Hiring a developer who understands your business needs is one of the most crucial steps when it comes to developing a mobile application. You do not want to get stuck with an incompetent developer or development team, and at the same time, you also do not want to associate with someone whom you do not get along with. Thus, choosing the right developer can seem like a daunting process. That’s where we come up with a solution- hiring freelance app developers.
Hiring a freelance developer instead of hiring in-house or outsourcing your project can seem like a risky choice but stay with us and let’s discuss it in detail.
In-house vs Freelance Hiring
One of the most common options is in-house hiring where you hire a developer as part of your team. If you’re a well-established corporation looking to automate a procedure, this is a potential choice. If you already have a team in your company that’s dedicated to development, then all you have to do is conduct interviews and hire a new developer(s) that best suits your need, and integrate him into the workplace with the other team members. But there’s one downside to hiring developers in-house- it can end up increasing the cost of your project as now you’d have to take care of the salaries, equipment, benefits, etc., for the new hires.
Hiring a freelance developer is another option that’s becoming increasingly popular these days. Any business owner may now hire a professional developer online thanks to the emergence of freelancing platforms. A key advantage of this choice is that it eliminates the need for the owner to pay for vacation days, social security, and other benefits that an employee of your firm receives. However, this method might be cheap but it comes with its own set of problems as sometimes the freelance developer that you’ve hired might not be suitable for handling big scale projects. That’s why you must hire a freelance developer from a trusted source.
Best sites to hire freelance developers
If you’ve decided to go with the freelance route then you must keep in mind that you must hire a developer from a trusted place that is where freelance hiring sites come in handy. These freelance sites are created with the sole purpose of making hiring easy for companies that do not have the time and resources to research every individual developer. That’s when they use hiring sites to get all the information required to find a competent application developer. These platforms are designed in a way that they find the developers that best suit your needs. They have a whole portfolio of candidates from IT companies and freelancers from all around the globe who would best meet the requirements of a small to large-scale business. These platforms vet the candidates for you so you, which automatically reduces the time you spend on the hiring process.
We’ve curated a list of the top 11 sites to hire freelance app developers. Have a look!
1. DevTeam.Space
DevTeam.Space is a large freelance developer community with some of the best developers in the market. Just with a simple request, interested project managers and founders can hire app developers and larger developer teams. DevTeam.Space’s developer allocation teams thoroughly review your project specifications and hand-pick the developers who will be the best fit for you. They also have a system in place for selecting the best professional Android developers, Swift, and other types of developers with whom they work through their platform.
The community has an intelligent tracking system and user dashboard that allows you to track how the developers are performing and what types of projects they are working on. Moreover, you can check each developer’s response time for emails and chat to gauge how efficiently the developer will communicate throughout the development process.
2. Toptal
Toptal is a talent-matching website that was initially created to host tech-based developers but since then has expanded its exclusive network to include other talented freelancers such as UI/UX experts, designers, product managers, project managers, and more.
The company’s main feature is its developer vertical, which is comprised of talented developers who have all worked on major projects in their careers. Toptal prides itself on hiring only the top 3% of developers who are accepted into the platform after a thorough vetting process and tests. This ensures that only the most capable developers advance to the final pool. And it has a network that contains experts in a wide range of software development languages and technologies. Thus, if you’re looking for high-end developers with a seriously impressive portfolio of work, then Toptal is the way to go.
3. Hired
Hired is a straightforward job board for app developers and other software engineers. The freelance website has customized matching software that connects you with the best candidates for the job quickly. It helps you look through a pool of highly qualified candidates, each of whom has been pre-screened for experience, skills, and salary requirements.
Its algorithms, which are based on millions of successful matches, find only the best candidates for your job requirements, saving you 45 hours of sourcing time per hire. Hired’s pipeline allows you to find customized matches, search for candidates using their intelligent search algorithm, and request interviews with the developers you’ve shortlisted. Moreover, it helps you seek out candidates’ salary expectations and work preferences in advance which allows you to have more transparent negotiations that save time and eliminate bias.
4. Upwork
Upwork, formerly Elance-oDesk, is one of the world’s largest freelancer portals, with millions of remote freelancers from all over the world. This popular platform connects clients and freelancers from a wide range of tech-related professional competencies, including software development, design, marketing, and others.
Their proficient sorting algorithms help you filter through millions of profiles and match you with the right person for the job who holds the skills that you’re looking for. Moreover, every freelancer profile comes with a performance and project completion score which helps you choose how high-end of a developer you want for the job. However, there is a disadvantage to using Upwork because it lacks a thorough vetting process when it comes to selecting candidates, leaving you to do the majority of the interviewing yourself.
5. Gigster
It is difficult to find expert talent. Finding the right skill set is difficult, and teams must deal with the risks of over-budgeting and project delays. Gigster addresses all these concerns and helps you find the right person for the job. It is one of the most popular platforms for finding app developers and highly qualified software designers.
Gigster connects employers to their in-house project managers, who then communicate their requirements to the developers on board. It attracts talent from the world’s top technology companies, start-ups, enterprises, and universities. Providing you with unrivaled access to both quality and quantity. Moreover, they serve as the contact between Gigster developers and clients, effectively managing the project on their behalf. So, if you’re looking for an expert client-developer matching, then Gigster is the perfect match for you.
