More and more companies from the United States, Spain and France are choosing to work with development teams in Argentina. It's not a new trend, but in recent years it has grown significantly - and for concrete reasons.
Why Argentina? How does this remote relationship work? What should you consider before hiring?
If you're evaluating this option, this guide is for you.
Why Argentina established itself in software nearshoring
Argentina has a solid development ecosystem for structural reasons that don't disappear from one year to the next:
Technical education. Argentine public universities have solid engineering and computer science programs. Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario and Mendoza concentrate thousands of active developers trained at those institutions.
English level. Argentina has one of the highest English levels in Latin America. It's common to find teams that work fluently in both written and spoken English, capable of running technical meetings without interpreters or communication delays.
Compatible time zone. Argentina is only 1-3 hours apart from the US East Coast (depending on daylight saving time) and 3-5 hours from Central Europe. Working hours overlap enough for synchronous meetings without anyone having to work unusual hours.
Cost-quality ratio. The technical quality available in Argentina is comparable to options in the US or Western Europe, but at significantly lower cost. The gap has narrowed in recent years, but it's still a relevant difference for mid-sized companies and startups.
What types of companies hire software in Argentina
US and European startups that need to move fast and don't have the budget for a complete local technical team. They're looking for a team that understands the product, can execute and communicates well.
Mid-sized companies that have an internal digital product and need to expand development capacity without scaling their local team. Sometimes it's a new project, sometimes it's maintenance and improvements on an existing system.
Agencies and consultancies that subcontract the development for specific projects of their own clients, keeping client management on their side.
What to evaluate before hiring
1. Portfolio with real context
Not a PDF with client logos and nice screenshots. Projects with context: what was the problem, what they built, what the measurable result was. If the team can't answer those three questions for each portfolio project, the portfolio is decorative.
2. Communication and work process
In a remote relationship, communication is as important as the code. Evaluate before committing:
The last point matters more than it seems. Communication filters distort information and lengthen decision cycles.
3. Technology stack and specific experience
Ask about projects similar to yours. A team that built landing pages shouldn't build your payments SaaS. A team without real security experience shouldn't touch a financial system.
Ask for references from previous clients with similar projects - and to speak directly with those clients, not just read testimonials on the website.
4. Hiring model
There are three main models:
5. Code ownership and contractual terms
Make sure the contract clearly specifies:
Red flags to take seriously
Quotes without prior questions. A team that doesn't need to understand your business to give you a price can't be quoting accurately. That translates into surprises during the project.
Very short deadlines without justification. Building well takes the time it takes. If someone says they can deliver in half the time estimated by other teams, ask exactly how.
Slow communication during the selection process. How the team responds when you haven't hired them yet is a reliable predictor of how they'll respond once you do.
Ambiguous contracts without deliverable clauses. If the contract doesn't clearly specify what's delivered, when and under what conditions, disputes are inevitable.
How we work with international clients
At Nebula, the process with clients from the US and Europe works like this:
1. Free 30-minute diagnostic: we understand the problem, the context and the budget before any formal proposal
2. Proposal with detailed scope: what we build, how, in what estimated time and at what cost
3. Iterative development with weekly updates: the client always knows exactly where the project stands
4. Delivery with documentation: the code belongs to the client and comes with documentation so they can continue building on it with any team
Want to evaluate whether working together makes sense?
We're not asking you to decide now. We're asking for 30 minutes to tell you how we work and hear about your project.
If after that conversation it doesn't make sense, we'll tell you honestly. We'd rather that than start a project that won't work well for either side.
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Written by
Ana Olivia Todesco
CEO @ Nebula Solutions
We build this at Nebula
