Hiring a developer in another country can save money and give you access to great talent. It can also go badly wrong. The difference is almost never the country. It is how the work is set up.
I am a developer based in Bangladesh, working with clients in other countries, so I see both sides. Here is the checklist I would use if I were the client.
Before you hire: check the proof
- Ask for something live. Screenshots can be borrowed. A live product you can open and use cannot. For example, my main proof is GoAutoSiteAI, which anyone can sign up for and try.
- Ask what they built themselves. "Worked on" can mean anything. Ask which parts they designed, built and tested.
- Check identity. Verified profiles on platforms like Upwork, and certificates you can verify online, are easy to check and hard to fake.
- Talk on a video call. Fifteen minutes on camera tells you more than fifty messages.
Put these 6 things in writing
- Scope: what will be built, page by page and feature by feature.
- Price: the total, and what is not included.
- Milestones: how the work is split, and what you receive at each step.
- Ownership: who owns the source code, and when it transfers.
- Accounts: hosting, domains, payment and email accounts in your name.
- Testing: how and where the work will be tested before launch.
If a developer will not write these down, do not start.
Pay in milestones, never all upfront
A fair structure for most projects is 40% to start, 30% at a working midpoint and 30% at launch. At every milestone, you should be able to open and click the actual software, not just look at a report.
Agree how you will communicate
- One main channel for decisions, so nothing gets lost
- A regular update rhythm you are both happy with
- Overlapping working hours. Bangladesh is GMT+6, which overlaps well with Europe in the afternoon and with the US East Coast early in the morning
Warning signs
- Prices far below everyone else, with no clear scope
- Pressure to pay everything upfront
- No live work you can open yourself
- Vague answers about who will actually do the work
- Asking for your passwords instead of being added to accounts properly
The short version
Hire the person who shows live proof, writes everything down and lets you see working software at every step.
If you are looking for someone to build a website, client portal, SaaS product or automation, you can see why clients trust me, read the GoAutoSiteAI case study, or book a free call to talk it through.