Offshore Software Development Center in Vietnam
Your own senior engineering team in Ho Chi Minh City, working only on your product. We hire, employ and run the center. You own the code, the roadmap and the technical calls. Core team running in 6-8 weeks.
Trusted by engineering teams across 15+ countries - from startups to Fortune 500.
Why Offshore Teams Fail
and what a dedicated center fixes
The location was never the problem. The model is.
Shared engineers. Your "dedicated" developer splits time across five clients.
Opaque stand-ups. Nobody can say what shipped or what is blocked.
Timezone lag. A two-hour question becomes a two-day delay.
Churn. The engineer you onboarded leaves. The replacement has never seen your code.
Green sprints, failed reviews. The metrics close. The code does not pass.
Vendor babysitting. Your seniors spend ten hours a week managing the vendor.
What Is an Offshore Development Center (ODC)?
and how the InApps model works
Your own engineering center in Vietnam
A branded team on a dedicated floor
An offshore development center (ODC) is a dedicated engineering team in another country that works only for your company. InApps recruits, employs and houses your team in Ho Chi Minh City. You set the technical direction and own 100% of the code and IP.
We run recruitment, payroll, HR, the office and local compliance. You control the roadmap, the architecture, the sprints and who joins the team. No legal entity to register in Vietnam.
ODC vs In-House Hiring vs Offshore Vendors
three ways to add engineers
| Criterion | InApps ODC | In-house | Typical vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 40-70% below US/EU loaded cost | Salary plus ~40% benefits and overhead | Low rate card, extra fees for PM, QA and tools |
| Speed | Core team running in 6-8 weeks | ~49 days per hire, longer for senior roles | 2–8 weeks, bench-heavy |
| Quality | 4-stage vetting, 3% pass rate | Varies by market | Mixed, often from the bench |
| Communication | B2+ English, tested in vetting | Native, co-located | Inconsistent |
| Flexibility | Scale up or down on 30 days' notice | Rigid headcount | Minimum commitments |
| Engineers | Work only on your product | Yours | Often shared across clients |
| Who manages | You lead tech. We run HR, payroll and the office. | You run everything | A vendor PM sits between you and the devs |
| IP ownership | 100% yours, assigned in contract | Yours | Depends on contract |
| If someone leaves | Replaced in 3-4 weeks, no fee, 2-week handover | You re-hire from zero | Bench swap, no handover |
What's Included in Your Offshore Development Center
people, place, process
Team
Dedicated to your product, led by you.
- Senior engineers who work only on your product
- Tech lead, optional if you have none onshore
- QA engineer: test automation and regression
- Engagement manager: HR and team health, not your tech direction
- Project manager, optional, if you prefer not to run ceremonies
Security
Your code and data stay under your control.
- ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified ISMS
- Access-controlled floor, company-managed devices
- VPN, SSO and segregated network
- NDA and background check for every engineer
HR & operations
We handle operations so you can focus on product.
- Recruitment, payroll and benefits
- Local labor compliance
- Performance reviews and retention plans
- Office, equipment and facilities
Process & tools
Your tools, your cadence, your rituals.
- Your Jira, Slack and GitHub
- Your sprint cadence and ceremonies
- Weekly team-health report
- Direct access to every engineer
How We Vet Engineers: 4 Stages, 3% Pass Rate
then your own interview
Live coding & system design
- Real-world coding challenge
- System design interview
- Code quality and problem solving
Communication & English
- Technical communication
- Client-facing scenario
- Written and spoken English
Agile collaboration & ownership
- Agile mindset and teamwork
- Ownership and accountability
- Adaptability and growth mindset
Final review & reference check
- Technical panel interview
- Reference and background check
- Culture and values alignment
How to Set Up an ODC: Brief to First Sprint
eight weeks, not six months
Requirements & setup
Roles, team shape and contract written down before anyone is sourced.
Recruitment
We shortlist and screen, you interview. Nobody joins your team without your yes.
Onboarding
Your codebase, your tools, your rituals. First pull request within two weeks of start.
Operations
A delivery cadence you can plan around, and a team that scales with the roadmap.
