If you are weighing a Dutch hire against a seat in a satellite office in India, the honest comparison is not salary against salary. It is everything the Dutch employer pays against everything included in the India price. Here is that comparison for one mid-level developer, line by line, so you can check the arithmetic yourself.
The Dutch side, for an illustrative mid-level developer
Published salary data for software developers in the Netherlands varies by source and seniority. Averages and medians run from the high 40,000s to the low 70,000s of euros a year. For this example we use €60,000 gross a year, a mid-level figure inside that range. Swap in your own number; the structure does not change.
| Line | Basis | Annual, euros |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | Example figure | 60,000 |
| Holiday allowance (vakantiegeld) | Statutory minimum of 8% of gross salary | 4,800 |
| Employer premiums | Roughly 15.6% for a permanent contract at a small employer, before the employer-specific return-to-work premium | about 9,400 |
| Subtotal before pension and workspace | about 74,200 | |
| Pension | Depends on your sector fund or scheme; often mandatory | Add your figure |
| Workspace and equipment | Desk, laptop, licences, internet | Add your figure |
| Recruiting | Your time, or a recruiter’s fee | Add your figure |
Before pension, workspace, equipment and recruiting, the example developer costs about €74,200 a year, or roughly €6,200 a month.
Dutch employment also carries obligations that do not show as a line until they happen. The main one is continued pay during illness, which can last up to two years. Plan for it as a risk, not a rounding error.
The India side
A mid-level full-stack developer in a SoTalented Satellite Office costs $2,800 to $4,200 a month. That covers salary, benefits, payroll, compliance, the office, IT and equipment. It comes on one invoice, with $0 until you hire.
There is no pension line to add, no workspace line and no equipment line, because they are inside the price. The recruiting line is inside too: we source, screen and assess, and you interview a shortlist of around three people.
Reading the two numbers
You have both numbers, in their own currencies, with every line visible. Convert at today’s rate, add the lines you know for your company, and compare. Across roles and levels, a seat in a satellite office costs up to 50% less than the same hire at home. Not every role saves the same amount, which is why we show you the lines rather than ask you to take the figure on trust.
Three things the numbers do not show, in both directions:
- Where the person sits. A Dutch hire can be in the room. A seat in India works in your time zone, but not at your table. Some roles need the table. See the roles we’d tell you to keep local.
- How long it takes to start. A satellite office seat is set up in about 3 weeks from a signed engagement. A local hire takes as long as your market takes.
- What you run yourself. The Dutch hire is your employee, with your payroll, your HR and your obligations. The seat in India is employed by us, and we run the 42 touchpoints around them.
If the arithmetic works for your plan, the full price list is on /pricing, and the practical questions for a Dutch company are in our guide for Dutch founders. Or talk to us and we will run it for your role.
Sources
- Netherlands developer salary ranges: PayScale, software developer, Netherlands; WeAreDevelopers, software developer salary in the Netherlands; NewLuxJob, advertised salaries 2026
- Statutory 8% holiday allowance: summary citing business.gov.nl.
- Employer premium breakdown (AWf, Aof, Wko, Zvw): Topsource Worldwide, Netherlands payroll.
- Continued pay during illness: Boundless, employee benefits in the Netherlands