What is the difference between Andela and a development agency?
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Andela sources and vets individual engineers who then join your team under your management. An agency supplies a team that already works together and takes responsibility for delivering an outcome. The choice depends on whether your bottleneck is sourcing or ownership.
Which is cheaper?
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An Indian boutique agency at $22–$45 per hour for senior engineers is typically below talent-network rates. But the comparison is not like for like, because agency rates include review, cover, and delivery accountability that a placement does not.
How long until a placed engineer is productive?
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Realistically two to six weeks, because context transfer is on you and is usually underestimated. A team engagement is generally faster to productive work since the team absorbs context together and reviews each other.
Can we move from a talent network to an agency later?
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Yes, and it is a common path — start with placements, then hand a whole product area to an agency once you know which area needs owning. The transition is easiest if documentation and repository access were done properly from the start.
What should we ask any of these vendors?
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Who exactly will do the work, can we speak to them first, who reviews their code, what happens when they are unavailable, and what does leaving look like. Those five questions separate suppliers far better than a rate card does.
