Full disclosure: we're Ryz Labs, and we're on this list. So yes, we're biased. Here's what we'd actually tell a friend, including when you should hire someone else. Facts about EPAM come from its SEC filings and results, and facts about every other firm come from what it publishes, with sources at the end.
EPAM is built for broad, multi-year engineering programs, and it is very good at them. So the question that decides your shortlist is about scope: are you buying a program that spans many systems and years, or do you need one system built and running in production soon? Program buyers should compare EPAM with other large firms. Single-system buyers usually want a senior team, not a program.
EPAM is an S&P 500 engineering services firm with about 62,850 people at the end of 2025 and $5.457 billion in 2025 revenue. Financial services is its largest vertical at 24.1% of revenue, and 64.4% of revenue came from clients of five or more years. Buyers who start with EPAM usually run large engineering organizations and want a partner for the long haul.
Two things matter most when you compare it. First, where the people sit: EPAM's largest delivery locations at the end of 2025 were India, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Mexico, so New York overlap depends on the team you get. Second, the unit you are buying: a program with accelerators such as AI/Run and the open-source DIAL platform, or a group of people you choose.
None of the large firms here publish rates. Clutch lists EPAM at $150 to $199 an hour with a $100,000+ minimum project, which is a directory figure, not EPAM's.
We put named senior engineers on your team, reporting to your leads. For AI work that means an AI pod team, typically about seven senior engineers including a tech lead, an ML engineer and backend engineers, building in your cloud and repos with AWS, Azure, GitHub, Postgres, Anthropic and OpenAI models. There is no Ryz platform to adopt. You own all the code and IP, and the team can start in under two weeks once you say go.
Five senior engineers run about $50,000 to $75,000 a month, and leads are quoted per team. Our pods built AI fraud detection for a global fleet company ($5.94M in confirmed fraud, 244K+ invoices scored) and marketing compliance review for a leading alternative asset manager (8,000+ documents, days to hours). Read the fraud detection case study.
Where we're not the right fit: if you need a vendor to run dozens of workstreams across several continents, EPAM or Globant is the better shape. If you want engineers in Europe or Asia time zones, or follow-the-sun coverage, a global firm fits better. If you want a management-consulting program, look at Accenture or Thoughtworks. See Ryz Labs vs EPAM.
Globant reported $2,454.9 million in 2025 revenue, and 52.8% of Q2 2026 revenue came from North America. Most of its work is billed hourly, and it also sells AI Pods billed per supervised token on Glob.AI.
Where Globant beats us: a large Americas footprint for multi-team programs, plus consumption pricing if procurement wants it. The catch: as with EPAM, you buy a program or metered output rather than people you pick by name. See EPAM vs Globant.
Accenture reported $74.2 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026, with about 814,000 people. In December 2025 it formed the Accenture Anthropic Business Group, with about 30,000 professionals to be trained on Claude.
Where Accenture beats us: when strategy, operations and technology all change at once, few firms can staff it the same way. The catch is the shape: it reports its business as consulting and managed services.
Thoughtworks is an engineering-led consultancy founded in 1993 and taken private in 2024. It says it has 10,000+ people, and in 2026 it launched AI/works and Agent/works for modernization and agents in production.
Where Thoughtworks beats us: strategy, design, data and engineering under one roof, with three decades of practice. The catch: its last public filing put 63.1% of its people in Asia-Pacific.
CI&T is a NYSE-listed firm founded in Brazil in 1995. It reported $489.6 million in 2025 revenue, and financial services was its largest vertical at about 36%. At the end of 2025, 6,980 of its 7,993 employees were in Brazil. It says it has joined the Claude Partner Network with 1,000+ certified AI engineers.
Where CI&T beats us: a big Brazil-centered bench for long programs, with its own CI&T FLOW platform. The catch: most of its revenue comes from time-and-materials contracts billed at hourly rates, per its annual report.
BairesDev says it has 4,000+ engineers across 100+ technologies and sells staff augmentation, dedicated teams and outsourced projects, with teams ready in 2-4 weeks.
Where BairesDev beats us: breadth of stacks under one vendor. The catch: AI is one of 100+ technologies it covers, per its own positioning.
If one system has to ship and you want to pick the people: Ryz Labs.
If you are running a broad program and want strong Americas coverage: Globant.
If the change spans the whole enterprise: Accenture.
If you want consulting-led modernization: Thoughtworks.
If you already run a multi-year program with EPAM and it is working: stay. Long relationships are one of EPAM's real strengths, and switching costs are real.
For large programs, Globant, Accenture, Thoughtworks and CI&T. For nearshore capacity, BairesDev. For a named senior team on one system, Ryz Labs. Our EPAM alternatives page covers more options.
EPAM does not publish rates. Clutch lists $150 to $199 an hour and a $100,000+ minimum project, which are directory figures. Our EPAM pricing page collects what is public.
It can be, but check the team. Its largest delivery centers are in India and Central and Eastern Europe, with Mexico a lesser share, so New York overlap depends on who is staffed.
Yes, and many enterprises do: a large firm on the broad program and a named senior team on the one system that has to ship. Our guide to alternatives to big consultancies for building AI covers the pattern.
If CI&T or Globant is on your list, see CI&T competitors and Globant competitors. Or talk to us.
We checked pricing and services for every provider here in October 2026. This changes often, so double-check before you sign anything.
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