Outsourcing React.js Development: Benefits, Cost, and How

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Regina Welle
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Regina Welle
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Outsourcing React.js development is becoming more common. Learn the benefits, cost, and how to outsource this popular front-end framework.
Published on
July 26, 2022
Updated on
April 11, 2024

U.S.-based information technology (IT) professionals' salaries are getting higher and higher — and React.js developer rates are no exception. As of July 2022, the average U.S.-based React.js developer earns $84,600 yearly. React devs from big cities have even more impressive salaries — according to Glassdoor, the San Francisco-based React programmer makes a staggering $107,925 per year. In comparison, the annual mean wage across all occupations is only $61,900.

To cut hiring costs, numerous companies have decided to outsource React.js talent. Popular offshore outsourcing locations include India, the Philippines, and Latin American countries like Chile, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. These locations boast thousands of highly-skilled React programmers at half or a quarter of the U.S. cost. They're also home to state-of-the-art tech parks, tech hubs, and other places for sourcing and hiring first-rate talent.

Read our comprehensive guide to learn more about how to outsource React.js development. We'll cover what React.js is, the benefits of hiring remote developers, and the expected costs.

What Is React.js?

Also known as React or ReactJS, React.js is a free front-end JavaScript library for creating user interfaces (UI). It is maintained by Meta and a group of individual companies and developers.

Professionals can use React.js to develop single-page, server-rendered, or mobile applications with frameworks like Next.js. Because React.js is only concerned with state management and rendering state to the Document Object Model (DOM), programmers typically need to use other libraries for client-side functionalities and routing.

Many programmers enjoy using React.js because it's:

  • Declarative: React.js is declarative, expressing a computation's logic without describing its control flow. As a result, creating UIs and user experience (UX) in React.js is painless. All developers have to do is make simple views for each state in their application, and React will efficiently update and render the right parts as the data changes. Declarative views also make devs' code easier to debug and more predictable.
  • Component-based: Programmers can use React.js to construct encapsulated components that manage their state and compose them to create complex UIs.
  • Flexible: React.js doesn't make assumptions about the rest of the tech stack, so devs can create new features in React.js without rewriting code. React.js can also run mobile apps through React Native and render them on the server via Node.

Some apps that use React.js include:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • New York Times
  • Netflix
  • Yahoo! Mail
  • WhatsApp
  • Vivaldi browser

The Benefits of Outsourcing React.js Development

Outsourcing React.js development provides many benefits, including cost savings and the ability to ship products fast and use the latest front-end technologies. Let's take a closer look at these and other advantages, so you can decide whether to outsource React.js development.

Cost Savings

First, outsourcing can help you cut hiring costs. This is especially true if you live in an area with sky-high React.js salaries. For example, the average annual cost to hire Chilean React.js developers is about $95,604. Meanwhile, the average annual salary of a React.js developer in Chicago, Illinois is around $103,704 per year.

Outsourcing can also reduce overhead costs because remote developers don't require workstations, office space, and other physical amenities. If you hire remote contractors, you're not required to provide the benefits as you do with fully-embed employees.

Additionally, remote programmers tend to charge by the hour or project, so you don't have to pay them when they're not actively working on a project. In contrast, you must pay full-time local developers monthly salaries plus benefits, even if they aren't actively working on a project.

Ship Projects Faster

Outsourcing can also increase time-to-market, especially when you hire outsourced developers to augment your in-house team. Whenever your in-house hires are overwhelmed, they can delegate tasks to outsourced staff to meet deadlines on or ahead of time.

Utilize Latest Front-End Technologies

Your existing team members may be fantastic at React.js, but they may not have the time or the expertise to master the latest front-end technologies. By outsourcing part or all of your team, you'll be able to hire specialists who utilize the latest front-end technologies, such as:

  • Svelte, which is an open-source front-end compiler that updates the DOM whenever the app state changes
  • Micro front-end architecture
  • Schema markup
  • Accessibility
  • WebAssembly, a binary instruction format for stack-based virtual machines

Easier To Scale

Unlike traditional hiring models, outsourcing is incredibly scalable — that is, you can easily adjust the size of your team. If you need more or fewer programmers for a specific project, tell your outsourcing partner, and they will quickly add or remove team members. You can also do this yourself when hiring from freelance job sites.

