What are real Vietnam business costs in 2026? Instead of guessing, let me just tell you, because I pay these bills every month. I have lived in Vietnam for 10 years, and I run my business here.
You have probably heard the pitch: Vietnam is cheap, so hire a team for nothing, run your business for pennies and get rich on the margin. Some of that is true. However, a lot of it is not the full story.
In this guide, I break down the real Vietnam business costs for office space, salaries and personal living. Then I cover the 2 catches almost nobody talks about. Interestingly, neither of them is about money, and both matter more than the numbers.
Prefer video? Watch the full breakdown here: What It Really Costs to Run a Business in Vietnam.
By Adam Skoneczny: CEO at EVIT Consulting – 20+ years in international business
Key Takeaways: Vietnam Business Costs in 60 Seconds
- A coworking seat costs about $12 per person per month in Da Nang and about $19 in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi.
- Back-office hires start around $500 a month, while sales roles range from $300 to $2,000.
- A senior developer costs roughly $3,000–$4,500 a month, compared with about $8,000–$10,000 for similar work in Western Europe.
- My own living cost, including rent and food, is around $2,000 a month.
- The 2 biggest risks are not costs at all: hiring on resumes instead of trainability, and underestimating the legal setup.
I am Adam, and I run EVIT. We help IT and tech companies across Asia break into Europe and the US. Importantly, I do not consult on this from an office in London. I live here, I run my business here, and these are my actual bills.
The “Vietnam is cheap” headline hides one big variable: how you set up. For example, the same team can cost very different amounts depending on the city, the type of office and, above all, who you hire. In other words, the country is affordable, but your choices decide your final number.
Vietnam Business Costs #1: Office Space From $12 per Seat
Let’s start with space, because it is the number people ask me about most.
A coworking seat in Da Nang costs around $12 a month per person. In Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, it is closer to $19. That is per person, not per team. As a result, a 5-person team pays under $100 a month for everyone’s desk space.
Coworking vs Grade A: How Your Setup Changes Vietnam Business Costs
On the other hand, a traditional lease tells a very different story. In my experience, a proper Grade A office in Saigon costs roughly $43 per square metre before you put a single desk in it.
Market data shows how wide that range really is. According to JLL’s Q4 2025 office report, Grade A rents averaged $64.7 per sqm per month in the Ho Chi Minh City CBD and $36.2 outside it. Similarly, Avison Young reported Grade A space in Hanoi at about $35 per sqm.
So the “cheap” number depends entirely on your setup. For a small team, coworking wins by a wide margin.
Vietnam Business Costs #2: What It Costs to Hire Your Team
Now, people. This is where it gets interesting.
Back Office and Sales: Vietnam Business Costs per Hire
- Back office (admin, operations): starts around $500 a month.
- Sales: anywhere from $300 to $2,000 a month, depending on the level of the person you bring in.
For context, the legal floor is far lower. Under Decree 293/2025, Vietnam’s highest regional minimum wage rose 7.2% to 5.31 million VND (about $212) a month from 1 January 2026, according to B-Company’s summary of the decree. In other words, you pay well above the minimum for anyone who can work with international clients.
Developer Salaries in Vietnam vs Western Europe
On the tech side, a junior developer costs roughly $800–$1,400 a month. A senior developer is closer to $3,000–$4,500. By contrast, a senior developer doing the same work in Western Europe costs around $8,000–$10,000 a month.
Independent data points in the same direction:
- Second Talent’s 2026 rate card puts Vietnamese full-stack developers at $800–$1,300 a month for juniors and $2,300–$3,800 for seniors.
- In Germany, Levels.fyi data shows a median total compensation of about €93,400 a year for senior software engineers, before employer social costs.
If you are already doing the math for your own sales team or engineers, a range is not enough. That is exactly what a session with us gives you: not a pitch, just your real numbers. Book a free consultation to get them.
Vietnam Business Costs #3: The Recruiting Mistake That Costs More Than Rent
But the numbers alone are not the story. In fact, the biggest mistake I see founders make here has nothing to do with money. It is who they hire, and it costs more than any rent difference ever will.
Here is the instinct almost everyone has: labour is affordable, so you find the most experienced person you can afford and hire them. That makes sense on paper. However, huge experience does not automatically mean an excellent hire. Sometimes it does; often, it does not.
