How to choose a software company in Kosovo: a practical checklist

Kosovo has become a serious place to have software built. Prishtina has a young, English-speaking tech scene, Kosovo uses the euro, and the working day sits in Central European Time, overlapping with most of Europe and with the US morning. But the reasons to hire here say nothing about which company to hire. That part depends on checks that apply anywhere, and a few that matter more when your developers are in another country.

The short answer: choose a company that can show you live software it built and still runs, puts the code in your accounts from the first commit, works hours that overlap yours, writes decisions down, and plans the handover from the start.

Why businesses hire software companies in Kosovo

• Working hours that overlap. Prishtina runs on Central European Time: one hour from London and six from New York. A European working day overlaps almost entirely, and a US morning overlaps the Kosovo afternoon.
• English as the working language. Contracts, documentation and day-to-day communication are commonly in English.
• The euro. Kosovo uses the euro, which removes currency risk for European clients.
• Cost. Studios in the region typically cost less than their Western European equivalents for comparable work.

What to check before you sign

1. Live work you can actually use

Screenshots and case studies are easy to make. Ask for products that are live, that you can open today, and that the company still maintains. Running software in production for years is a different discipline from shipping a project once.

2. Where the code and accounts live

The code should be in your own Git organisation from the first commit, and the cloud, domain and third-party accounts registered to your company. If a company keeps your code or infrastructure in its own accounts, you do not fully own what you paid for.

3. Overlapping hours and a fixed rhythm

Ask which hours the team is available in your time zone, and when the regular calls happen. Then ask how often you will see working software. Weekly deployments to an environment you can open beat weekly status reports.

4. Decisions in writing

Scope, trade-offs and what was deliberately left out should be written down where you can read them. Most disputes in outsourced projects come from assumptions, not code.

5. Who actually does the work

Ask who will be on your project and how experienced they are. A great sales call followed by a hand-off to a different team is a common disappointment.

6. The handover plan

Even if you plan to stay together for years, ask what the handover would look like: a runbook, an environment setup guide, and a list of every credential. A company confident in its work makes itself easy to replace.

Red flags

• A fixed price on the first call for a project nobody has scoped.
• Code or servers in their accounts, with access "available on request".
• No live products you can open, only screenshots.
• No written scope, or a scope with nothing listed as excluded.
• Silence between milestones, with progress shown only at the end.

Questions to ask on the first call

1. Which of your products or client projects can I open and use today?
2. Will the code be in our repository from day one?
3. Which of your working hours overlap with ours, and when are the fixed calls?
4. How often will we see working software?
5. Who exactly will work on our project?
6. What would a handover to another team look like?
7. What would you tell us not to build?

The last question is the most revealing. A good partner will tell you when you do not need custom software at all.

How we answer those questions

We are a software studio in Prishtina, and this is how we run projects:

• Live products you can open: LawManager, GetFade, RankMetrics, Nilo Learn and House Real Estate are ours, live and maintained by us.
• Your repository from day one, and cloud and domain accounts registered to your company.
• A deployed build every week, not a status report.
• Decisions in writing, including the ones that went against us.
• A handover planned from the start: a runbook, an environment setup guide and a credentials list your next engineer can use.

More detail is on our software development in Kosovo page.

Frequently asked questions

Do software companies in Kosovo work in English?

Most that work with international clients do. Ours writes contracts, documentation and day-to-day communication in English.

What time zone is Kosovo in?

Central European Time (CET, and CEST in summer), the same as Berlin, Paris and Rome. That is one hour ahead of London and six hours ahead of New York.

Is it cheaper to hire a software company in Kosovo?

Typically, compared with Western Europe or the US, yes. Choose on the checks above rather than on price alone: the cheapest quote often leaves out the expensive parts.

Can we visit the team?

Occasionally, for a kickoff or a launch. Day-to-day work runs remotely, and we would rather tell you that than quote for travel that does not earn its cost.

Do Kosovo companies only work with local clients?

No. Many work mainly with clients in Europe and the US. We are based in Prishtina and work with clients worldwide.

Get in touch

If you are comparing software companies in Kosovo, put us through the checklist above. Email info@an2tech.com and we will answer every question in writing.