Top Countries for Finding Remote Software Developers in 2026

The beauty of remote work (besides working in your pyjamas) is not being limited to hiring people who happen to live a commutable distance from you. 

If future generations could look back on us only recruiting tech people from one or two cities away, they’d laugh their heads off.

It was such a sad, arbitrary talent pool limitation. It’s rightly obsolete, like fax machines, paper filing cabinets, or Justin Bieber. 

Besides massively increasing your candidate base, hiring remote workers globally can cut costs and simplify the hiring process– we’ll look at how shortly.

Still, as good as remote work is for developer recruitment, it raises questions about where’s best to look for your next developer (or developers).

If you can recruit developers from ANYWHERE ON EARTH, where do you start? 

Which country is #1 in software? Which country has the most competitive programmers?

That’s where this article comes in.

It’ll give you an understanding of the key factors to consider when hiring global developers, and in which countries you can find your next hire.

Table of Contents

• Why Location Matters in Remote Hiring
• Top Countries for Finding Remote Software Developers
• Eastern Europe/Europe
• South Asia
• Latin America
• Southeast Asia
• Africa
• Around the World in 80 Devs

Why Location Matters in Remote Hiring

In real estate, it’s Location, Location, Location. It’s also a British reality show, but that’s not important right now.

The same is true in recruitment. Just because your next hire no longer has to live within a few hours of your offices, it doesn’t mean location is no longer a factor.

For example, surveys have shown that even with remote hiring, most companies still favour domestic workers. And while cross-border hires are growing (by 42% in 2024), they still tend to be in the same or neighbouring time zones.

But what if you looked further afield? 

Could you benefit from greater cost effectiveness? Depending on where you’re based, arguably yes. The median Mexican developer salary is less than half that of Germany, for example. In Vietnam, developers are only a quarter of the UK median salary.

What about lower competition for talent? Again, it’s possible. Some sources suggest it’s twice as difficult to hire developers from the US as it is from, say, Brazil or Malaysia.

You might worry that a cheaper developer, in less demand, is commensurately lower-skilled. But is that fair?

Not necessarily. Salaries are largely tied to local labour markets, demand concentration, currency strength, and other macroeconomic mumbo jumbo. A US developer asking for a salary 5x higher than one from, say, South Africa by no means suggests they’re 5x “better”. It’s just what the market pays.

So, by casting your gaze a bit further, and with the right search (which Remote Crew are experts at, by the way), you really can find yourself a bargain.

But which are the best countries for hiring developers remotely?

There’s no “right” answer – it depends on your circumstances. Still, here are some of our picks to inspire you.

Top Countries for Finding Remote Software Developers

Eastern Europe/Europe:

Besides CET and EET being accessible time zones for most global businesses, there's a wealth of untapped IT talent across Europe. Poland and Ukraine, for instance, both boast tech proficiency levels above 90% among learners at Coursera. And if you’re worried about language barriers, consider that Poland and Romania both rank around the top 10% globally for English proficiency, with countries like Germany and Portugal closer to the top 5. As for wages, they’re typically lower across the board than in the UK or US, particularly in Bulgaria, Romania and Poland.

South Asia:

There are major talent pools for developers in South Asia. There are over 10 million devs on GitHub from India alone, making it the 2nd largest developer community on the site. Developers in this region are typically much more affordable than in Western regions – for example, the average Indian developer salary is only around a third of that in the UK, whereas Pakistan and Sri Lanka are closer to 10%. Of course, you’ll have to balance these benefits against the fact that English proficiency isn’t necessarily as high in these regions, and that for EU and US businesses, there may be visa issues. That being said, there’s still a lot of familiarity with Western ways of working – India was one of the largest and earliest software developers for Western businesses in the 90s and beyond. 

Latin America:

One of the more obvious characteristics of Central and South American developers is their time zone alignment with the US – an obvious boon if you’re headquartered in the States, but a reasonable-enough overlap with Europe that you can arrange calls easily. As for the tech ecosystem in this region, it’s growing fast. Mexico City, Mexico and Sao Paolo, Brazil, each have over a quarter of a million tech specialists, with Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Bogotá, Colombia each boasting over 100,000, and growing. In terms of cost, the average salary largely sits around the $30,000 mark – about a quarter of what you’d expect for a US developer.

Southeast Asia:

Southeast Asia is often overlooked, yet countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam are seeing major digital investment – the former having attracted investment of $22 billion in their digital economy and the latter having the fastest growing digital economy in Southeast Asia (almost 20% of GDP). The Philippines is another location not to be sniffed at, with over 1.8 million IT professionals. And for each of these locations, the average software engineer salary is around $13,000-$20,000 per year – a fraction of what you’d pay in the US or UK.  

Africa:

Africa is becoming a major emerging tech hub. Kenya, for example, has seen around $500 million investment in ICT. Nigeria has seen over 31% year-on-year nominal growth in the IT sector, and research by Seven International University suggests there are over 130,000 developers in South Africa alone. English proficiency in these nations is also reasonably high, with South Africa, for example, ranking 13th globally. Timezone-wise, Africa sits nicely alongside Europe, so there’s not too much disruption there. As far as salaries go, there’s a fairly wide range, but you’re still looking at muh lower figures than the UK or US – South Africa is at the top end with an average developer salary of around $30,000, whereas in Nigeria it’s around $4,000 per year. And yes I’ve double-checked that – I was as surprised as you are. 

Around the World in 80 Devs

The benefits of hiring developers globally are indisputable. 

But does all this mean hiring cheaper, easier developers is a cheat code? A way to blitz your competition, who are only using local talent?

Absolutely not. There are still lots of challenges to overcome. Hiring regulations. Cultural and language barriers. Asynchronous working for those further afield.

That’s not to say these considerations are insurmountable, though. You can train for, or assess at interview, soft skills like communication and collaboration. 

So it’s sensible to strike a balance between what’s achievable and what’ll bring you the best candidates.

If you haven’t already, look into your company's guidelines on international hiring, as well as local employment laws, to see where you can add value. Of course, it may be simpler if you’re hiring contract developers as the regulations are likely looser.

Now you have an idea of what’s available, and some examples of countries to look at, you have the potential to take advantage of remote working and give yourself a real edge.

But, if it seems like there’s still a lot of work to be do, why not sit back and let Remote Crew, who have a vetted global network of over 10,000 software engineers, do the legwork?