Outsourcing software work to Poland is popular for companies in the United States and Canada. But one challenge keeps coming up in talks with CTOs, founders, procurement teams and engineering leaders:
“We plan our budgets annually. You show hourly or monthly rates. How do we compare this? Won’t there be any unpredictable costs”
This article explains why choose Poland when outsourcing IT: how to accurately estimate the annual cost of hiring a Polish software engineer, what factors influence that cost, and why Poland ends up being cheaper in annual budgets even though it may seem more expensive when looking at hourly rates.
1. US & Canadian Companies Think in Annual Budgets – Not Hourly Rates
In North America, compensation is almost always presented as a yearly pre-tax salary:
- “$100k for a senior developer”
- “$140k for a cloud engineer”
- “$180k for a staff engineer”
This number already includes:
- national holidays,
- paid time off (PTO),
- sick leave,
- employer taxes,
- benefits,
- overhead,
- true employment cost.
Therefore, when a US company sees an external partner quoting $50/hour, the immediate reaction is:
“But how much is that in a year?”
To make a fair comparison, you must convert Polish B2B hourly pricing into an annual cost.
2. How Many Working Days Are There in Poland? (2025 Example)
Unlike North America, where PTO and holidays are built into salaried employment, Poland uses a B2B model for most IT consultants.
This means:
- you pay only for hours worked,
- holidays are not billed,
- absences are not billed,
- PTO is not billed.
To properly estimate the annual cost, you need the actual number of working days.
Poland 2025 Working Day Breakdown
- Total working days: 249
- Average days off (PTO + illness): 20
- Actual working days billed: ~230
This is the key number for annual planning.
3. Annual Cost Formula (Simple & Accurate)
To compare a Polish consultant with a US salary, use:
Annual Cost = Hourly Rate × 8 hours × 230 days
This reflects:
- real availability
- real billing
- real cost to you
Example Annual Budgets at Relout
| Position | Hourly rate | Yearly budget |
| Lead SRE | 60 USD/h | 110,400 USD/year (60 × 8 × 230) |
| Senior Cloud Engineer | 52 USD/h | 95,680 USD/year |
| Senior Software Engineer (.NET) | 51 USD/h | 93,840 USD/year |
Conclusion:
A Polish senior engineer costs about the same annually as a $95k–$110k US developer — but with significantly lower overhead and much higher flexibility.
4. No Hidden Costs: B2B in Poland Makes Budgeting Easier
When working with Relout, you pay only for work performed.
There are no additional costs for:
- national holidays,
- planned or unplanned time off,
- benefits,
- payroll taxes,
- equipment,
- HR,
- recruitment,
- onboarding,
- performance management.
For US and Canadian companies used to paying extra 20–40% in payroll tax and benefits, this is a major cost advantage.
5. Payment Terms That Fit North American Finance Teams
To align with US & Canadian accounting practices, Relout offers:
- 30-day payment terms
- invoicing in USD or CAD
- monthly billing for actual hours worked
- transparent reporting and forecasting
This makes the collaboration predictable and easy to integrate into existing budgeting cycles.
6. Working Hours and Time Zone Overlap
Poland operates in UTC+1, ensuring solid overlap with North American time zones.
Overlap with:
| EST | ~4–6 hours |
| CST | ~3–4 hours |
| PST | ~1–3 hours |
Daily stand-ups, sprint planning, product talks, and escalations all run smoothly.
7. Zero-Risk Start: 14-Day Trial
To remove uncertainty, Relout provides a 14-day trial period for new consultants.
This means:
- if the consultant is not a good fit,
- if the collaboration doesn’t work as expected,
you don’t pay.
This drastically reduces the risk that typically comes with expanding engineering teams.
8. Summary: Why choose Poland when outsourcing IT
For a US or Canadian company budgeting around $95k–$120k per year for a senior engineer, outsourcing to Poland offers:
- Predictable annual cost
- Zero hidden fees
- Top-tier engineering talent (TOP 3 globally)
- Stable collaboration with EU time zone advantages
- Lower operational overhead
- Risk-free trial and easy onboarding
- Better value than comparing hourly rates alone
When you convert Polish B2B rates into the annual format familiar to US finance teams, the outcome is simple:
A senior Polish engineer costs roughly the same annually as a US engineer – but brings higher flexibility, lower risk, and no employment overhead.
And that’s exactly how you should estimate your IT budget when outsourcing to Poland.
