Cost: India is cheaper, but not by as much as people think
Fully-loaded seat rates in India typically land $7–$12 per hour; the Philippines sits roughly 15–25% higher for comparable voice work. The gap narrows once you compare like for like — QA, workforce management, telephony, supervision and attrition backfill included.
Cheap quotes in either market usually strip out QA and team leads. A $6 seat with no supervision costs more per resolved contact than a $10 seat with a real team lead, because handle time and repeat contacts balloon.
Voice quality: different strengths, not a ranking
Filipino agents are widely preferred for emotionally loaded US consumer calls — cancellations, billing disputes, retention — because the cultural register matches and the accent is familiar to American ears.
Indian agents from tier-1 cities deliver neutral, precise English that performs strongly on technical troubleshooting, B2B accounts, and UK or Australian customer bases. For chat and email, India is generally the stronger value.
Scale, coverage and continuity
India's talent pool is larger and more technical, so scaling from 10 to 100 seats or adding tier-2 engineers is easier. It also staffs European and Australian shifts more comfortably.
The Philippines concentrates around US hours, which is efficient if that is your only market and limiting if it is not. Typhoon-season business continuity is a real question worth asking vendors there; ask about redundant sites and work-from-home fallback.
How to decide without guessing
Run the same paid two-week pilot in both markets on identical traffic. Compare first-contact resolution, CSAT and average handle time — not the sales deck. Two pilots cost less than one wrong twelve-month contract.
Scaledesk shortlists vetted Indian floors and matches you free. If the Philippines is clearly the better fit for your traffic, we will tell you so.