How Much Does It Really Cost to Hire Software Engineers? A Comparison of the US, UK, Canada, Spain, Eastern Europe, and LATAM (2025)

A lot of startups assume that hiring outside their home country “doesn’t change the cost that much,” or that LATAM is just “cheaper” without really understanding how much and where the savings actually are.

At Tenmás, we’ve spent the last couple of years helping companies in the US, Canada, and Spain build engineering teams with talent based in Latin America. The same question keeps coming up:

“How much will I actually save if I hire in LATAM?”

To answer that, we looked at the average hourly cost of mid–senior software engineers hired through local providers in:

• United States

• United Kingdom

• Canada

• Spain

• Eastern Europe

• LATAM

And we compared those numbers to working with LATAM talent through a partner like Tenmás.

How to Read the Cost Comparison

In our analysis (and in the chart we use in our presentations), we show two things:

1. The bar for each country/region

   This represents the average hourly cost of a mid–senior software engineer hired through local providers (staffing firms, outsourcing companies, consulting firms, etc.).

2. The percentage line

   This shows the approximate savings when, instead of hiring locally in that country, you work with LATAM engineers.

In practice, the question it answers is:

“If I normally hire my engineers through local providers in the US how much do I save if I move part of the team to LATAM with a serious partner?”

4 Key Insights We See in the Data

1. Up to 60% savings vs the United States

The US is still, by far, one of the most expensive markets in the world for software talent.

When you compare mid–senior engineers hired via local US providers vs similar-level engineers in LATAM, the savings can easily reach:

🟡 Up to ~60% less per hour

while keeping quality, seniority, and modern tech stack experience.

For a startup or scale-up, that’s not just a “discount”. It’s the difference between being able to afford a team of 3 people… or a team of 6–7 with the same budget.

2. The UK and Canada also pay a “location premium”

Even if we step away from Silicon Valley, the same pattern shows up in other mature markets:

• United Kingdom

• Canada

When we look at local vendor rates in those countries, there’s still a meaningful gap:

⚪ Savings in the 50–60% range

when you move part of the team to LATAM with equivalent profiles.

This matches what we see daily: UK and Canadian companies still want strong engineers, but they’re no longer comfortable with the cost of having 100% of the team locally.

3. Spain's still more expensive

Comparing LATAM to Spain or Eastern Europe is more nuanced: local salaries are lower than in US/UK, and there’s a strong talent pool in those regions.

Even so, when we look at the “external provider” layer (not direct payroll), the difference is still significant:

• Spain:

  LATAM often represents roughly 20–25% savings vs hiring the entire team through Spanish providers.

It’s not the dramatic 60% we see vs the US, but it’s enough for a product/engineering team to have more room to grow or keep costs under control.

4. The difference is no longer just price

Years ago, the LATAM pitch was “it’s cheaper.” Today that’s not enough.

What we’re seeing in the market now:

• People used to working with US/European startups

  Engineers who’ve already worked in distributed teams, with English as a working language and modern agile processes.

• Time zones that actually work

  For teams in the US and Europe, being able to work in real time (or with minor overlap) is a big advantage vs other global hubs.

• Serious seniority

  More and more senior and staff engineers in LATAM have been through scale-ups, global consultancies, or large digital products.

That’s why, when we compare costs, it has to be at the same level of seniority and responsibility. And that’s where a hybrid model (local core + LATAM pod) makes a lot of sense.

What This Means If You’re a Founder, CTO, or Head of Engineering

Beyond the charts, the real decision is strategic:

• With a 100% local team in US/UK/ES, each new hire has a big impact on your P&L.

• With a mixed model, where part of the team sits in LATAM, you can:

  
  

  • Increase capacity (more people shipping work on the roadmap).

  • Reduce risk (you’re not tied to a single geography).

  • Keep quality while gaining financial margin.

  
  

It’s not about replacing local talent. It’s about using LATAM as a nearshore engineering hub that complements and strengthens your core team.

How We Work with LATAM Teams at Tenmás

At Tenmás, we help startups and scale-ups in the US, Canada, and Spain work with software engineers in LATAM without taking on extra operational complexity.

Our approach:

• Search and evaluation

  We source, interview, and pre–screen mid–senior and senior engineers (Full-Stack, Mobile, Data, DevOps, AI, etc.) who have already worked remotely for international companies.

• Matching with your team

  We don’t just send generic CVs. We look for fit in stack, experience, and collaboration style with your existing team.

• Admin and legal handled for you

  We take care of contracts, payments, compliance, and HR in LATAM, so you can treat the engineer as part of your team without adding legal overhead to your structure.

• Long-term collaboration

  We don’t optimize for one-off 3-month gigs. We focus on long-term relationships where the LATAM team is a real extension of your product/engineering team.

If you’re considering moving part of your team to LATAM or spinning up a dedicated pod, we can look at your numbers and tell you honestly when it makes sense and when it doesn’t.

Want to Go Deeper on Numbers and Real Cases?

We regularly share:

• Updated cost comparisons by region.

• Real (anonymized) examples of contracts and team structures.

• Common mistakes when building remote teams in LATAM.

• Practical advice for founders, CTOs, and Heads of Engineering.

We publish these insights on our blog and in our newsletter.

➡️ You can subscribe to the newsletter here t

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And if you’d like to talk about a specific scenario (your company, your stack, your budget), you can reach out via the Tenmás website or book a quick call here. We’ll gladly help you figure out if LATAM fits your team strategy.