Meanwhile, traditional hiring models require much more effort for team scaling. To scale up your team, you need to:

  • Manually test and vet talent from job sites, tech hubs, and other places to build a talent pipeline
  • Use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to scan resumes for keywords
  • Make a list of candidates to interview
  • Hire the best candidate(s) for the job

Depending on your industry, project requirements, and resources, this can easily take weeks or months. Although downsizing and relocating in-house team members is somewhat easier than hiring new ones, it still requires a lot of paperwork. You also must meet more than a few legal requirements to avoid facing steep fines and penalties.

Less Strain on HR and Payroll

Maintaining an in-house team can put a lot of pressure on human resources (HR). After all, your HR employees are responsible for sourcing, testing, vetting, hiring, onboarding, managing, and letting go of employees.

That's where outsourcing comes in. Unlike in-house staff, outsourced devs get hired through an external third party, such as a talent marketplace, freelance site, or outsourcing agency. This gives your HR team plenty of time to manage your existing in-house team.

Tax Advantages

Outsourcing may also provide tax advantages. If your company is in the U.S., you can deduct the amount you paid in taxes to foreign countries. This usually means paying significantly lower taxes since outsourcing nations tend to have much lower salaries and corporate tax rates.

Access To Specialized Talent Pools

Outsourcing can give you access to specialized talent pools. These contain highly-coveted professionals that you may have difficulty finding elsewhere, such as:

  • React iOS app developers
  • React Oculus programmers
  • React eCommerce developers
  • React social media app programmers

Focus on Doing What Your Business Does Best

Hiring outsourced React devs from other nations can also help your company focus on doing what it does best. Most outsourced talents have ample experience working remotely, so they require minimal training. You will also need to fill out less paperwork and perform fewer management tasks, which means less time for your HR meetings and more time for business building.

Getting a Unique Perspective From a Third Party

Finally, outsourcing React development gives you unique third-party perspectives. Because international hires are more likely to have broader working experience than in-house staff, they can provide constructive feedback about your workflows, tech stack, and project management methodologies.

Cost to Outsource React Development

Now that you know the benefits of React.js outsourcing, you probably wonder how much it would cost you. Here are some average rates to keep in mind:

Average Cost for Outsourcing React Development to India

According to Glassdoor, the average cost of outsourcing React.js development to India is 500,000 rupees or $6,262 per year. As covered above, the U.S.-based React.js programmer earns$84,600 on average. That's 13 times the amount an Indian developer makes.

Average Cost to Outsource React.js Development in the U.S.

Some U.S. cities are more affordable to live in and hence, have lower salaries. Here are some of the best U.S. cities for hiring React.js talent:

Typical Costs to Hire Outsourced React Developers in Latin America

Although Indian React.js devs provide incredibly budget-friendly rates, they're half a world away from the U.S. More specifically, the Indian time zone goes nine hours and 30 minutes ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time. As a result, your in-house team won't be able to collaborate or communicate with your Indian hires in real time. Think about it — it's 6:30 p.m. in India when it's 9:00 a.m. on the Eastern Seaboard.

That's why you should consider hiring Latin American React devs. Their rates are much lower than U.S. developers, even those living in more affordable cities like Huntsville, AL, and Dallas, TX.

Here are the typical costs of hiring outsourced React.js talent from Latin America:

  • The average annual cost to hire a React.JS developer from LatAm: $103,007
  • The average annual cost to hire a junior React.JS developer from LatAm: $81,550
  • The average annual cost to hire a mid-level React.JS developer from LatAm: $98,731
  • The average annual cost to hire a senior React.JS developer from LatAm: $110,354

How to Hire Outsourced React.js Developers

As you can see, having an offshore React dev team comes with many advantages, including budget-friendly costs and access to specialized talent pools. However, hiring React developers is easier said than done. According to the 2021 Developer Nation Pulse Report, there were 26.8 million active software developers in 2021 alone. There are also an endless array of outsourcing websites and agencies.

