Best IT Staff Augmentation Companies in the Philippines
In this article
Full disclosure before anything else: my company is on this list. Full Scale is an IT staff augmentation company from the Philippines.
It’s not like I’m completely unbiased. But at least I have twenty years of experience, which I think most of these lists lack. This page is only about staff augmentation companies: the ones where you hire a developer, put them on your team, and let them stay for the duration of the product development process.
Something else entirely is a SOW project, where you hire a team to build your product once and then part ways. That’s a different model with a different shortlist of vendors. If you’re not sure which one fits, our guide to software outsourcing companies in the Philippines sorts vendors by both.
The best IT staff augmentation companies in the Philippines
Here are the nine companies, including Full Scale. I’ve only listed companies that actually focus on IT staff augmentation, excluding the generic offshore firms and the BPO companies that offer it as one service among many. I won’t rank them number one through nine. There’s no legitimate way to compare a 700-person Salesforce firm with a 50-person software shop on the same scale. Look at the founding date, employee count, and specialty for each, and decide which fits what you actually need.
| Company Name | Year Established | Number of Employees | Specialty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Scale | 2018 | 350+ | Full stack software engineering |
| Global BrainForce | 2011 | Midsize | Custom software development, IT staff augmentation |
| Directio | ~30 years | N/A | Cloud, software development, IT staff augmentation |
| Hireplicity | 2008 | 70+ | IT staff augmentation, software development (education technology) |
| Offshorly | 2014 | 65+ | IT staff augmentation, technical outsourcing |
| VRP Consulting | 1998 (since 2009, focused on Salesforce) | 700+ (company wide) | Salesforce consulting, software development, IT staff augmentation |
| Fulcrum Solutions | Not stated | 50+ | CTO-as-a-service, custom software development, IT staff augmentation |
| Atticus Advisory Solutions | 2016 | 400+ | ERP/NetSuite, financial accounting IT staff augmentation |
| Cambria | 1984 (operations in Philippines began in 2007) | 51-200 | Custom software development, IT staff augmentation |
Full Scale
That’s us. Established in 2018, 350+ engineers, located in Cebu City. We hire, employ, and manage the software engineers we place, but they function as a part of your team, in your repository, at your daily stand-ups, under your organizational hierarchy.
We boast 93%+ developer retention and have worked with 200+ clients since our inception in 2018. We are Great Place to Work Certified in the Philippines, and have been on the Inc. 5000 list for five years running.
We specialize in full stack development and cover the normal web and mobile development stacks. Best for: companies with in-house engineering leadership who want a long-term dedicated team.
Global BrainForce
Headquartered: Makati, Philippines (and Amsterdam, Netherlands) | Founded: around 2011 | Employees: midsize team | Clutch: 4.6/5 (7 reviews) | Best for: companies wanting a smaller specialist with client relationships that run a decade-plus
Global BrainForce does only custom software development and IT staff augmentation, including web, mobile, and QA across all platforms. Contracts additionally include HR, payroll, IT infrastructure, and local legalities, all done for you. Clutch rates them 4.6 out of 5 across 7 reviews, and named clients include Miscea, Dutch Maritime Solutions, and Kape Technologies, some of them relationships running over a decade.
Directio
Headquartered: multi-country (Poland, Philippines, Mexico, US) | In business: nearly 30 years, per their own site | Clutch: 4.8/5 (5 reviews) | Best for: companies wanting delivery flexibility across multiple countries, not just the Philippines
Directio was established nearly 30 years ago, with locations in Poland, the Philippines, Mexico, and the US. The Philippine team handles staff augmentation, cloud computing, and end-to-end software development for customers from industries such as FMCG, retail, automotive, and SaaS. Clutch rates them 4.8 out of 5 across 5 verified reviews. Having a company with a multinational presence in this list isn’t common, given that most of these businesses operate only in the Philippines.
Hireplicity
Headquartered: Mandaue City, Philippines (leadership office in Los Angeles) | Founded: 2008 | Employees: 70+ | Clutch: 4.9/5 (10 reviews), Clutch-ranked #2 software developer in the Philippines | Best for: EdTech and SaaS companies wanting a proven small specialist
Staff augmentation is the majority of what Hireplicity does, per their own breakdown, with the rest split across custom software and mobile development. They serve 150+ clients with a 95% retention rate, and Clutch has ranked them a top 10 software development company in the Philippines. They focus on EdTech, so if that’s your industry, find out if they’ve worked in the space before.
Offshorly
Headquartered: Stamford, England (delivery from Quezon City, Philippines) | Founded: 2014 | Employees: 65+ | Clutch: 4.9/5 (27 reviews), Clutch Global Award winner Spring 2024 | Best for: startups wanting a UK-led team with strong QA and attention to detail
Offshorly says they’re both an IT staff augmentation company and a technical outsourcing shop. Be sure to clarify which kind of relationship you want before you sign up. They report 91 percent client retention and won a 2024 Clutch Global Award for software development and design.