6. Dice
Dice is a well-established IT job board and tech platform that hosts a large pool of freelance developers. It has some of the highest traffic numbers in the industry, which makes it more appealing to highly skilled developers.
Its search results are precisely tailored to the criteria you specify, allowing you to connect with the ideal match, who is the best person with relevant skills. Dice’s Team Recruitment Package includes everything you need to find and hire the best in technology. Although it’s a little more expensive than the other job boards and freelance websites in the market, this also means that you’ll get a highly skilled and experienced developer, which is ideal if your budget allows it. Thus, if you’re looking to hire app developers with extensive industry experience and a track record of success, Dice is a great place to start.
7. Peopleperhour
People Per Hour, a freelance marketplace for professionals of all types, is trusted by over 1 million businesses worldwide. People Per Hour is unusual in that it allows freelancers to create their hourly rate job advertisements. Contests are also held within the platform’s freelance pool.
Employers will find it very simple to choose profiles with People Per Hour. You can contact freelancers, pay for certain hours worked, and even advertise as an employer. However, the platform doesn’t have an advanced screening process which means you’ll have to interview and vet all the candidates yourself. Plus, all the developers on this platform work on an hourly basis, so if you are hiring people for extensive work then you might end up going out of budget. However, if you want to hire someone to develop a small application, or for some minor changes to your existing application, then people per hour could work wonders for you.
8. Gun.io
Gun.io is a rapidly expanding developer community that is picky about who they let on their platform. It’s built in such a way that it’s simple to hire the top developers, who have a track record of successful projects and a wealth of industry knowledge. They actively track the success of the talent they highlight and ensure that they remain devoted to every job they get.
Moreover, Gun.io is particularly known for its humanistic approach toward client companies. Instead of simply offering you candidate recommendations based on some generic project-related questions, they assign a high-level staff member to you that helps throughout the whole selection process and hand-picks candidates that match your unique needs. Additionally, they also offer a very efficient risk-management and employer-backing system, as well as a 100% money-back guarantee.
9. X-Team
X-Team is a tech job board and learning platform for inexperienced developers looking for guidance and high-level industry knowledge. Just like lots of other high-end platforms, X-Team helps you find the best candidate for your development process. They have a long list of developers that have passed the screening and vetting procedure and have proven themselves to be competent and technically knowledgeable.
X-Team is also unique amongst all other platforms as instead of just hiring one person it helps you with the whole team of web and app developers. They are particularly skilled at selecting people who fill each other’s knowledge gap- which leaves you with an entire team at the end. However, if you’re a business that’s just looking for a single developer, then X-Team is not the right fit for you and you’re better off looking at some other options on the list.
10. Freelancer
Freelancer is one of the largest hiring platforms with over 25 million users worldwide. It has a huge list of professionals for every tech-related job which makes finding a developer easy for you. However, with so many options being offered to you, it can be a little tough to find the right person for the job.
Even for a simple technical job, there are thousands of candidates offering their services, which although creates a little confusion, can be quite beneficial if you’re looking for a developer for small-scale development work. Moreover, with so much competition, the site offers the most affordable options as people are willing to do the same job for lower rates. Thus, if you have a low budget and want to hire a developer for small app development or minor changes, then Freelancer is the right choice for you.
11. Guru
Guru is a flexible, secure, and cost-effective platform that connects you with the best freelance talent from around the world. It has over 800,000 employees worldwide and a 99% customer satisfaction rate. It is quite similar to Upwork, although it offers a relatively smaller pool of members.
Guru follows an extensive process to thoroughly validate the freelancers and publishes their feedback scores as well as all-time transaction data to assist you to find skilled professionals all over the world. It uses SafePay, a one-of-a-kind money transfer technology, that offers total payment security and encrypted records. Guru, on the other hand, does not vet its prospects, which means you’ll have to conduct interviews to discover the proper individual for the job. However, if you’re looking for a safe platform to help you find developers then Guru is the one for you.
Conclusion
It’s critical to find the perfect individual or team, regardless of which platform you choose. Here is a list of few pointers that might help you in your search for a competent app developer-
- Do your basic Research– Before you hire an app developer it’s important to do the basic research to understand the mechanics of their job. Research basic topics such as, what programming languages are used for development? What are the typical market rates?
- Look at their experience– Look at a person team’s work experience and portfolio to see the kind of work they have already done in the past and how successful they were in completing those projects.
- Focus on communication– You need to set precedent and communicate the needs of your business from the first meeting itself. Your developer, no matter how competent they are, cannot build something that you’ve not communicated with them.
- Ask the right questions– One of the easiest ways to make sure you’re getting all the answers is to always ask the right questions. That’s why we recommend all business owners prepare a set of questions to ask your potential developers in the first meeting itself.
Hiring a freelancer is not the end of your responsibilities. More often than not, all of the platforms mentioned above either require you to know the ins and outs of project management, have an excessive number of distinct profiles from which to choose or have some limitation that makes your job as an employer more difficult.
That is why we propose our in-house team of developers, who have vast experience in the field and have successfully completed numerous projects. At eSearch Logix, we pay attention to even the tiniest details of the job.