How Much Does an Offshore Development Center Cost?
one monthly fee, no hidden extras
InApps prices an ODC as a monthly retainer per engineer plus a one-time setup fee for your dedicated facility. Seniority, stack and team size set the rate. For reference, senior engineers in Vietnam average $40-70 an hour against $120-180 in the US (InCorp Vietnam, 2026).
Included in the monthly fee
- Salary, insurance and 13th-month bonus
- Office, devices and facilities
- Recruitment, HR and payroll
- Engagement manager and team-health reporting
Not included
- Onshore travel and visits
- Third-party licenses you choose
- Cloud and infrastructure costs on your own accounts
Results From Our Offshore Development Clients
starting with the center
Prudential · ODC Model
Insurance operations platform
Prudential needed engineering scale across multiple markets, but could not absorb the overhead of local recruitment in a regulated environment. We built a compliant, multi-squad offshore engineering center for one of South-East Asia's largest insurance groups - faster product delivery without the cost and risk of direct hiring.
Two Raw Sisters · Dedicated Team
Food & wellness app takeover
TRS needed the broken app fixed. Their previous team had left unresolved critical bugs and an active user base already hitting failures. We took over a critically underperforming food and wellness app from a failed vendor and rebuilt it into a scalable ongoing product.
Citizen Debt Services · Staff Augmentation
AI-integrated fintech platform
CDS needed senior talent fast, with English fluency and AI capability to contribute from week one. We reinforced a Vietnam-based team with AI-native offshore engineers on full timezone overlap, closing skill gaps without slowing an active development roadmap.
Artixo · Fixed-Price Model
AI drawing tutorial app
Artixo needed a vendor who could own the full scope without scope creep or budget surprises. We designed and delivered a custom AI-powered drawing tutorial app for proprietary Android tablets.
What Clients Say on Clutch
verified reviews, not picked quotes
From verified Clutch reviews. Clutch interviews clients directly, and we never see the draft.
Is an Offshore Development Center Right for You?
or worth a no, early
A dedicated center is the wrong shape for plenty of good projects. Here is where it works and where we will point you somewhere else.
This works well if
- You need ten or more engineers working full-time on one product.
- You want to reduce hiring cost without adding management work.
- You want a long-term engineering branch, not a three-month contractor pool.
This is not a fit if
- You need fewer than ten engineers. A dedicated team (3-8) or staff augmentation (1-2) fits better, and we will say so.
- You need someone shipping next week. Standing up a center takes six to eight weeks.
- You have a fixed scope and want it handed back finished. That is our fixed-price model.
ODC vs Dedicated Team vs Staff Augmentation
pick the model that fits your team size
| Criterion | ODC | Dedicated Team | Staff Augmentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical size | 10+ engineers | 3-8 engineers | 1-2 engineers |
| Daily management | InApps runs the center under your technical direction | Your product owner with an InApps team lead | Your engineering manager |
| What you get | A branded center with its own HR, security and culture | A standing squad on one product line | Individual engineers in your sprints |
| Time to first commit | 6-8 weeks | 4-6 weeks | 1-2 weeks |
| Commercial model | Monthly retainer plus setup fee | Monthly retainer per engineer | Time and materials |
Offshore Development Center FAQs
Still deciding?
Send us the roles you cannot fill locally and we will tell you honestly whether a dedicated center is the right shape for them - including when it is not.
Book a discovery callWho manages the engineers day to day?
What is the time zone overlap with Vietnam?
What happens if an engineer leaves?
What is the minimum team size?
How much does an offshore development center cost?
Who owns the code and IP?
How does InApps protect our data?
What is the difference between an ODC and a dedicated development team?
Can we take the team in-house later?
How much notice do we need to scale down?
Ready to scope your development center?
Tell us about your product - no pitch, no obligation. We will map the roles, the timeline and a cost range, and tell you plainly if a dedicated center is not the right shape for it.
Send us a project brief
The more of the shape you give us, the more useful the first reply is. If the answer is that you should hire locally, or that another firm fits better, we will say that instead.