Devtech Alternative
A 15-20 person product engineering team in one Belgrade office, for buyers whose requirement is a product to build rather than cloud marketplace and channel enablement.
Reviewed by Igor Gazivoda, Co-founder & CEO of StepTo · Updated
Which Devtech Alternative Fits General Product Engineering?
StepTo is a direct alternative to Devtech for companies that need a general software product engineering team rather than a cloud and marketplace enablement specialist. StepTo has run dedicated teams from a single Belgrade office (CET) since 2014 with a 15-20 person in-house engineering team. Three engineers cost $15K-25K/month, start inside 2-3 weeks, and work on one product.
Devtech was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in London, England, with offices publicly listed in London, San Francisco, Toronto, Belgrade and Novi Sad; the London office is described as the central point for strategic decision-making and global operations. Its headcount is reported at roughly 200, and it serves customers in more than 20 countries. Its specialism is cloud enablement for Telcos, CSPs, ISVs and MSPs, including channel and marketplace enablement and Teams-as-a-Service, alongside data engineering and analytics and custom digital product development.
That specialism is the first thing to settle, and it settles most of this comparison. If what you need is ISV onboarding to a hyperscaler marketplace, CSP channel enablement, or a Teams-as-a-Service programme, Devtech is the better fit and we will say so on the first call. StepTo does not do marketplace or channel enablement. We build and maintain software products with a dedicated team.
What remains is a structural comparison: a specialist firm reported at roughly 200 people, headquartered in London with offices on three continents, against a 15-20 person general product engineering team in one Belgrade office. The differences that follow are about concentration of attention, who handles your account, and whether you can read a price before you ask for one. For the wider market context behind the Serbian half of this, see our Serbia Software Development Industry Report 2026.
Below: where Devtech is plainly the better call, what a London headquarters and a five-office footprint change day to day, and what each supplier costs.
How Do Devtech and StepTo Differ on Specialism and Scale?
Two rows go to Devtech, and the first of them decides the whole comparison for some buyers
| Factor | Devtech | StepTo |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud marketplace and channel enablement | A named specialism: channel and marketplace enablement, Teams-as-a-Service, cloud enablement for Telcos, CSPs, ISVs and MSPs | Not our specialism. We build software products, not marketplace and channel programmes |
| Contracting jurisdiction and local presence | Headquartered in London, with offices publicly listed in San Francisco and Toronto | One Belgrade office and a Serbian contracting entity; NDA, DPA and IP assignment before work starts |
| How much of the supplier your account represents | One account inside a company reported at roughly 200 people, serving customers in more than 20 countries | A meaningful share of a 15-20 person company |
| Where your engineers physically sit | Offices in London, San Francisco, Toronto, Belgrade and Novi Sad | One Belgrade office, everyone in the same room |
| Who handles your account | London is described as the central point for strategic decision-making and global operations | The co-founder and the senior engineers on your project |
| How pricing works | No standard rates in the public materials; priced per engagement | Published bands: $25-85/hr by seniority, three engineers from $15K-25K/month |
Devtech figures (founding year, headquarters, office locations, employee count, customer countries and service focus) are drawn from publicly available company information and Devtech's own materials as of 2026, not confirmed directly with Devtech. The headcount in particular is reported rather than exact: a 2024 company-registry filing gives 204 and public profiles list a 201-500 band. Verify directly with the provider before deciding.
Why Do Companies Look for Devtech Alternatives?
Rarely over engineering quality. Usually because the requirement turns out to be product engineering rather than cloud and marketplace enablement, or because of what a London headquarters and five offices imply for a small account.
A Specialism That May Not Be Yours
Devtech's public positioning is cloud enablement for Telcos, CSPs, ISVs and MSPs, including channel and marketplace enablement and Teams-as-a-Service. That is a deep and specific capability, and if your roadmap is a product with users, a backlog and a release cadence, you would be buying a company whose deepest muscle sits somewhere else.
Decisions in London, Offices in Serbia
Devtech is headquartered in London and describes that office as the central point for strategic decision-making and global operations, with further offices publicly listed in San Francisco, Toronto, Belgrade and Novi Sad. For a buyer who wants a UK or North American counterparty on the contract, that is a real advantage. It also means the people setting priorities may sit in a different country from the people writing your code.
Five Offices, Three Continents
Offices on three continents and customers in more than 20 countries are the footprint of a company that can meet a client in its own time zone, which is worth paying for if you need it. The trade is coordination: a five-office organisation runs on process and scheduled calls because it has to, and the informal exchange that makes a co-located team quick happens in a channel instead.
Reported at Roughly 200 People
Public profiles place Devtech in the 201-500 employee band and a 2024 company-registry filing reports 204. That is a substantial engineering organisation and a credibility signal in its own right. It also sets the arithmetic of attention: capacity, senior review time and leadership focus are allocated across a client base spread over more than 20 countries, and the largest accounts have first claim when two of them want the same architect in the same week.
Pricing Is by Engagement
Devtech does not publish standard rates in its public materials, which is ordinary for a firm whose work ranges from marketplace enablement to data platforms across more than 20 countries; those engagements do not honestly reduce to one number. The practical consequence for you is that a budget cannot exist until a quote cycle has finished.
Do You Need Marketplace Enablement or a Product Team?
This comparison has an unusually clean answer, and it is worth reaching before anyone books a call. Devtech is a cloud and marketplace enablement specialist. StepTo is a general product engineering team. Those are two different things to buy, so the question is not which company is better but which of the two you actually need.