Old vs New Hiring: Experience vs Trainability
| Old way | New way | |
|---|---|---|
| What you filter on | Years of experience on the resume | Ability to learn fast and do great work |
| Who you find | The most “senior” profile you can afford | Young, hungry talent without a stacked resume |
| Result | Expensive, and often a weak fit | Strong performers who grow with the business |
When you know how to recruit here, you start spotting young people who do not have the experience on paper yet but are genuinely amazing talent. For example, my assistant is one, and Sarah on my team is another. Neither came in with a stacked resume. Had I filtered purely on years of experience, I would have walked right past both of them.
That is the first catch. It is not a cost line; instead, it is a filter most founders never question, because back home, experience is usually the safest signal to hire on. Here, it is not always.
Vietnam Business Costs #4: The Legal Catch for Foreign Founders
The second catch is more straightforward: legal. In my experience, setting up a company here as a foreigner has become noticeably more demanding. It is not the horror story people describe online. Still, it is no longer the rubber-stamp process it was a few years ago.
How the 2025 Investment Law Affects Vietnam Business Costs
The rules are moving, which is exactly why you should budget real time. Vietnam’s new Law on Investment No. 143/2025 took effect on 1 March 2026. It allows many foreign investors to register the company first and complete investment registration afterwards.
However, faster sequencing does not mean less work. Investors must still meet market-access conditions and prepare beneficial-ownership information. Moreover, a 2026 FDI setup guide from Replus estimates 30–60 working days or longer for a new foreign-invested company that needs an investment certificate.
My advice is simple: budget real time and real patience. Do not assume it is a formality.
Vietnam Business Costs #5: What It Costs to Live Here
So the business numbers are real. Now let’s look at the number that matters most if you are serious about this: what it costs you personally to live here while you build.
My own living cost, including rent, food and everything else, runs around $2,000 a month. That is not a backpacker budget. Instead, it means living well, running a business and not cutting corners.
A solid one-bedroom apartment can cost anywhere from $400 to nearly $2,000 depending on the district. Groceries, transport and eating out all cost a fraction of what they do in Europe or the US. For comparison, WhereNext’s 2026 cost-of-living guide estimates $1,100–$1,500 a month for a comfortable lifestyle in Ho Chi Minh City and $2,000+ for premium living.
So the personal side of “Vietnam is cheap” is true.
What Actually Decides Your Vietnam Business Costs
The business side is less simple. The real cost of building here is not the rent or the salaries. Rather, it is the 2 things I just walked you through:
- Learning to hire people who do not look impressive on paper yet.
- Navigating a legal process that takes real time, even as the rules evolve.
Get those 2 things right, and the math genuinely works in your favour. Get them wrong, and the “cheap” version of Vietnam turns into a much more expensive lesson.
That is the difference between founders who build something real here and founders who go home saying Vietnam was overhyped. It was never about the country; it was about how they approached it. If you want a structured plan, our Growth & Market Entry Consulting covers markets, channels and risk control. Meanwhile, the G.O.D. Sales System helps you train a local sales team that sells independently.
FAQ: Vietnam Business Costs
What are typical Vietnam business costs for a 5-person team?
Desk space for 5 people costs about $60–$95 a month in coworking. For example, 2 junior developers, 1 senior developer, 1 sales hire and 1 back-office hire would cost roughly $5,400–$9,800 a month in salaries, based on the ranges above. Social insurance and other employer contributions come on top.
Is it hard for a foreigner to open a company in Vietnam?
It is manageable, but not a formality. Since 1 March 2026, many foreign investors can register the company before the investment certificate. Still, plan for 30–60 working days or longer and get local legal advice.
Are Vietnam business costs still lower than Europe in 2026?
Yes, by a wide margin. A senior developer costs roughly $3,000–$4,500 a month in Vietnam versus about $8,000–$10,000 in Western Europe. In addition, a comfortable founder lifestyle costs around $2,000 a month.
Get Your Real Vietnam Business Costs
If you want the exact numbers for your own team, whether sales, engineers or both, book a free session with EVIT. We will walk through your situation and tell you what it would actually cost: no generic range, just your real numbers.
Not ready yet? See how other tech companies expanded in our case studies, read more guides on the EVIT blog, or watch “The Million Dollar Plan” and other breakdowns on Adam’s YouTube channel.
