Article
27 min read
How to Hire Developers in India: A Complete Guide
Global hiring
Author
Jemima Owen-Jones
Last Update
December 17, 2025
Key takeaways
- Hiring developers in saturated home markets is increasingly expensive, slow, and competitive—making it difficult for teams to fill critical engineering roles or maintain product velocity.
- India offers a scalable, cost-efficient solution with deep technical talent, strong English proficiency, modern tech-stack expertise, and hiring models that support both contractors and full-time employees.
- Deel provides the most comprehensive global hiring infrastructure for India—combining talent sourcing, compliant contractor and EOR hiring, payroll, classification tools, and localized onboarding to help companies scale engineering teams quickly and confidently.
Hiring developers in India has become a top solution for companies seeking skilled engineers across full-stack, mobile, cloud, and DevOps roles. Businesses seeking affordable, scalable, and reliable ways to expand their development capacity often turn to India’s deep talent market, strong English proficiency, and proven remote work readiness.
Without access to the right talent pool, teams face delayed product timelines, rising engineering costs, and difficulty filling critical roles—challenges that can slow growth and put pressure on already-stretched technical teams. Choosing an unsuitable hiring model can also introduce compliance risks or inefficient onboarding processes.
India offers a clear path forward. The country produces large volumes of engineering graduates each year, with developers experienced in modern stacks such as React, Node.js, Java, and Python, and accustomed to working with companies from the US, UK, and EU. Time-zone advantages also enable overnight progress, allowing for faster development cycles.
This guide is written for founders, engineering leaders, and talent teams evaluating India as a hiring destination—whether they need contractors for rapid delivery, full-time employees for long-term stability, or marketplace sourcing for niche skills.
Drawing on Deel’s experience helping thousands of companies hire and manage developers in India, we’ll walk through the most efficient, compliant, and cost-effective ways to build your engineering team in this key global market.
Why hire Developers in India
India offers several unique advantages that make it a standout market for global tech hiring:
Deep and diverse technical talent
India hosts some of the world’s largest concentrations of engineering expertise. Companies can find specialists across backend systems, web development, mobile engineering, DevOps, data science, and cloud infrastructure.
Major tech hubs across India
India’s developer talent is concentrated in several mature technology hubs, each with distinct strengths:
- Bengaluru: India’s largest tech hub, strong across startups, SaaS, and deep engineering talent
- Hyderabad: Known for enterprise software, cloud, and global delivery centers
- Pune: Strong in backend engineering, fintech, and product development
- Chennai: Hardware-adjacent software, enterprise IT, and services
- Gurgaon (Gurugram): Proximity to global HQs, strong startup and SaaS ecosystem
This geographic diversity gives companies flexibility in sourcing talent based on cost, experience level, and specialization.
Strong communication and global readiness
India is one of the largest English-speaking developer markets in the world. This helps reduce friction during onboarding and fosters smooth collaboration with distributed teams.
High quality at competitive cost
Labor market depth and robust engineering education systems enable businesses to access skilled developers at a significantly lower total cost compared to Western markets—without compromising quality.
Fast time-to-hire
Developer recruitment cycles in India tend to be faster due to the abundance of candidates available across various tech stacks, enabling companies to scale quickly when needed.
Remote-work maturity
For decades, Indian developers have supported distributed teams across the US, UK, and Europe. Many are already accustomed to asynchronous collaboration, partial working-hour overlap, and delivery cycles that support overnight progress for Western time zones—making India particularly well-suited for global engineering teams.
Deel lets us hire globally and pay our contractors in countries like Pakistan, France, India, and the Philippines, addressing both compliance and worker preferences.
—Zain Farrukh,
Financial Controller, Arbisoft
See also: Top Talent Hubs in APAC and How to Enter
Cost of hiring developers in India
Understanding Indian compensation benchmarks is essential when planning your hiring strategy. Salaries vary significantly depending on seniority, technology stack, and region, but the overall cost of hiring in India remains highly competitive.
At a medium level, typical annual compensation ranges for developers in India are:
- Junior Full Stack Developer (0–2 years): ₹1485836.19 (USD ~16,439.93 )
- Mid-level Full Stack Developer (3–6 years): ₹3114228.02 (USD ~34,459.93)
- Senior Full Stack Developer (7+ years): ₹4090192.68 (USD ~45,259.29)
Rates vary based on location, company type, and specialization, with premium pricing for in-demand skills like cloud infrastructure, mobile development, data engineering, and security.
Instead of estimating costs manually—which often leads to over- or under-budgeting—companies can use Deel Salary Insights to access real, location-specific compensation data that accurately reflects the current earnings of developers in India. This data helps teams price roles accurately and stay aligned with local expectations.