To reduce time-to-hire and stay ahead of your competitors, you must choose the most efficient and cost-effective way to hire outsourced React developers. One of your options is a React development company.

React Development Companies

As the title suggests, React development companies are experts in React. Unlike generalist tech firms, they specifically focus on React.js and React.js-adjacent technologies, such as:

  • React.js
  • React Native
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • NestJS
  • GraphQL
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Electron.js
  • Golang
  • Azure
  • GCP

Besides mobile, desktop, and web development, React development companies offer a broad range of services, including:

  • Digital transformation
  • Staff augmentation
  • DevOps and Agile consulting
  • UI/UX design

They also provide a range of outsourced staff, including:

  • Software developers
  • Software engineers
  • Quality assurance engineers
  • Business analysts
  • Scrum Masters
  • Agile coaches
  • Product Owners
  • UI/UX Designers
  • Delivery managers
  • DevOps engineers
  • Tech advisors

Interview Questions for React Development Agencies

React development agencies can vary a lot. Some may have worked for big companies like National Geographic, while others are new startups with limited experience. Similarly, some agencies are experienced in fintech and medtech, while others focus on gaming and education technology.

Ask the following questions to determine whether a React development agency is for you:

  • What kind of clients have you worked for before?
  • What is your company size?
  • Where is your company located?
  • What is your working time zone?
  • What is your tech stack?
  • Tell me about your company. When was your company founded? What are its values and goals?
  • Which project are you the proudest to have conducted?
  • What project management methodology do you use?
  • What is your experience with different industries?
  • What are your developers best known for?
  • What is your company culture? Do your team members enjoy taking initiatives?
  • What are your rates?

Tools for Outsourcing React.js Development

Besides React development agencies, there are other tools for outsourcing React.js development, including freelancing platforms and time-tracking software.

Freelancing Platforms

Freelancing platforms empower businesses from anywhere in the world to hire temporary workers for projects and short-term jobs. They allow freelancers to create and showcase their portfolios and resumes and connect with employers.

Why Choose Freelancing Platforms?

Freelancing platforms are a good choice if you only need:

  • A few extra hands for a project or task
  • A small team for a project or task
  • Specialists, such as UI/UX specialists and quality assurance engineers

These platforms are also a good pick if you have limited funds for hiring React development agencies. Most freelancers, especially from foreign nations, charge budget-friendly rates ranging from $10 to $30 per hour. Meanwhile, React development agency rates usually range from $30 to $80.

What Do Freelancing Platforms Offer?

Freelancing platforms provide various tools for finding and hiring freelance React devs. Most empower you to do the following:

  • Build a pipeline of candidates: Freelance platforms allow you to shortlist applicants from around the world and conduct interviews to pick the best fit for your team. They also let you review each candidate's skills, experience, client feedback, time zone, rate, tech stack, and English fluency. You can even use advanced filters to drill down to the specific tech stack and experiences you need.
  • Track work time: Many freelance sites also give you a desktop app and work diary to track time and results. These tools ensure that you're paying your freelancers for the performed work.
  • Communicate and collaborate with hires: Some platforms offer a messaging tool and an online workroom. Workers can use these tools to ask questions and conduct real-time tasks such as meetings and code reviews.
  • Quality control: Top-notch freelancing platforms only release payment once you've checked freelancers' submissions for quality and other criteria. They may also let you define your prerequisites for payment.
  • Rate freelancers: Most platforms also have a mechanism for rating freelancers based on their projects. You get to use this system to highlight your best hires and warn other startups of problematic devs.

Time Tracking Software

Another great outsourcing tool is time-tracking software. When used properly, this solution promotes growth, increases job satisfaction, and ensures financial stability. Some of the best time tracking software for outsourcing include:

Clockify

Clockify is a popular free time tracker and timesheet app for teams. It syncs across devices and comes with the following:

  • A timer for tracking work hours in real-time
  • Weekly timesheets
  • A calendar for visually blocking out and managing time
  • A kiosk that allows users to clock in from a shared device
  • Reports for analyzing and exporting tracked time
  • An activity dashboard to see who worked on what
  • A rates dashboard that breaks down earnings, cost, and profit
  • A progress dashboard that lets you track project budget and estimates
  • A location dashboard that shows who's working from where

