How Much Does a Dedicated Development Team in Vietnam Cost?

A dedicated team in Vietnam is usually priced per person per month, but the number on a proposal depends on assumptions that are rarely spelled out: how many hours are billed, which roles are included, how holidays are handled and whether management time is part of the rate. This article gives you a formula you can reuse, three illustrative team configurations, and a checklist for comparing quotes on equal terms.

Define the team you are buying

Start with the work, not the headcount. A dedicated team suits an ongoing roadmap where priorities change and a product owner on your side sets them (see Is your product ready for a dedicated development team?). Describe:

• Roles: for example, frontend, backend, mobile, QA, DevOps, tech lead, designer.
• Seniority: junior, mid-level, senior or lead for each role.
• Allocation: full-time (1.0 FTE) or part-time (for example 0.5 FTE for QA).
• Working hours and overlap: the hours you need people online in your time zone.
• Management: who runs sprints and reports progress, your product owner, a vendor delivery lead, or both.

Convert rates into a monthly budget

Vendors quote either an hourly rate or a monthly rate per person. To compare them, convert everything to the same basis:

Monthly cost per role = billable hours per month × hourly rate × allocation

Billable hours depend on the contract. A common working assumption is 8 hours a day and about 21 working days a month, or roughly 168 hours, but contracts differ on public holidays, leave and overtime. Vietnam has several public holidays, including the Lunar New Year (Tet) period, so ask whether those days are billed, excluded or averaged across the year.

For context, the Clutch directory of Vietnamese developers showed rate bands of “under $25” and “$25–$49” per hour for most listed companies on 5 November 2026, with a few at $50–$99. One vendor, Kyanon Digital, publishes packages on its Clutch profile starting at $2,900 per month for one AI-enabled developer and $15,000 per month for a dedicated agile team. These are public listings, not market averages, and you should not average them into a “typical” price.

Compare three team configurations

Using the illustrative $30 per hour and 168 billable hours per month:

In practice, rates vary by role and seniority: a senior tech lead is usually priced higher than a mid-level developer. Replace the single rate with role-specific rates once you have quotes. The structure of the calculation stays the same.

Worksheet you can copy

1. List each role with seniority and allocation.
2. Agree billable hours per month and how holidays are treated.
3. Multiply hours × allocation × role rate for each role.
4. Add agreed extras: paid tools, licences, hardware, travel, cloud.
5. Add a contingency line for onboarding and ramp-up in the first month.
6. Note the currency, invoicing frequency and payment terms.

Separate included and optional roles

Two quotes with the same headline number can buy very different teams. Ask each vendor to state, line by line:

Account for onboarding and changes

The first weeks of a dedicated team are rarely fully productive. Engineers need access, documentation and context. Budget for:

• Ramp-up: a period of reduced output while the team learns the codebase.
• Knowledge transfer: your team’s time to explain architecture and priorities.
• Scaling: notice periods for adding or removing people, which the contract should define.
• Replacement: how a departing engineer is replaced and who pays for overlap. Do not assume replacements are free; ask what the contract says.

Compare quotes on the same basis

Before choosing, put every quote into the same table: roles, seniority, allocation, billable hours, rate, currency, included services and exclusions. Then ask each vendor the same questions:

• How many billable hours per month does the rate assume, and how are public holidays handled?
• Which roles are included, and which are billed separately?
• What is the notice period for scaling up or down?
• What overlap with my time zone is included?
• Who owns repositories, accounts and IP, and when does ownership transfer?

Example: costing a six-month roadmap

Imagine a SaaS company that needs to deliver a customer portal and an internal admin tool over six months. The product owner sits in the UK and needs four hours of daily overlap. A reasonable illustrative team might be two full-stack developers, one QA engineer at half time and a tech lead at a quarter of their time.

Three questions change this budget more than the rate itself. First, does the tech lead role exist at all, or is the product owner expected to make technical decisions? Second, is QA a real person or part of developer time? Third, will the first month be fully billable while the team ramps up? Agree these points before you compare vendors, and the remaining differences between quotes become easier to judge.

Frequently asked questions

Is a dedicated team cheaper than a fixed-price project?

Not necessarily. A dedicated team charges for capacity over time; a fixed-price project prices a defined outcome and often includes a margin for risk. The cheaper option depends on how stable your scope is. See dedicated team vs fixed price.

Should I pay monthly or hourly?

Monthly billing is common for dedicated teams and simplifies budgeting. Hourly billing can suit part-time roles. Either way, confirm the billable-hours assumption behind the price.

Do vendors in Vietnam bill for Tet and public holidays?

Practices differ. Some exclude public holidays from billable hours, some average them across the year. Ask for the policy in writing.

How quickly can a dedicated team start?

It depends on the roles and availability. Agree a start date and an onboarding plan in the proposal rather than relying on a general promise.