from the United States
Working with us from United States
we hate vanilla is a product and brand design studio in Bangalore, India, working with startups and tech companies across the US, Europe and Australia. Here's what that means in practice for US startups.
Hours
IST is 9½ hours ahead of New York (10½ after US clocks change on 1 Nov 2026) and 12½–13½ ahead of San Francisco. Our evening is the East Coast morning: a daily live window of 18:00–22:00 IST covers 07:30–11:30 ET in winter. Pacific teams get async handoffs that land before you start and a weekly review at 08:00 PT (21:30 IST).
| Where | Offset (late 2026) | Our window | In your clock | Live overlap with your 09:00–18:00 | hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York / ET (EDT, until 1 Nov 2026) | 9½ h behind IST | 09:00–18:00 IST | 23:30–08:30 EDT (your previous evening → morning) | none inside your business hours | 0 |
| New York / ET (EST, from 1 Nov 2026) | 10½ h behind IST | 09:00–18:00 IST | 22:30–07:30 EST (your previous evening → morning) | none inside your business hours | 0 |
| New York / ET — our evening window (EST) | 10½ h behind IST | 18:00–22:00 IST | 07:30–11:30 EST (same day) | 09:00–11:30 EST | 2.5 |
| Chicago / CT — our evening window (CST) | 11½ h behind IST | 18:00–22:00 IST | 06:30–10:30 CST (same day) | 09:00–10:30 CST | 1.5 |
| San Francisco / PT — our evening window (PST) | 13½ h behind IST | 18:00–22:00 IST | 04:30–08:30 PST (same day) | none inside your business hours | 0 |
Computed from time-zone rules for the dates shown; overlap counts your 09:00–18:00 local. US clocks fall back on 1 Nov 2026; the offset from IST grows by an hour. Rows marked 'evening window' are the 18:00–22:00 IST slot we keep for US teams; inside a normal 09:00–18:00 IST day there is no live overlap with US business hours, so most of the work moves by daily written updates and a live review in your morning.
Billing and IP
We invoice from India in USD (AUD, GBP or EUR on request); IP assigns to you on final payment. Design services exported from India are zero-rated, so no Indian GST is added. UK, EU and Australian business clients typically account for VAT/GST themselves under the reverse-charge rules — confirm with your accountant. Payment by wire or Stripe.
Fixed prices
Four fixed-price sprints — Launch Sprint $12,000 (2 weeks), Pre-Demo-Day Sprint $15,000 (3 weeks), Brand + Site $22,000 (5–6 weeks), Product Design Sprint $25,000 (6 weeks) — and a bridge retainer at $8,000 a month while you hire. Open-scope ranges on pricing.
What we do
Questions
What's the time-zone overlap?
IST is 9½ hours ahead of New York (10½ after US clocks change on 1 Nov 2026) and 12½–13½ ahead of San Francisco. Our evening is the East Coast morning: a daily live window of 18:00–22:00 IST covers 07:30–11:30 ET in winter. Pacific teams get async handoffs that land before you start and a weekly review at 08:00 PT (21:30 IST).
How do we pay and who owns the work?
We invoice from India in USD (AUD, GBP or EUR on request); IP assigns to you on final payment. Design services exported from India are zero-rated, so no Indian GST is added. UK, EU and Australian business clients typically account for VAT/GST themselves under the reverse-charge rules — confirm with your accountant. Payment by wire or Stripe.
Is there GST or VAT on the invoice?
No Indian GST: design services exported from India are zero-rated. Business clients in the UK, EU and Australia typically account for VAT/GST themselves under reverse charge; confirm with your accountant.
Why hire a studio in India instead of locally?
Senior product and brand work at Clutch rates of $25–49/hr against $100–149/hr locally, without the quality drop — if you check for named clients in your market, a contract entity you can pay, IP assignment, and overlapping hours. We tick all four.
Do you offer fixed prices?
Yes: four fixed-price sprints from $12,000 (Launch Sprint, two weeks) to $25,000 (Product Design Sprint, six weeks), and a bridge retainer at $8,000 a month. See /sprints/.
Which other studios should we compare you with?
Our <a href='/studios/design-agencies-for-us-startups/'>compared list for US startups</a> and <a href='/studios/design-agencies-in-india-for-us-companies/'>India-based studios that work with United States companies</a>.
Talk to us
Building something people should remember?
we hate vanilla is a product and brand design studio in Bangalore, India, working with startups and tech companies across the US, Europe and Australia. Average engagement around $20,000. hello@wehatevanilla.com