Türkiye vs India for a software or game company
India is the cheapest country in this entire comparison by some distance, with a cost of living index of 18.1 against Türkiye's 40.2 and a rent index of 3.8. It also has the largest studios on this list by median headcount. What it does not have is any scheme reimbursing what those studios spend to acquire players.
The short verdict
01Where each one wins, 4 measures to 2
Where Türkiye wins
- Marketing, hosting and platform fees, refunded at 50% to 70%.
- Dividends, at 15% against India's 20%.
- Proximity to European and American markets in the same working day.
- Income from customers abroad, untaxed under the export regime.
Where India wins
- Cost, by a wide margin. India's cost of living index is less than half of Türkiye's.
- Rent at roughly a third of the Turkish level.
- Engineering available at a scale almost nowhere else on this list can match.
- A domestic market large enough to test in.
02How do Türkiye and India compare, line by line?
Of 9 measures, Türkiye takes 4 and India takes 2, with 3 level. India is strongest on what it costs to live there, so that group comes first. Every figure links to its source and carries the date we last checked it.
What it costs to live there
| Measure | Türkiye | India |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living index | 40.2Numbeo index, mid-2026.source | better for the company18.1, 55% lower than Türkiyesource |
| Rent index | 12.3source | better for the company3.8, 69% lower than Türkiyesource |
| Local purchasing power index | better for staff71.8Salaries buy less locally, which is the other side of a low cost base.source | 69.6, 3% lower than Türkiyesource |
Public money
| Measure | Türkiye | India |
|---|---|---|
| Cash back on ads, hosting and platform fees | better for the company50% of what you spend, rising to 70% when the customers you are targeting are in one of the twenty countries on Türkiye's target listsource | Nothing comparablesource |
| Support for development costs | Yes, through two separate programmes: TÜBİTAK, which funds defined research projects, and teknopark status, which removes corporate tax on software developed inside a technology parkBoth are applied for separately from the export refund, and a company can hold them at the same time.source | Startup India programmes and state incentives, with no games-specific national schemesource |
Tax
| Measure | Türkiye | India |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate tax on ordinary profit | 25%source | 25% or 30% for domestic companies depending on turnoversource |
| Tax on income from software sold abroad | better for the company0% under the IT export regimeApplies to income earned from customers outside Türkiye.source | Taxed the same as any other profitsource |
| VAT or equivalent, standard rate | 20%Exported services are outside the scope, so this matters less to an exporter than the headline suggests.source | GST generally 18%, ranging from 5% to 28%source |
| Withholding tax on dividends to a foreign parent | better for the company15%A double tax treaty can reduce it.source | 20%source |
03What is it like to run a company in India?
Bengaluru is two and a half hours ahead of Istanbul and about six hours by plane, so a shared working day is realistic in a way it is not with North America. India's studios are the largest in this directory by median headcount, at 110 people.
04What does the Turkish programme pay back, and what are the limits?
| What you spend it on | Programme item | Paid back | Annual cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ads and player acquisition | Digital product promotion: ads & marketing (up to 10 products/yr) | 50% to 70% | 50 000 000 ₺ ≈ $1,043,841 |
| App store and platform commissions | App store & platform commissions (up to 10 products/yr) | 50% | 20 000 000 ₺ ≈ $417,537 |
| Hosting and servers | Hosting costs | 50% | 5 000 000 ₺ ≈ $104,384 |
What Türkiye would pay back on your spending
Türkiye runs a government programme that refunds part of what a software company or game studio spends on reaching customers abroad. It covers advertising, app store and platform commissions, and hosting. The refund is paid in cash against invoices the company has already settled, so it does not depend on the company making a profit. The standard rate is 50%, and it rises to 70% when the customers being targeted are in one of the twenty countries on the Turkish Ministry of Trade's target list.
Put your own yearly figures in below. The rates and the annual caps come from the same file as our full calculator, and the total updates as you type.
05Questions we get asked
Is India cheaper than Türkiye?
Substantially, on both cost of living and rent. Türkiye's advantage is not cost against India, it is the reimbursement of what a studio spends abroad.
Which Indian rate applies?
Domestic companies pay 25% or 30% depending on turnover, plus surcharge and cess. Foreign companies with a permanent establishment are taxed higher.
Would an Indian studio really set up in Türkiye?
Where the spend is on foreign user acquisition, the arithmetic works. The Indian entity keeps developing and a Turkish company runs the commercial side.
Where this comparison comes from
CyberScope Solutions is an Istanbul consultancy that manages Türkiye's IT export incentive claims for software companies and game studios. We build these comparisons because clients ask for them before deciding, and we keep the rows where the other country wins because a comparison nobody believes is worth nothing.
- Every figure is sourced. Each number links to the page it came from and carries the date we last checked it.
- These pages get rebuilt, not left. Rates and caps come from the same file as our calculator, so when one changes the page changes with it.
- You find out early if it is not for you. The first call is thirty minutes and we will say plainly if your spend pattern does not suit the programme.
Turn that number into money
Send us the rough shape of your spend. You get back what it is worth, what setting it up involves, and how fast the first claim can go in. Companies already operating here treat this as routine, and the six month window means the clock is running on invoices you have already paid.
- A reply from a person within one working day
- No mailing list, no drip sequence
- Thirty minutes, and you keep the numbers either way
Got it.
We will read it properly and reply within a working day. If you would rather get it over with now, pick a time that suits you.
Book a 30 minute call06Where these numbers come from
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/turkey/corporate/taxes-on-corporate-income checked 2026-08-20
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/corporate-income-tax-cit-rates checked 2026-08-20
- https://cyberscope.solutions/blog/zero-percent-tax-on-it-exports/ checked 2026-08-20
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/value-added-tax-vat-rates checked 2026-08-20
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/turkey/corporate/withholding-taxes checked 2026-08-20
- https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/quick-charts/withholding-tax-wht-rates checked 2026-08-20
- https://cyberscope.solutions/guides/ checked 2026-08-20
- https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp checked 2026-08-20