Once budgets are set, companies can model offers, compare packages, and structure compensation frameworks using Deel Compensation, which gives hiring managers a consistent way to build competitive and compliant global pay structures for Indian talent.
By leveraging these tools, companies avoid guesswork and ensure they make strong, market-informed offers from day one.
Deel's insights give us data-driven recommendations to find the best countries to hire within our budget.
—Pascal Erlach,
Senior Talent Acquisition Manager at Outfittery
Global Hiring Toolkit
How to find talent in India
India’s developer market is vast, and sourcing the right candidates requires thoughtful targeting. Companies often use platforms like LinkedIn, GitHub India, and local job boards—but these channels can be time-consuming and competitive.
For faster access to qualified talent, many organizations use Deel Talent, a marketplace where companies can instantly connect with pre-vetted developers across India’s top tech hubs. Deel Talent helps significantly reduce sourcing time by surfacing candidates matched to your required skills, seniority, and project needs.
This accelerates the hiring process and ensures that businesses connect only with high-quality developers who meet both technical and communication standards.
Discover how Glomax Search and KingsRoad accelerated placements with Deel Talent.
Working with Deel Talent has been a game-changer for us as a recruitment partner. The platform made it incredibly simple to onboard, track, and share qualified candidates, and receive fast feedback.
—Myles Maximilian,
Founder, Glomax Search
Deel Talent
What to look for in candidates
When hiring software engineers in India, it’s important to focus on signals of capability and impact, rather than relying too heavily on titles or credentials alone. India’s talent market is large and diverse, and strong candidates come from a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds.
Degrees and educational background
Many developers in India will hold a B.E. or B.Tech degree, or a BSc in Computer Science or IT. Some may have a BCA. These qualifications are broadly comparable, and the exact degree title is usually less important than how candidates have applied their skills in real-world environments.
Graduates from top institutions, such as IITs, NITs, IIITs, and BITS, are often strong candidates; however, there is also a significant amount of high-quality talent from lesser-known colleges. Filtering too aggressively by school reputation can cause teams to miss capable engineers with solid hands-on experience.
Grades and academic performance
Academic results are commonly listed as a CGPA (out of 10) or as a percentage. As a general reference point:
- 8.0+/10 or 75%+ typically indicates strong performance
- 7.0–8.0 or 60–75% is generally solid
For junior roles, grades can serve as a light screening signal. For developers with three or more years of experience, however, professional experience and demonstrated impact should carry far more weight than academic marks.
Skills and hands-on experience
When evaluating candidates, look for clarity and depth rather than broad but shallow experience. Strong indicators include:
- A clear primary focus area (backend, frontend, mobile, data, or DevOps)
- Experience aligned with your tech stack, such as Java and Spring, Node.js, React, Android, or AWS
- Evidence of ownership, including shipped features, systems maintained, or measurable improvements to performance or reliability
- Supporting signals such as GitHub repositories, cloud certifications, or strong coding profiles on platforms like LeetCode or Codeforces
These indicators often provide a more accurate picture of capability than titles alone.
Common tech stacks used by developers in India
Indian developers are widely experienced with modern, globally adopted technologies, including:
- Backend: Java (Spring), Node.js, Python, .NET
- Frontend: React, Angular, Vue
- Mobile: Android (Kotlin/Java), iOS (Swift), React Native
- Cloud & DevOps: AWS, Azure, GCP, Docker, Kubernetes
- Data: SQL, Spark, Kafka, data pipelines, and analytics tooling
Job titles vs. real seniority
Job titles in India can be inflated compared to other markets—it’s not uncommon to see “Senior” titles after only a few years of experience. Rather than relying on titles, focus on responsibilities, decision-making scope, and the complexity of projects candidates have worked on to assess true seniority.
Resources:
Discover how Sardine built a world-class company with Deel.
Deel helps us optimize the quality of the talent that we hire while also optimizing the capital spend and ensuring that we are paying at market in those geographies.
—Soups Ranjan,
CEO and Co-founder, Sardine
Job Description Templates
Hiring models in India
Choosing the right hiring model is critical when building a development team in India. The country supports two primary pathways: contractors and full-time employees.
Hiring developers in India as contractors
Contracting is one of the most popular ways global companies engage Indian developers—especially for project-based, sprint-based, or flexible capacity needs. Contractors in India typically work on hourly rates or milestone-based projects, making this model attractive for companies seeking agility.
However, Indian contractor engagements can blur into full-time work if not carefully structured. To reduce risk, companies use Deel Contractor and Deel Contractor of Record to issue compliant contracts, set clear scopes of work, and manage payments in local currency or USD.
