Outsourcing software development to Romania: rates, pros and how to hire

Romania is one of the usual answers when a company in Western Europe or the US looks for developers outside its own market. The reasons are practical: rates well below US and Western European levels, a strong level of English, and the same EU rules as the rest of the single market. Below is what it costs in 2026, how the practical side works for a foreign client, and what to check before you sign.

What developers cost in Romania

Rates vary with seniority, technology and whether you hire a freelancer, a dedicated developer through a company, or an agency for a whole project. Two recent sources:

Lemon.io's figures come from 1,442 active contracts on its platform; Devico's are a published range. Agencies charge more per hour than freelancers because the rate includes project management, design, testing and someone to call when things break. For a defined project, many agencies quote a fixed price instead of hours.

Why companies choose Romania

• English. Romania ranks 11th in the world in the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, with a score of 605. English is the everyday working language in the tech industry.
• The EU. Romanian companies work under the GDPR, EU consumer law and the EU AI Act, the same as your other European suppliers. Personal data doesn't leave the EU.
• Time zone. UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer: two hours ahead of London, one hour ahead of Berlin and Paris, seven hours ahead of New York. A full working-day overlap with Europe, and the Romanian afternoon matches a US East Coast morning.
• Tech hubs. Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Timișoara have large developer communities, universities with strong computer science programmes, and the offices of many international software companies.
• Invoicing. Under EU VAT rules, a Romanian company supplying services to a business in another EU country usually doesn't charge VAT: the client accounts for it under the reverse charge. Services to clients outside the EU are usually invoiced without VAT too, according to the EU.

Three ways to hire

If you don't have a technical lead on your side, a fixed-price project is usually the safer choice: the agency turns your requirements into a plan, designs, builds, tests and hands over. If you already run a product team, a dedicated developer slots in under your lead.

What to put in the contract

• Copyright in the code. Under Romanian copyright law, economic rights in a commissioned work belong to the author unless the contract says otherwise (Article 47), and an assignment can be proven only in writing (Article 43). The contract should assign the rights in the code, design and documentation made for you to your company, effective on payment.
• Accounts and access. Code repository, hosting, domains, app store accounts and third-party services in your company's name, with the supplier as a user.
• Which law applies, and where disputes are settled.
• Scope, milestones and acceptance: what's delivered at each stage and how you approve it.
• Warranty: how long the supplier fixes defects for free after launch.
• Data processing. If the supplier handles your customers' personal data, a data processing agreement under Article 28 of the GDPR.
• Confidentiality and who may work on the project.
• Handover: documentation and a walkthrough if you move the work in-house or to another supplier.

Questions to ask a Romanian supplier

1. Who exactly will work on the project, and will you talk to them directly?
2. How do you estimate: fixed price or hours, and what happens if the scope grows?
3. What do I see before the build starts: a plan, a sketch, a prototype?
4. Which projects like mine have you built, and can I see them working?
5. Whose name will the code repository and accounts be in?
6. How long is the warranty, and what does it cover?
7. What does support cost after launch?
8. Which currency do you invoice in, and how is VAT handled for my country?

How we work with clients abroad

Manvro is an agency in Bucharest that builds websites, online stores, web and mobile apps, and AI automations, for businesses in Romania and abroad. We work in English, price projects at a fixed rate rather than by the hour, and send the price and timeline in writing after the first conversation, which is free.

The code, repositories and accounts are in your company's name, you talk directly to the person who builds your project, we reply to every message within one business day, and for 24 months we fix for free anything that doesn't work as agreed. Details on our app development agency page.