# Hire a developer or outsource? — a monthly cost calculation for early-stage businesses

> Hire a developer or outsource? The hidden costs of hiring, when outsourcing fits and when hiring fits, and a third option — subscribing to a development team from ₩490K/mo. An honest comparison.

- Published: 2026-08-25 · Category: Outsourcing
- Canonical (HTML): https://maeum.io/en/blog/dev-outsourcing-vs-hiring/ · Korean original: https://maeum.io/blog/dev-outsourcing-vs-hiring/
- Author: MAEUM — an AI engineering company that publishes its prices · https://maeum.io

One criterion: **is development the core of your business, or a tool?** If you sell software itself, hiring is the eventual answer. But if development is a tool that supports the business (membership, booking, billing, automation), hiring is usually over-investment. A developer's real monthly cost has to include payroll taxes, benefits, equipment and management on top of salary — and for that money, **a managed build from ₩700K + ₩490K/mo** often covers building, fixing and operating.

## The real cost of hiring — it isn't just salary

- **Salary + payroll taxes + benefits + equipment and software** — substantial fixed costs stack on top of the nominal salary.
- **The cost of hiring itself** — time spent on postings, interviews and evaluation, and the paradox of a company with no developers having to evaluate developers.
- **Attrition risk** — a system built by one person easily becomes a black box nobody can touch once they leave.
- **The limits of one person** — a developer who is excellent at planning, design, servers, security and AI all at once is rare. Whatever's missing ends up outsourced anyway.
So the comparison isn't "salary vs outsourcing fee" but **"total hiring cost + risk vs total outsourcing/managed cost"**.

## When hiring fits, when outsourcing fits

| | Situation| Right choice |

| Software is the product; daily development decisions are needed| Hire (or validate a first version via outsourcing before hiring) |
| You need operational systems — membership, booking, billing| Outsource / managed — hiring is overkill |
| You want to test market response with a first version (MVP)| Outsource to validate fast → decide on hiring once there's traction |
| You already have a dev team and need more hands| Partial outsourcing or hiring |

Honestly: **if hiring is right for your company, we'll recommend hiring.** Our job is to let companies where development is a "tool" have their systems without hiring.

## The third option — subscribe to a development team (managed)

Between hiring and one-off outsourcing sits **managed (SaaS)**. Build from ₩700K + **₩490K / ₩990K / ₩1.49M/mo**, and it doesn't end at launch — server management, improvements, new features and a monthly performance report continue.

- Like hiring, it's **continuous** — but unlike hiring, **no attrition risk and no management burden**.
- Like outsourcing, you get **a specialist team** — but unlike outsourcing, **no new quote every time something changes**.
- No long-term lock-in, so it adjusts to your business situation.
Send us the task list that made you consider hiring a developer — we'll tell you honestly, with a demo, whether it can be solved without hiring.

## MAEUM list prices (VAT excluded · starting prices · final price confirmed after scoping)

- Scoping pass (5 sessions): ₩250K (up to 90 min each, working demo included)
- SaaS · managed (recommended): build from ₩700K + ₩490K / ₩990K / ₩1.49M/mo — servers, AI, improvements, new features and a monthly report included; no per-seat pricing
- SI · ownership: build from ₩2.5M (full build from ₩7M+) — no monthly fee afterwards; care passes when needed
- KRW is authoritative (USD ≈ at ~₩1,400/$). SEO and AI-search visibility work included free. The demo is free.
- Machine-readable prices: https://maeum.io/facts.json · Rate card: https://maeum.io/rates.json

## Frequently asked questions

**Q. Can we outsource now and hand over to an in-house developer later?**
A. Yes. On SI (ownership) you receive source code and documentation, so an internal handover is natural. Moving from managed to ownership is also something we can discuss.

**Q. Nobody here knows development — can we manage an outsourced project?**
A. That's why we report in business language, not technical terms. You check progress on working screens and receive a monthly performance report showing what improved.

**Q. Can we cancel the monthly plan midway?**
A. Yes. We don't lock you into long commitments, and if you cancel, the data is yours and we support export.

**Q. Does the fee rise as staff grows?**
A. No. There's no per-seat pricing. The difference between plans is the scope of operations, improvements and automation performed each month, not user count.

**Q. We want to validate the market before hiring.**
A. We recommend building a first version (MVP) quickly via outsourcing, confirming the response, and then deciding on hiring. During scoping (₩250K) we help you cut the minimum scope.

## Related guides

- [Software Development Outsourcing Cost — What's a Normal Range? (2026)](https://maeum.io/en/blog/dev-outsourcing-cost/)
- [Own It (SI) or Have It Run for You (SaaS)? — A Decision Guide for Business Owners](https://maeum.io/en/blog/si-vs-saas-choice/)
- [Outsourcing Workflow Automation — 7 Criteria for Choosing a Vendor](https://maeum.io/en/blog/work-automation-outsourcing/)

---
MAEUM · Free demo: https://maeum.io/en/start/ · Pricing: https://maeum.io/en/price/ · Contact: support@maeum.io