You can also use the tool for managing freelance hires and perform the following:

  • Schedule assignments, work, and shifts
  • Manage holidays and leaves
  • Submit and approve timesheets
  • Create invoices from billable time
  • Record project fees and expenses

Harvest

Another popular time tracking platform is Harvest. This intuitive app provides a broad range of tools for tracking freelancers' time, including:

  • Time tracking: Harvest provides a lightweight time tracking experience through an intuitive tool that integrates with other popular online solutions, from Slack and Asana to PayPal. Harvest's time tracking mechanism also creates automated reminders to help your devs track time accurately and regularly.
  • Reports and analysis: Harvest offers a wide range of visual reports to support your engineers and keep projects running smoothly. You can use these reports to:
  • Keep your projects profitable and on track since Harvest updates budgets while your team tracks time
  • See who's under-utilized and who's overloaded
  • Keep track of internal expenses
  • Review past project data to inform future estimates and project scope
  • See which tasks are consuming your team's time and energy
  • Derive further insights through data analytics
  • Invoicing and payments: Like Clockify, Harvest allows you to turn your team's tracked time into invoices. It also offers:
  • Stripe and PayPal integrations for paying invoices online
  • The ability to copy your Harvest payments and invoices to Xero and QuickBooks Online for simplified accounting

Outsourcing vs. Hiring Full-Time React Developers

Although outsourcing React talent provides many advantages, it's not without drawbacks. Here are potential issues to consider when deciding between outsourcing and hiring full-time React engineers.

Disadvantages of Outsourcing React Development

When outsourcing React.js development, you may lose some control over your teams and operations. You may also encounter hidden costs, security risks, decreased quality control, and communication difficulties.

  • Lose Control Over Your Hires. When you outsource React.js development to freelancers or agencies, you will lose part of control over how those tasks are being performed or monitored. It may be hard to oversee freelancers, especially if they live in vastly different time zones than you.
  • Hidden Costs. Outsourcing is usually cheaper. However, there's always a chance of getting overcharged, especially when hiring through React development agencies. Before you sign anything, make sure you're getting a good deal by reading all of the fine print on contracts. If you don't understand the potential consequences of signing a contract, go through it with your lawyer. Otherwise, you may face unexpected costs and legal issues.
  • Reduced Quality Control. Unfortunately, some freelancers and development companies prioritize profit over performance. Since you have less control over how they work and spend their time, your freelancers may create an app, site, or software that's buggy or unusable.
  • Communication May Be More Difficult. Lastly, communicating with outsourced staff may be a little challenging. Some freelancers and agencies may not be fully dedicated to your project if they work for multiple clients at once. They could fail to respond to you in real-time or fully process your questions and concerns, which may lead to misunderstandings, arguments, and delays.

Advantages of Hiring Full-Time React Engineers

Fortunately, you can mitigate and bypass most of the listed disadvantages by hiring full-time remote React engineers. Unlike their outsourced counterparts, full-time remote React devs can fully commit to your job or project and collaborate and communicate with you in real-time, just like traditional in-house hires. Accordingly, you can have full control over their work schedule, project management methodology, tech stack, and more.

As for the disadvantages of the hiring process, you can easily bypass them if you partner with the right tech talent marketplace. Unlike freelance sites and React development agencies, tech talent marketplaces come with FAANG-caliber talent who have been rigorously pre-vetted for their skills, personality, and experience.

In other words, you don't have to worry about quality control or communication problems — the best tech talent marketplaces provide access to full-time developers in U.S.-adjacent time zones.

Hire Full-Time Latin American React.js Developers with Revelo

If you're ready to outsource React.js development but want to retain control over your operations and hires, consider partnering with Revelo. As Latin America's premier tech talent marketplace, Revelo provides access to 300,000 developers pre-screened for their technical and soft skills. We also handle your payroll, taxes, contracts, and onboarding, giving you more time for building and refining apps.

To find the best React.js developers and start hiring, fill in this form. Within three days, we'll send you a list of handpicked candidates. You can then interview and choose the candidates you want. It's as simple as that.

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