Kainos
LSE-listed Belfast company known for UK government digital services and Workday implementations
What is Kainos?
Kainos was founded in Belfast in 1986 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. In the year to March 2026 it reported revenue of £431.1m, up 17%, and a workforce of 3,216 after adding 420 people, a rebound from a 2024/25 restructuring that cut staff by 7%. It runs three divisions: Digital Services, Workday Services and Workday Products. Its government work spans departments such as the Home Office and NHS bodies, delivered from the UK and Ireland.
Kainos works primarily with clients in Public sector, Healthcare, Financial services, Commercial enterprises sectors. What sets it apart: Combined government digital delivery and Workday partnership, listed on the LSE.
Kainos tech stack and services
| Service area |
|---|
| Custom Software |
| Public Sector Digital |
| Cloud & DevOps |
| Data & AI |
| Legacy Modernisation |
Kainos pricing
Short answer: Kainos uses a time and materials, fixed price, framework call-offs pricing approach. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed; a discovery call is required.
| Engagement model | Typical range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed project | Quoted per project | Well-defined scope |
| Time and materials | Variable; depends on team size | Large programmes or team augmentation |
Kainos pros and cons
| Advantages | Things to consider |
|---|---|
| +Belfast-based delivery costs less than London while staying UK-based | -Little offshore capacity, so rates do not compete with nearshore vendors |
| +Public reporting gives buyers verified financials and headcount | -Workday business takes a growing share of leadership focus |
| +Very familiar with UK public-sector procurement frameworks | -The 2024/25 restructuring shows exposure to swings in public-sector spending |
Kainos vs alternatives
How Kainos compares to the other top Software Development Outsourcing companies.
| Company | Best for | Main difference | Rating | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemberg Solutions | UK product companies, software plus hardware, nearshore rates. | One team can own firmware, electronics, cloud back end and the user-facing app, managed from a London office | 4.7 | Full comparison |
| Future Processing | UK insurers and financial firms, long-term nearshore teams. | Twenty-five years of delivery from Poland with UK-based account leadership in the City | 4.6 | Full comparison |
| Endava | Large UK programmes, payments and banking, nearshore at... | UK headquarters and governance with more than 10,000 engineers in lower-cost nearshore locations | 4.5 | Full comparison |
| Godel Technologies | UK mid-market firms wanting a UK-run nearshore team. | UK management and contracting with engineers spread across four EU and EU-adjacent countries | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| ELEKS | Data-heavy custom software, Ukrainian rates, mature processes. | Three decades of outsourced delivery with an in-house research and development unit | 4.4 | Full comparison |
| Amdaris (Insight) | UK firms on Azure, .NET modernisation, Eastern European... | A UK base in Bristol with delivery from Moldova, one of the lower-cost locations in Europe | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Scott Logic | Capital markets and government, UK-only delivery required. | Trading-system and capital-markets engineering from teams based entirely in the UK | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Softwire | UK media and charities, bespoke builds, onshore teams. | Long-standing onshore bespoke development that trains its own graduate engineers | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| N-iX | Large dedicated teams, data and cloud engineering, Ukrainian... | A 2,400-engineer pool that can staff large data and cloud teams quickly | 4.3 | Full comparison |
| Spyrosoft | Automotive and industrial software, UK-led Polish teams. | Polish engineering capacity with a UK co-founder running the UK business | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| Equal Experts | Senior engineers for complex delivery, government and retail. | Senior-only teams drawn from a large associate network | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| STX Next | Python back ends and data products, Polish rates. | Deep Python specialism across web back ends, data engineering and machine learning | 4.2 | Full comparison |
| Infinum | Consumer apps where design quality matters. | In-house product design and mobile engineering with a strong portfolio of consumer apps | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Made Tech | UK central and local government buyers. | Public-sector-only focus with a growing contracted backlog | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Zühlke | Regulated industries, medical devices, banking. | Swiss engineering discipline in regulated sectors with a UK team of about 150 | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Codurance | Legacy modernisation, engineering-practice improvement. | Craftsmanship-led delivery that also coaches in-house teams | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| Ciklum | Large dedicated teams with a London contract. | London headquarters with a long history of large dedicated teams in Ukraine and Central Europe | 4.1 | Full comparison |
| BJSS (CGI) | NHS and government programmes, large onshore delivery. | Large UK onshore delivery capacity, now backed by CGI's global network | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| AND Digital | Companies building in-house digital capability. | Delivers products while explicitly upskilling the client's own staff | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| SoftServe | Big cloud and data programmes, Ukrainian rates at... | Scale and cloud partner status combined with Eastern European rates | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| DataArt | Travel and finance firms, long-term nearshore teams. | Two decades of London presence and specialist travel-industry engineering | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Sigma Software | Broad-scope outsourcing, Scandinavian-owned vendor. | Swedish group ownership with Ukrainian and Polish engineering | 4.0 | Full comparison |
| Apadmi | UK brands that need flagship mobile apps. | Mobile-only specialism with a client list of household UK names | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Thoughtworks | Complex modernisation, engineering culture change. | Thought leadership in software practice, backed by a large global delivery network | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Hippo Digital | Public bodies wanting user-centred service design. | User research and service design led delivery for UK public services | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| EPAM Systems | FTSE-scale programmes, strict compliance, huge teams. | The largest delivery capacity on this list, with mature compliance and security processes | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Version 1 | Oracle and Microsoft estates, public-sector managed services. | Managed services for Oracle, Microsoft and AWS estates with Indian and Spanish delivery | 3.9 | Full comparison |
| Box UK | Mid-sized web and e-commerce builds. | Small Welsh team with long-standing enterprise web clients | 3.8 | Full comparison |
| Itransition | Budget-conscious buyers, broad generalist work. | Low rates across a wide catalogue of development and platform services | 3.8 | Full comparison |
Kainos FAQ
What is Kainos?
LSE-listed Belfast company known for UK government digital services and Workday implementations
How much does Kainos charge?
Kainos uses time and materials, fixed price, framework call-offs pricing. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed. A discovery call is required to get project-specific quotes.
What tech stack does Kainos use?
Kainos works with Java, .NET, AWS, Azure, Workday, Kubernetes, Python. Primary industries served include Public sector, Healthcare, Financial services, Commercial enterprises.
Is Kainos right for enterprise?
UK government digital services, Workday programmes. 3,000+ team size. Main consideration: Little offshore capacity, so rates do not compete with nearshore vendors.
What are the best Kainos alternatives?
The best alternatives to Kainos depend on your use case. Top options are:
- Lemberg Solutions: one team can own firmware, electronics, cloud back end and the user-facing app, managed from a london office
- Future Processing: twenty-five years of delivery from poland with uk-based account leadership in the city
- Endava: uk headquarters and governance with more than 10,000 engineers in lower-cost nearshore locations
Compare Kainos with other Software Development Outsourcing companies
Verify all details directly with Kainos before making a decision.