Glossary
Offshore Development
Building software with a team located in a distant country — typically for access to a larger talent pool and lower cost than onshore hiring.
Offshore development means building your product with a team in a distant country and timezone — for example, a US company working with engineers in India. The motivation is usually access to a deeper talent pool and a substantially lower cost structure.
The trade-off is timezone overlap. Offshore teams typically share a few focused hours with the US or EU rather than a full working day, which makes async-first communication a requirement rather than a nice-to-have.
Done well — with clear ownership, good documentation, and the right operating layer — offshore development delivers 60–72% cost savings without sacrificing quality. Done badly, the timezone and context gaps eat the savings.