To ensure contractors are classified correctly, Deel’s Worker Classifier helps businesses determine whether a role is genuinely contractor-based or should be legally treated as employment. This protection is especially important in India, where long-term contractor arrangements are common but regulated.
Discover how Project44 saves around $500k a year since switching to Deel.
Deel Contractor of Record gave us peace of mind when hiring people as contractors in any part of the world. I don’t have to worry anymore about compliance. It feels much safer.
—Chloe Riesenberg,
People Specialist at Project44
Deel Contractor of Record
Hiring developers in India as full-time employees (EOR model)
When companies need dedicated, long-term team members, hiring full-time employees is often the best option. But doing so usually requires setting up a local entity—unless you use an Employer of Record.
With Deel EOR, businesses can hire developers in India compliantly without opening a local subsidiary. Deel handles onboarding, locally compliant employment contracts, payroll, taxes, statutory benefits, and ongoing HR administration. This allows companies to focus solely on the developer’s work while Deel manages everything related to Indian employment law.
This model is ideal when developers are integrated into product teams, handling sensitive IP, or contributing to core long-term roadmap initiatives.
Discover how Bitpanda expanded from 3 office hubs to 20+ jurisdictions with Deel.
We use Deel EOR every time we enter a new market. It’s our fast track to simple and compliant hiring before setting up entities.
—Lindsay Ross,
Chief Human Resources Officer, Bitpanda
Deel Employer of Record
Step-by-Step: How to hire developers in India
A structured hiring process tailored specifically to India can help ensure you hire efficiently, compliantly, and with confidence.
1. Define your tech stack and role requirements
Clarify whether you need backend developers, full-stack engineers, mobile specialists, cloud experts, or platform-specific skills.
2. Source candidates strategically
Use sourcing channels such as LinkedIn, GitHub India, or curated marketplaces like Deel Talent to identify qualified candidates efficiently.
3. Evaluate technical capabilities
Indian candidates are accustomed to technical assessments, including coding tests, live problem-solving sessions, architecture discussions, and GitHub portfolio reviews.
4. Assess communication and collaboration skills
English proficiency is strong in India, but interviews help surface nuances in communication style, clarity, and async readiness.
5. Decide whether to hire as a contractor or employee
If the role is project-based or temporary, Deel Contractor and Contractor of Record offer a flexible and compliant path. If the role is long-term or integrated, Deel EOR supports full-time employment without requiring a local entity.
6. Conduct background and identity checks
Verification is standard in India—tools like Deel Background Checks help validate employment history and reduce hiring risk.
7. Make an offer and onboard efficiently
Deel’s onboarding workflows streamline documentation, contract signing, and equipment or access setup for both contractors and employees in India.
Discover how Strada runs payroll effortlessly with Deel.
Deel is the one place you need to go to bring people onto your mission anywhere in the world—it's literally as easy as a click.
—Amir Podensky,
CEO & Co-founder, Strada
Platform Tour
Compliance, legal & misclassification considerations
Hiring in India also requires an understanding of local compliance norms, especially around worker classification, IP protection, and employment regulation.
Avoiding contractor misclassification
Misclassifying a developer as a contractor when the role behaves like employment is one of the most common compliance risks in India. Deel’s Worker Classifier guides companies through compliance checks, helping ensure their hiring models are legally sound.
Employment compliance
For full-time hires, Indian labor laws include specific requirements around notice periods, paid leave, probation, and statutory benefits. Using Deel EOR ensures these compliance rules are handled correctly, supported by locally vetted employment agreements.
IP and confidentiality protections
Indian developers frequently work with sensitive IP. Deel provides compliant NDA and IP assignment templates to ensure all work created is legally transferred to your company.
Data protection under India’s DPDP Act
Teams handling customer or employee data must ensure developers understand local privacy obligations. Deel’s contract frameworks incorporate required protections into the onboarding flow.
Managing payroll in complex environments like India and the Philippines is a challenge. Thanks to Deel, I have confidence that we're 100% compliant every step of the way.
—Tina Katna,
HRBP, Ubie
See also: India Employee Misclassification: Risks & Best Practices
Hire Developers in India with Deel
India offers unparalleled access to skilled developers, competitive pricing, and globally ready talent—making it a top market for building and scaling engineering teams. Deel enables companies to hire confidently in India through compliant contracts, efficient onboarding, transparent payroll, and hiring flexibility for both contractors and full-time employees.
Book a demo to start hiring developers in India with Deel today.
Jemima is a nomadic writer, journalist, and digital marketer with a decade of experience crafting compelling B2B content for a global audience. She is a strong advocate for equal opportunities and is dedicated to shaping the future of work. At Deel, she specializes in thought-leadership content covering global mobility, cross-border compliance, and workplace culture topics.
