer.
The scorecard
Copy this into the document where you compare vendors. The sections below explain each row.
| Question | A good answer includes | Answer that should end the call |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Who runs the technical interview? | Named people per stage, length, what’s scored, same questions and rubric for every candidate | “We have a rigorous process” with nothing behind it; a recruiter making the technical call; a pass rate instead of a process |
| 2. How many candidates, and can I interview them? | Two or three people they stand behind; you interview them and see a writing sample | A catalog of twenty profiles for you to filter; no direct interview |
| 3. What are the exact working hours? | A window in your local time, written into the contract | “We’re in your time zone” with no hours attached |
| 4. Who owns the code? | IP assignment to your company, an NDA up front, and the vendor’s own contract with the engineer assigning rights to the vendor | No explicit assignment, or no idea what the engineer’s contract says |
| 5. How do I end it? | A clear notice period, no penalty, no billing for the transition | Exit fees, or a replacement promise too fast to be real |
| 6. Who employs the engineer and invoices me? | The vendor holds the contract, runs payroll and local compliance, and sends one invoice | Vague about where the engineer is employed; compliance quietly left with you |
| 7. What does the rate include? | What’s covered (equipment, holidays, time off, replacements, account management), and whether it’s monthly or hourly | A number you can’t explain to your CFO, or no clear answer on whether it can change mid-contract |
| 8. Who do I talk to when it goes wrong? | The person who made the match, reachable in a shared channel | Layers of account managers between you and anyone who knows the engineer |
1. Who runs the technical interview, and can they walk me through it?
This is the question with the most signal, so ask it first. You want to hear who sits in each stage, how long each one lasts, what they’re scoring, and whether every candidate gets the same questions and the same rubric. That last part matters more than it sounds. Google’s guide to structured interviewing summarizes the research: using the same method for every candidate for the same role predicts job performance better than letting each interviewer improvise.
Red flags: “we have a rigorous process” with nothing behind it, a recruiter making the technical call, or a pass rate offered in place of a process, since you have no way to audit the funnel behind it.
My answer: I run all three interviews myself (live coding in your stack, a systems design conversation, and one on written communication and how the person handles ambiguity), followed by two weeks of paid probation before anyone joins your team. The details are in how we vet senior engineers.
2. How many candidates will you send, and can I interview them?
Some vendors send a catalog of twenty profiles and let you do the filtering. Others send two or three people they’d stand behind. The second is what you’re paying for. Either way, you should be able to interview the engineer yourself, and ideally see a writing sample, because in a remote team most of the day happens in text. Conversational English and the English you need to write a clear pull request description are different skills.
3. What are the exact working hours, in my time zone?
“We’re in your time zone” is marketing. Ask for the working window, in your local time, written into the contract.
Nearshore overlap is real but it varies more than people think. Caracas, where I’m based, is on UTC-4 all year, so it matches New York from March to November and is an hour ahead in winter; I go through the rest of the region in nearshore LatAm vs offshore. None of it is a problem as long as the hours are agreed up front, so the engineer is online for your standup and your code reviews. It becomes a problem when “overlap” was assumed.
4. Who owns the code, and does the chain of rights reach me?
You want a services agreement with a clear clause assigning intellectual property to your company, and an NDA available before the first technical conversation. That part is standard. The part fewer people check is the chain.
The engineer writes the code, the vendor employs or contracts the engineer, and you contract the vendor. Under US law, code written by an independent contractor generally doesn’t become yours just because you paid for it: the US Copyright Office’s circular on works made for hire limits commissioned “works made for hire” to nine specific categories, and custom software usually doesn’t fit any of them. That’s why you want an explicit assignment of rights. And the vendor can only assign to you what the engineer assigned to the vendor first. So ask: “Does your contract with the engineer assign their work to you, and can I see that clause?” I’m not a lawyer, and your own counsel should look at this, but a vendor who has never been asked that question is worth noting.
5. How do I end it, and what does that cost me?
Ask about the notice period, any penalty or fee for leaving early, and what happens if the engineer isn’t a fit in the first month.
Be careful with very fast replacement promises; I explain why in why placements last or don’t. What I offer is 30 days’ notice with no penalty and no billing for the transition. I’ll look for a replacement if you want one, without promising a date.
6. Who employs the engineer, and who invoices me?
You want the vendor’s entity to hold the engineer’s contract, run payroll and handle local labor and tax obligations, and you want one invoice from an entity your accounting team can deal with. Be wary of arrangements that are vague about where the engineer is employed, or that quietly leave compliance with you.
If your own customers send you security questionnaires, ask how the vendor handles access to your systems: company laptops or personal ones, how accounts are revoked when someone leaves, whether they’ve been through a customer security review before. A SOC 2 report from the vendor covers the vendor’s controls, not yours, so it doesn’t replace your own review of how their people touch your systems.
Mine: my company holds the contracts and runs payroll, and you get a single monthly USD invoice from our US entity.
7. What exactly does the rate include?
You don’t need a vendor to disclose their margin, but you do need to be able to explain the number to your CFO. Ask what’s included (equipment, holidays, time off, replacements, any account management), whether the rate can change during the contract, and whether it’s a flat monthly amount or billed by the hour.
My rates are public: $4,500 to $6,000 a month for a mid-level engineer, $6,000 to $8,000 for a senior, and from $11,000 for an architect, full time, on the hire page. If you’re comparing pricing models more broadly, I wrote about outcome-based pricing vs the body-shop model.
8. Who do I talk to when something goes wrong?
Something will go wrong at some point: a missed deadline, a bad week, an engineer who’s quietly unhappy. Ask who you’ll talk to and how fast. Ideally, it’s the person who did the match, in a shared Slack channel. Every layer of account managers between you and that person adds delay on the day you need an answer.
Ask a second question here too: “Will you tell me if the engineer is thinking about leaving?” A vendor who keeps in touch with the people they place usually hears it first. It’s one of the early signals I look for myself.
Before you sign
Fill in the scorecard for each vendor and look at where the answers go vague. A serious partner answers most rows specifically and without hesitation. A middleman gets vague exactly where it will cost you later: who does the vetting, who owns the code, and how you get out. If you’re still deciding which kind of engagement you want, read dedicated team vs staff augmentation vs outsourcing first, and if you’re comparing specific platforms, Toptal and Andela alternatives covers what each one publishes.
If you want to try the eight on me, send them with the role through the hiring page.