VRP Consulting
Headquartered: multi-country (UK, Germany, Netherlands, US, with delivery hubs in Poland, Colombia, and the Philippines) | Founded: 1998, Salesforce-focused since 2009 | Employees: 700+ company-wide | Clutch: 4.8/5 (11 reviews) | Best for: companies with a defined Salesforce need, not general software development
If your staff augmentation need is specifically Salesforce admins, developers, architects, or QAs, VRP Consulting is one name you should know. They’ve delivered 2,000+ Salesforce projects and hold 1,100+ Salesforce certifications across the team. Their specialty is not general-purpose software development; it is a narrow and deep one.
Fulcrum Solutions
Headquartered: New Rochelle, New York (engineers in the Philippines and Colombia) | Founded: not listed on their site | Employees: 50+ engineers | Clutch: 4.9/5 (6 reviews) | Best for: startups wanting CTO-as-a-service alongside the engineering team
Fulcrum Solutions provides IT staff augmentation and a CTO-as-a-Service option for start-ups and mid-sized companies, along with bespoke custom software, mobile, and AI solutions. Clutch rates them 4.9 out of 5 across 6 verified reviews.
Atticus Advisory Solutions
Headquartered: Philippines | Founded: 2016 | Employees: 400+ | Outside proof: ranked among Clutch’s NetSuite consultants; named clients Oceana International and Staria Oyj | Best for: companies with a defined ERP or NetSuite need
Atticus Advisory Solutions is a small shop founded by two Filipinos, and they specialize more in ERP (NetSuite) and finance and accounting IT positions. Named clients include Oceana International and the Finnish firm Staria Oyj. They have an edge on ERP-focused hiring compared to most other generalists.
Cambria
Headquartered: Palo Alto, California (Philippine office in Manila) | Founded: 1984, Philippine operations since 2007 | Employees: 51-200 | Clutch: 4.4/5 (7 reviews) | Best for: companies wanting a long-established generalist partner, though ask about scope discipline before signing
Cambria is one of the more established brands in this space, operating well before most other companies on this list. Custom software development and staff augmentation are what they do, and they still operate from offices in both Menlo Park and Manila. Clutch rates them 4.4 out of 5 across 7 reviews; one client reported a cost overrun, worth a direct question about scope discipline before you sign.
What actually separates a good staff augmentation partner from a bad one
It’s easy enough to check out the vendor’s profile, but whether or not the relationship is successful is something no one has to disclose to anyone in a database.
Can you talk to their engineers directly, or does everything route through one account manager? The good ones recruit actively, reaching out to people who already have jobs and aren’t looking, rather than just posting your requisition and forwarding whoever applies.
Request the actual retention rate. It’s never what’s shown on the slide. A vendor that has an impressive wall of clients and a low retention rate is still going to be more costly than the one without a nice wall that has a high retention rate. Get the real number before you sign.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best IT staff augmentation companies in the Philippines?
It’s less a case of strict ordering because each company has a distinct size and area of expertise. Full Scale, Global BrainForce, Hireplicity, Fulcrum Solutions and Cambria are all general software development companies but they’re at varying scales.
VRP Consulting and Atticus Advisory Solutions are even more niche, specializing in Salesforce and ERP solutions, respectively.
Directio and Offshorly both have global footprints or offer hybrid onshore/offshore models and are both worth a direct conversation before committing.
What is IT staff augmentation?
With staff augmentation, you hire the developers, they join your team, they work with your codebase, and they stay on your product for as long as you need them there.
Unlike working with a vendor, they don’t complete a project and leave you with the results. The staffing company handles hiring, managing, and maintaining the staff; you manage the staff’s work.
How is staff augmentation different from a scoped project or SOW?
Staff augmentation puts people on your team for work that has no deadline. A scoped project (aka statement of work or SOW), on the other hand, gives a vendor a specific deliverable, making them accountable for its completion by a certain date.
If the work will continue after the first delivery, go with staff augmentation. If there’s a clear endpoint, you’ll do better with a project-based vendor.
How much does a staff augmentation company in the Philippines charge?
Rates vary by skillset, experience, and specialty, but generally speaking, hiring a Senior Developer in the Philippines will be much cheaper than a US hire when considering total cost.
The lowest rate is not necessarily the most economical choice since the cost of attrition and replacement can quickly outweigh your initial savings if your vendor cannot maintain the person they matched you with.
Should I pick a specialist or a generalist for IT staff augmentation?
It all depends on the clarity of your requirement. A very focused company like VRP Consulting (Salesforce) or Atticus (ERP) is a good choice when you’re looking to hire for a certain platform/skillset. A broader software generalist like Full Scale, Global BrainForce or Cambria is a better fit when you need to hire general software engineers to work on the common web and mobile tech stacks.
Pick the model first, then the vendor
Every company here does staff augmentation. The only real question left is how big and how specialized they are relative to what you’re building. A 700-person Salesforce firm and a 50-person general software shop could both staff up an engineering team for you. But one is a cardiologist and the other a general practitioner. One is a much better fit than the other.
So if you’ve decided you need staff augmentation, book a call with Full Scale and we’ll chat about whether we’re the right size and specialty for your project.
