Chetu is the best pick for a buyer who wants a large custom software firm based in the United States, since its head office is in Sunrise, Florida and its site lists seven offices across the country. Black Badger ranks second as the custom route for a company that wants every person on the build to be in the United States.
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Chetu
Best for buyers who want a large firm with seven United States offices
On a list about where a firm is, Chetu states the most. Its head office is in Sunrise, Florida, and its site lists seven United States offices. It states over 2,800 developers and was founded in 2000, so a buyer gets a large American company. It is first with one caveat, which is that the same site lists three delivery centers in Noida, India.
Watch for. A United States head office does not tell you where your developers work. Ask Chetu which office or delivery center would staff your project.
- Based in
- Sunrise, Florida, USA
- How it charges
- Rates not published
- Main limit
- Delivery centers in the US, the UK and India, and no published rates
2 Black Badger Software Solutions
Best for companies that want every person on the build in the United States
We publish this guide, and this is a question Black Badger can answer directly. We are based in Clearwater, Florida. Our own team is in the United States and we do not hand work to offshore contractors, so the people in your discovery meetings are the people who build the system. We rank second because Chetu offers a United States base at a scale we do not have.
Watch for. We are a small team working mainly with companies of 50 or more employees. A program that needs dozens of engineers at once is better served by a larger firm.
- Based in
- Clearwater, Florida, United States
- How it charges
- One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
- Main limit
- Works mainly with companies of 50 or more employees
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
3 ScienceSoft
Best for buyers who want a Texas head office and a long record
ScienceSoft ranks third. Its head office is in McKinney, Texas, it was founded in 1989, and it states over 750 IT professionals. The site also lists offices in Mexico, Finland, Latvia, Poland, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, so this is a United States firm with offices abroad. It sits behind the top two because a buyer has to ask which of those offices would do the development work.
Watch for. Ask where the team for your project would be based, and ask about code ownership, which the pages we read do not cover.
- Based in
- McKinney, Texas, USA
- How it charges
- Time and materials with a cap, or fixed price
- Main limit
- Time and materials is the usual model, and the site publishes no project rates
4 Vention
Best for buyers who want a New York firm with a large engineering pool
Vention is fourth. It is based in New York and states over 3,000 engineers across 20 or more offices. For a buyer who wants a United States contract and contact point with a large pool behind it, that is a clear fit. It ranks here because the facts we hold count offices and engineers in total, without saying how many of either are in the United States.
Watch for. Ask how many of the people proposed for your project are in the United States, and ask for the price both ways if you have a choice.
- Based in
- New York, USA
- How it charges
- Scoped individually for each project
- Main limit
- Teams of over 3,000 engineers, and no rates published
5 Slalom
Best for buyers who want consultants from an office near them
Slalom ranks fifth. It describes itself as a business and technology consulting company and lists 54 local offices in 12 countries, with custom software under digital product building and systems implementation. The local office model suits a buyer who wants people nearby. It ranks fifth because the pages we read state no head office, and because the build work sits inside a wider consulting service.
Watch for. Ask which local office would run your project and whether the engineers come from that office or from elsewhere in the firm.
- Based in
- Not stated on its site, 54 offices in 12 countries
- How it charges
- Quoted per project
- Main limit
- A consulting firm first, so custom builds sit inside a wider services mix
6 EPAM Systems
Best for large companies running a multi-year engineering program
EPAM Systems is sixth. Its head office is in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and its investor site lists locations in 55 or more countries and regions with over thirty years of work behind it. That is a United States company built for global delivery, which fits an enterprise program with teams in many places. It ranks lower here because the question on this page is about work done in the United States.
Watch for. The firm publishes no pricing model or minimum project size. Our facts come from its investor site, since the main site was not readable when we checked.
- Based in
- Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA
- How it charges
- Quoted per project
- Main limit
- A very large global firm, so best suited to enterprise programs
7 10Pearls
Best for buyers who want a Washington office with nearshore capacity
10Pearls ranks seventh. Its offices include Washington DC, and it states over 1,400 people since its founding in 2004. Its site lists nearshore development and offshore development as separate services, with offices in Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica and Pakistan among others. That model is the reason it is last on a list about United States teams, and the same model is why it suits a buyer who wants that capacity.
Watch for. The site does not state a head office and has no pricing page. Ask which of its locations would do the work on your project.
- Based in
- Not stated on its site, offices include Washington DC, USA
- How it charges
- Quoted per project
- Main limit
- Nearshore and offshore delivery from Latin America and Pakistan
How this list was ranked
This list ranks firms for a buyer who wants a company based in the United States. We used only what each firm states on its own site about its head office, its other offices and where its delivery teams sit. A head office in the country and a team in the country are different things, and each entry says which one the facts support.
Firms based elsewhere, or whose sites describe a nearshore or offshore model as the main one, are left for our other lists.
Questions buyers ask
Does a United States head office mean the developers are in the United States?
No, an American head office does not mean the developers are in the country. Many firms with an American head office deliver from other countries, and their sites say so. Chetu lists delivery centers in India, ScienceSoft lists offices in six other countries, and 10Pearls lists nearshore and offshore services. Ask each firm where the people on your project will work.
Why would a company want an onshore software development team?
A company usually wants an onshore team for working hours, contracts under familiar law, data handling rules, or a preference for meeting the people doing the work. None of that makes an onshore team right for every project. A nearshore or offshore team often costs less per hour, and for some projects that matters more.
Where is Black Badger based?
Black Badger Software Solutions is based in Clearwater, Florida. Its own team is in the United States and it does not hand work to offshore contractors. Black Badger publishes this guide, which is why we can state that without citing a website.