Cheap isn't automatically risky — a $25–$60/hour blended rate is normal for a competent team outside the US, UK or Australia. The risk is in a specific combination of signals, not the price alone.
Five checks before you pay anything
- Can you verify the portfolio? Real, working links — not just screenshots — to apps this team actually shipped.
- Is there a written scope? Not a rough quote — an actual list of what will be delivered and by when.
- Is payment staged to milestones? Full payment upfront, with no milestone structure, removes your only leverage if something goes wrong.
- Do they own communication in writing? Verbal-only agreements are unenforceable and easy to "misremember" later.
- Is there any recourse if the work misses the brief? A guarantee, a dispute process, anything beyond "trust us."
We built our process — written scope, milestone payments, a published money-back guarantee — specifically because most of the fear around budget developers comes from teams that skip all five.