If the work is channel or marketplace enablement, onboarding an ISV to a hyperscaler marketplace, building the commerce and provisioning plumbing a CSP needs in order to resell, or standing up a Teams-as-a-Service offer, Devtech does that as a specialism and we do not do it at all. There is no version of this page where we are the better answer to that requirement. The same applies if your procurement wants a counterparty in the UK or North America: Devtech is headquartered in London and lists offices in San Francisco and Toronto, and we have one office, in Belgrade.
If the work is a product, a platform to build and keep building, with a backlog, a release cadence and engineers who still know your domain a year from now, then the structural questions are the ones that decide it. How much of the supplier does your account represent, and who do you talk to when something goes wrong? At 15-20 engineers StepTo can only be on a handful of engagements at once, so senior attention is the default rather than something you escalate for, and there is no account layer between you and the co-founder because a company this size has no room for one.
Staffing works differently at the two sizes, and this is arithmetic rather than a criticism. A company reported at roughly 200 people across five offices allocates engineers to accounts as availability and skill match allow, which is precisely what lets it absorb a sudden requirement or cover an unexpected gap. At 15-20 people there is no resourcing pool to reallocate from, so the team assembled for your product inside 2-3 weeks is the team that stays on it.
The paperwork is the same question in another form. Working with StepTo means a Serbian contracting entity, so an NDA, a DPA and an IP assignment are signed before any code is written and everything the team produces is yours from the first commit. Delivery runs on CET with 3-4 hours of afternoon overlap with the US East Coast and a full shared working day with the EU and UK, at 40-60% below Western European and US rates. If a contracting entity in your own jurisdiction matters more to your legal team than any of that, Devtech's London headquarters is the more comfortable answer and you should know it now rather than three calls in.
Why Is StepTo the Right Devtech Alternative?
What a 15-20 person team in one Belgrade office buys you, once marketplace enablement is off the table
A Handful of Engagements at a Time
Fifteen to twenty engineers can only be on a handful of engagements at once. That is arithmetic rather than a promise, and it is why your account is a visible share of the company instead of one line in a portfolio spread across more than twenty countries.
Published Rates, No Quote Cycle
Rates are $25-85/hr by seniority and three engineers start at $15K-25K/month. You can build a budget from this page rather than waiting on a proposal, and check it against what you are paying today.
A Contracted Team in 2-3 Weeks
A dedicated team is assembled, contracted and working inside 2-3 weeks. Its composition then stays put: nobody is reallocated to cover another account, because at this size there is no resourcing pool to reallocate from.
Paperwork Before Code
An NDA, a DPA and an IP assignment are signed before work starts, so ownership of everything the team produces is settled before the first commit instead of negotiated at handover.
One Office, One Time Zone
Everybody works CET from the same Belgrade office, so an architecture argument is settled at a desk rather than scheduled across three continents. There is 3-4 hours of afternoon overlap with the US East Coast and a full shared working day with the EU and UK, at 40-60% below Western European and US rates.
The Co-Founder Is on the Call
Escalation goes straight to the co-founder. There is no account management layer, because at 15-20 engineers there is no room for one, so you raise a problem with the person who can decide it and with the senior engineers doing the work.
What Do Buyers Ask When Comparing StepTo and Devtech?
How is StepTo different from Devtech?
Specialism first, size second. Devtech was founded in 2012, is headquartered in London, and is positioned as a cloud enablement specialist for Telcos, CSPs, ISVs and MSPs, with channel and marketplace enablement and Teams-as-a-Service among its named services, offices publicly listed in London, San Francisco, Toronto, Belgrade and Novi Sad, and a headcount reported at roughly 200 serving customers in more than 20 countries. StepTo is a 15-20 person general product engineering team working from one Belgrade office since 2014. If your requirement is marketplace or channel enablement, that first difference decides the comparison in Devtech's favour. If it is a product to build and keep building, the structural questions decide it: how much of the supplier your account represents, and who picks up the phone.
When is Devtech the better choice?
Whenever the work is what they specialise in, and we would rather say so on the first call than after a proposal. Onboarding an ISV to a hyperscaler marketplace, building the channel and commerce enablement a CSP needs to resell, standing up a Teams-as-a-Service offer: Devtech does that as a core capability and StepTo does not do it at all. Their London headquarters and their San Francisco and Toronto offices are also the better answer if your legal or procurement team wants a counterparty in the UK or North America, or if you want a supplier with an office in your own country and time zone.
What does StepTo cost compared to Devtech?
Devtech does not publish standard rates in its public materials, which is normal for a firm whose engagements range from marketplace enablement to data platforms across more than 20 countries, so any comparison needs a quote from them. StepTo publishes: $25-85/hr by seniority, and $15K-25K/month for three engineers, which is 40-60% below Western European and US rates. You can put a figure in a budget today and check it against their quote when it arrives.
Both companies have offices in Serbia. Is the talent pool the same?
Both draw on the same regional market: Devtech lists offices in Belgrade and Novi Sad, and StepTo has worked from Belgrade since 2014. So this is not an argument about Serbian engineers, and a page that made it one would be selling you something. What differs is what happens after hiring. In a company reported at roughly 200 people across five offices, engineers are allocated to accounts through a resourcing process, which is what lets a firm that size absorb a sudden requirement. At 15-20 people there is no pool to allocate from, so the engineers assigned to your product are the ones who stay with it. For wider market context see our Serbia Software Development Industry Report 2026.
Who owns the code, and how do cross-border contracts work?
StepTo contracts through its Serbian entity and signs an NDA, a DPA and an IP assignment before any work begins, so ownership of what the team produces is yours from the first commit rather than a handover negotiation. It is a fair question to press any cross-border supplier on, and it is one place where Devtech's London headquarters is a genuine advantage: a UK counterparty is simpler for some legal and procurement teams, and if that outweighs everything else on this page, it is a reasonable way to decide.
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