If you are in the United States or elsewhere and looking for a software studio, you have plenty of choice. A studio in your own city, one in another state, one overseas, or one in Canada. This article covers the practical differences, and how we approach them at Atheron Network Labs, a studio in Kelowna, British Columbia.
The short version: the border matters less than the working arrangement. A project goes well when the scope is written down clearly, the team is easy to reach, and the money works in a way you understand.
What changes across a border
Four things change when your studio is in another country: the hours you share, the contract, the currency and the language. The rest of the work, the code, the design, the testing, looks the same wherever the team sits.
So those four are worth checking with any studio you talk to, including us.
Time zones
Kelowna is on Pacific time, the same clock as the US West Coast. If you are in Seattle or Los Angeles, we keep the same working day. If you are on the East Coast, a large part of our day still overlaps with yours.
Further away, the overlap shrinks. That is not a reason to rule a studio out, but it changes how the work has to run. When you share only a few hours, decisions need to be written down, questions need to be clear enough to answer without a call, and you need to know when you can expect a reply.
When the overlap is small, a written answer you can act on beats a quick call you have to wait a day for.
Ask any studio how they handle the hours you do not share, and what response time they will commit to.
Contracts and ways to work
The shape of the contract matters more than where it is signed. We offer three ways to work, and each suits a different kind of project.
| Way to work | Best when |
|---|---|
| Fixed price for a defined scope | You know what you want built and can describe it clearly |
| A team by the month | The work is ongoing or the scope will change as you learn |
| A monthly block of hours with a promised response time | You need steady support and a known reply time |
Whichever studio you choose, read the contract for a few things in particular:
- Who owns the code and designs once they are paid for.
- What happens when the scope changes partway through.
- How and when invoices are sent, and what they cover.
- How either side can end the arrangement.
Currency
When your studio is in another country, ask which currency the quote and the invoices are in. Exchange rates move. On a fixed price, the total is set when you sign, so you know the number in that currency from the start. On a monthly arrangement, each invoice is converted at the rate of the day, so your cost in your own currency can drift a little from month to month.
Neither is a problem if you know about it in advance. It is only a surprise if nobody mentions it.
Language
We work in five languages. That helps in two ways.
First, requirements are easier to get right when you can explain them in the language you think in. Small misreadings in a specification become real costs later.
Second, if your product will launch in more than one market, it is usually easier to build for several languages from the start than to add them after launch. Text, dates, layouts and support content all need room for translation, and planning for that early saves rework.
Questions to ask any studio
Before you sign with anyone, at home or abroad, these questions tell you a lot:
- Which hours will we share, and what reply time do you promise outside them?
- Which way of working do you recommend for this project, and why?
- Which currency is the quote in, and how are invoices converted?
- Can we work in my language, and can the product launch in others?
- What assumptions sit behind your estimate?
That last one matters most. An estimate without its assumptions is hard to compare with anything.
Getting a number
We do not put prices in articles, because rates change. Instead, our estimator gives you a price range in minutes from the current rate card. It shows the build cost, the monthly costs, the effort by role, the number of weeks and every assumption behind the figures, so you can compare it fairly with any other quote.
We build custom web and mobile apps, AI and automation, blockchain and Web3, and APIs, integrations and compliance software for clients in the Okanagan, across Canada, in the United States and worldwide. We are open for projects now. If the estimate looks right for you, get in touch through our site and we will talk through the scope.
