BairesDev is the best choice for a company that wants a dedicated or augmented team, because staff augmentation and dedicated teams are the first two models on its home page and it has over 4,000 people to draw from. Black Badger ranks third as the custom route for a company that wants the finished system and not the extra staff.
The ranking, entry by entry
1 BairesDev
Best for companies adding nearshore engineers to an existing team
When the goal is more engineers under your own direction, the firm with the deepest bench and the clearest staffing model goes first. BairesDev names staff augmentation and dedicated teams on its home page, states over 4,000 people, and describes its model as nearshore, with engineers from Latin America and communication in English. It was founded in Buenos Aires in 2009 and has an office in San Francisco.
Watch for. Rates are not published, and the pages we read say nothing about who owns the code your augmented team writes. Put that in the contract.
- Based in
- Offices include San Francisco, USA and Buenos Aires, Argentina
- How it charges
- Rates not published, set after a discovery call
- Main limit
- Staff augmentation and dedicated teams, with Latin American engineers
2 Vention
Best for companies that want a dedicated team from a New York firm
Vention is second. Staff augmentation and dedicated teams are two of its four named models, next to AI-enabled teams and project outsourcing, and it states over 3,000 engineers across 20 or more offices. A buyer gets a New York head office and a large pool to hire from. It sits just behind BairesDev because the stated pool is smaller and each engagement is scoped individually.
Watch for. The site offers a cost calculator and no rate card. Ask for the cost per role in writing before you plan a team.
- 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
3 Black Badger Software Solutions
Best for companies that want a finished system instead of more staff
Black Badger publishes this guide and does not rent out engineers. Many companies ask for an augmented team when what they need is a finished system. If that is you, we rank third as the other way to get it. We take a fixed written scope after discovery, build it with our own team in the United States, and hand over the code and every account.
Watch for. If you have a technical lead and a roadmap and need more engineers, hire one of the staffing firms on this list. We are not a fit for that.
- 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
4 Chetu
Best for companies that want on-demand developers and stated ownership
Chetu ranks fourth. All three of its named models are about teams, which are dedicated development teams, on-demand developers and staff augmentation, and it states over 2,800 developers. Its head office is in Sunrise, Florida, with seven United States offices listed. Its about page says the client owns the source code and intellectual property, which answers the question a company adding outside developers should ask first.
Watch for. The site also lists three delivery centers in Noida, India and one office in Birmingham, England. Ask which location your developers would work from.
- 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
5 Itransition
Best for larger companies that want a managed dedicated team
Itransition is fifth. Its home page names dedicated Smart teams and managed IT services, and the firm states more than 3,000 professionals, so it has a wide pool to assemble a team from. It lists healthcare, finance, manufacturing, retail, insurance and hi-tech as industries. It ranks behind the firms above because the pages we read name no pricing model for those teams.
Watch for. The site shows a global delivery map and no head office. Ask which countries your team would be drawn from and how much of the working day overlaps with yours.
- Based in
- Not stated on its site, with offices in the US and Europe
- How it charges
- Quoted per project
- Main limit
- Very large firm, and its site names no pricing model or head office
6 Netguru
Best for retail and commerce companies that want a European team
Netguru ranks sixth. It names dedicated teams, staff augmentation and a delivery center as its three models, and it states over 400 people with a head office in Poznan, Poland. Its site lists commerce as the main focus, with finance, healthcare, education and proptech after it. That makes it a close fit for a commerce company and a narrower one for other industries, which is why it sits here.
Watch for. No rates are published, and the head office is in Poland. Ask where your team members would be and how much of the working day overlaps with yours.
- Based in
- Poznan, Poland
- How it charges
- Rates not published
- Main limit
- Mainly a commerce specialist, with around 400 people
7 thoughtbot
Best for companies that want senior people to work beside their own staff
thoughtbot is seventh. It offers team augmentation, and its pages describe senior people who work alongside a client team for a flexible time. The delivery model is fully remote, with teammates across the Americas, Europe, West Asia and Africa. It ranks last here on fit alone, since its development list centers on Ruby on Rails, Hotwire, React and React Native, and a team on another stack would need to ask first.
Watch for. If your stack is outside its list, have that conversation before anything else. The pages we read state no pricing model.
- Based in
- Not stated on its site, a fully remote team
- How it charges
- Quoted per project
- Main limit
- Fully remote teams, and a specialty in Ruby on Rails and React
How this list was ranked
We ranked for a company that already has technical leadership and wants more engineers, either as a team that works only for it or as individuals added to its own team. We weighed whether a firm names that model on its own site, how large a pool it states, and where it says its people are.
Black Badger is third on this list for a reason its entry explains. It does not supply staff, and it is here as the fixed scope route for companies that would rather receive a finished system.