Choosing
Hiring a web developer in India from another country
Hiring remotely across borders works when time zones, scope, payment, ownership and language are agreed in writing first. Here is what to settle before any work starts.
Businesses in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Gulf, Singapore and elsewhere search for an Indian web developer for the same reasons: the work can be done remotely, the working language is often English, and the cost can be lower than hiring locally. All of that can be true. What goes wrong is rarely the code. It is a handful of arrangements nobody wrote down. This note lists them. It applies to any developer in any country, including me.
I do not have an office in your country and I do not claim clients there. I am a remote studio working from India for businesses in India and abroad; the international clients page describes the service.
1. Time zones and how you will talk
Overlap in working hours is a practical matter, not a deal-breaker. Agree on:
- Which hours you can both be reached, and which channel is for what (call for decisions, message for small things).
- How fast to expect a reply, stated honestly. A provider who promises an instant reply across nine time zones is not telling you the truth.
- A weekly or fortnightly check-in, even a five-minute one, so surprises come early.
Written summaries after calls matter more across time zones than for a local project.
2. Scope, in writing
Distance makes verbal agreements weaker. Ask for a written proposal that lists:
- the pages and their names,
- what you must supply and by when,
- how many rounds of changes are included,
- what is not included,
- the schedule and what moves it.
How to ask for a website quotation shows what a complete one lists.
3. Payment
Payment across borders needs a conversation, and no one can settle it for you in a general article. Ask the provider:
- Which currency are the prices in, and who bears conversion and transfer charges?
- Which payment methods are accepted?
- What is paid before work starts, at which stage, and at the end?
- What invoice will you receive, and does it show the tax treatment that applies?
I price in Indian rupees and discuss payment arrangements directly with clients outside India; I do not advertise a payment method. I cannot give tax advice, and neither can a developer’s website. Ask your own accountant how an invoice for services from India is treated where you are.
4. Ownership and access
Settle, before work starts, that:
- the domain is registered in your name,
- the hosting account is yours or is moved to you,
- the files and design belong to you on payment, in writing,
- you have the logins you need at handover.
Who owns your website and what you should receive at handover are the checklist.
5. Language, spelling and local expectations
If your customers read American or British English, say so, and say who will check the text. Customer-facing details differ by country: units, dates, address formats, phone formats, spelling, legal pages. A developer in India may not know your market’s expectations unless you tell them, and you should not assume they do. If the site needs more than one language, each language is a complete set of content that someone must write and check, and Google’s guidance on multilingual sites describes how to mark them up properly.
6. After launch
A site that nobody looks at drifts. Agree who will be reachable for faults, for how long the post-launch period lasts, and what optional maintenance would cost if you want it. My packages include 14, 30 or 45 days of post-launch bug support, and maintenance and monitoring is optional and separate; see website maintenance.
What to do next
If you are considering hiring me, tell me your country, what the business does, and the pages you expect. I will say which package fits and write the scope and the payment discussion into a proposal before anything starts. Message or call Harman; calls and WhatsApp work across time zones. The packages and their rupee prices are on the pricing page.