How to Choose a Software Development Company in India
There are thousands of software companies in India and most of their websites say the same things. The differences that matter are only visible if you ask the right questions. Here they are.
By the TARDIS Solutions engineering team · Updated
Specialist or generalist?
| Generalist shop | Specialist studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical work | Apps, websites, CRUD platforms | Hard technical cores: data, maps, AI, performance |
| Team | Large, mixed seniority | Small, senior |
| Price per hour | Lower | Higher |
| Price per outcome | Can be higher if the problem is hard | Lower when the problem matches their specialty |
| Best for | Well-understood products | Problems where architecture mistakes are expensive |
Neither is better in general. A generalist is the right choice for a marketing site or a standard app. For a system with serious data, geospatial, AI or scale requirements, the cost of a wrong architecture dwarfs the difference in hourly rates.
Ten questions to ask
- Who exactly will work on our project, and can we speak to them before signing?
- Show us something similar you have built and run in production. What went wrong?
- Will the code live in our repositories and cloud accounts from day one?
- How do you estimate, and what happens when an estimate is wrong?
- What does your weekly reporting look like? Can we see a real example?
- How do you handle a requirement we didn't think of?
- What will exist at hand-over: documentation, runbooks, a walkthrough?
- Which technologies will you choose, and can we hire people to maintain them?
- How do you handle security, NDAs and access to production data?
- What work do you turn down?
The last question is the most revealing. A partner who takes everything is rarely excellent at anything.
Pricing models
- Fixed price per milestone: good when scope is clear; insist on written assumptions.
- Time and materials: good for evolving work; insist on weekly written reports.
- Dedicated team or retainer: good for ongoing products; insist on named people.
Red flags
- The people on the sales call are not the people who will do the work.
- Code is kept in the vendor's repositories until the final payment.
- Every answer is 'yes, we can do that'.
- Estimates arrive before anyone has asked about your data, integrations or constraints.
- No production work in your problem area that they will talk about in detail.
Time zones and communication
From IST, the European working day and the US East Coast morning overlap comfortably. Agree an overlap window in writing and rely on written updates for everything else. Teams that write well work well across time zones.
Frequently asked questions
Should we choose the cheapest quote?
Compare what each quote assumes, not the total. A low quote that excludes testing, deployment or hand-over usually becomes the most expensive option.
Is a small studio riskier than a large company?
Different risk. A small studio depends on fewer people, so ask about continuity. A large company may staff your project with juniors, so ask who exactly will work on it.
How do we protect our IP?
Sign an NDA and an agreement that assigns IP to you, keep code in your own repositories from day one, and control production access yourself.