If you're a startup founder or product development lead who oversees software development projects, you're no stranger to the need to hire software developers for your project—competent ones, for that matter. You must also know the challenges involved in finding and managing reliable software developers.
So much of your product's success and market fit depends on finding the right talent to develop the best product for your company. According to well-known recruiter Jorgen Sundberg, it costs more than a quarter of a million dollars to find and hire a new employee. If this person turns out to be wrong for the role, he or she becomes an unnecessary cost. It's also a huge waste of time that could have been spent doing something else.
For small businesses especially, a four or five-figure investment in the wrong talent could potentially cause a company's downfall. Research shows that 14% of startups fail because they hire the wrong team. Hiring bad-fit developers can have dire consequences for your company, with the worst-case scenario being the failure of your business. For you, a business owner, this means you have to conduct thorough research before you make a single hire. To make things easier, we’ve compiled a list of 17 sites to hire developers.
1. DevSquad
DevSquad is a boutique consulting firm that specializes in strategizing, prototyping, and developing digital products. We help brands, organizations, and startups ideate and launch digital products with a fully aligned process that puts your customers first. We believe in reiterating our internal processes to build products that nail your goals.
Our team of experts consists of product strategists, technical product managers, UX designers, developers, DevOps Engineers, and QA analysts. When we come on board, we own every product we touch, from strategy to QA testing and roadmap updates. Our core values guide our approach.
The hiring process is time-consuming and daunting enough. You have to go through so many applications in order to find a decent developer. With DevSquad, you've reached your final destination. You don't just get a developer; you get a fully-managed product team working together, so you don't have to go through the entire hiring process many times just to hire different talents or manage them afterward.
Areas of expertise
Business strategy: We rely on our experience working with 100+ founders and executives (and exiting our own SaaS) to build products that achieve key business goals. We are battle-trained experts who ask the right questions and are ready to push back when we believe a decision goes against your best interest.
Engineering: With developer-favorite frameworks and optimized processes, we enable our engineers to put software quality, long-term viability, and user needs first in every decision. Our engineers are mid-level and senior developers who know how to stick to a vision and manage technical work.
UX design: DevSquad offers world-class UX design. Most clients work with us for designing and building, but you can engage us only for design if that's what you need.
Pros
Fully managed team structure.
Product-level strategy.
Cons
You can’t hire developers individually, but instead need to hire an entire team (developers, product manager, QA, UX designers, DevOps).
To get a free consultation with DevSquad, fill out this contact form.
2. Toptal
Toptal is a platform that allows you to hire developers. Their team of freelancers includes software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers.
To start, you'll first have to create an account and search for talent. A down payment of $500 is compulsory as a credit to the first invoice once you hire a freelancer.
Pros
Freelancers are vetted.
They recommend developers to you.
They provide a free trial.
Cons
Not budget friendly. It cost more to hire freelancers.
You have to pay $500 as a down payment.
You can't know the percentage you're paying to your freelancer vs the percentage that goes to Toptal.
3. Upwork
Upwork is one of the biggest platforms for hiring freelancers. Upwork hosts different kinds of freelancers like writers, developers, graphic designers, and VAs.
To get started on Upwork, you have to post a free job ad that describes your technical needs. You can then vet freelancers who bid for the job. You can also send invitations to top-rated freelancers.
Pros
High amount of bids from all kinds of freelancers.
Relatively cheaper cost of labor.
Secure and easy payment system.
Cons
Quality of freelancers isn't guaranteed since anyone can apply.
You'll have to sift through many freelancers to find one that fits.
Low barrier to entry.
Potential for scams or fraudulent activity.
Difficult to find highly skilled professionals on the platform.
4. YouTeam
YouTeam's talent pool consists of software developers and designers. YouTeam caters more to long-term projects.
To get started, you fill out a form to indicate the details of your project and your budget. Next, you'll be supplied with a list of recommended developers.
Pros
Candidates are vetted.
YouTeam recommends developers.
1-month free trial.
Cons
Not suitable for short-term projects.
Could be expensive, depending on the project.
5. Arc.dev
Arc, formerly known as CodementorX, is a niche online marketplace that helps companies hire developers.
First, you describe your ideal developer and technical needs to them in an onboarding call. The Arc team will send you a list of developers then you take it from there.
Pros
Developers are vetted.
Arc recommends developers to you.
Risk-free trial period.
Cons
Not suitable for long-term projects.
Increased cost.
Arc only started vetting developers in 2019, so there could potentially be some unvetted freelancers on the platform.
6. Gun.io
Gun.io is another niche platform that helps companies hire developers for both full-time and freelance roles.
Once again, you explain your needs to the Gun.io representatives, and they'll recommend developers for you. You can then take it from there.
Pros
Gun recommends developers to you.
Developers are vetted.
Cons
Lengthy sign-up process.
Gun.io only offers individual freelancers and not complete dev teams.
No set pricing as the platform is quote-based.
Often expensive, depending on the project.
7. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the largest social media platform for professionals. It's not as niche as previous sites on this list, but you can hire developers on LinkedIn.
A way to find talent on LI is to post a job ad and have people apply. To make the most of the platform, you'd have to upgrade to LinkedIn's premium.
Pros
Largest professional network, so there are lots of people.
Free and easy to post a job ad.
Cons
To get more features, you need to upgrade to premium.
The large volume of applicants slows down hiring time.
You have to select and vet the candidates yourself.
It could get daunting since there are so many levels of services and features.
8. Fiverr
Fiverr is one of the largest marketplaces that connects clients with freelancers. There are graphic designers, writers, and VAs on that platform.
You can browse through the profiles of different freelancers, view their ratings and reviews, and choose the one that best fits your needs. Or you can post a job ad and sift through your pool of applicants.
Pros
Low cost of services.
Ability to communicate directly with freelancers.
Cons
Lack of quality control for services provided.
Low barrier to entry.
Potential for scams or fraudulent activity.
Difficult to find highly skilled professionals on the platform.
9. GitHub
GitHub is the largest developer community that allows developers to collaborate on projects from anywhere in the world.
The process of finding developers on GitHub is pretty manual.
Create an account and search for developers. Look out for followers (demonstrates a developer's expertise), programming language, and location. Make a list and then reach out to the developers that are a great fit.
Pros
Access to lots of developers.
Opportunity to connect directly with developers.
Cons
No filtering of bad-fit developers.
Lack of quality control for services provided.
You have to select and vet the candidates yourself.
It can be daunting to manually search for the right talent.
Lots of time is invested in finding the right clients to hire.
10. Stack Overflow
Stack Overflow is the largest online Q&A community for programmers to seek help on bugs and share their knowledge. It's like Quora for programming.
The process for finding developers is similar to GitHub. Manually look through the profiles of developers who provide a lot of thoughtful answers to questions people ask on the platform.
Pros
Access to lots of developers.
Opportunity to connect directly with developers.
Cons
No filtering of bad-fit developers.
Lack of quality control for services provided.
You have to select and vet the candidates yourself.
It can be daunting to manually search for the right talent.
Lots of time is invested in finding the right clients to hire.
11. Guru
Guru is also another platform that allows you to hire freelancers. With Guru, you have access to different types of freelancers, just like Upwork and Fiverr.
You can start by searching for freelancers in the search bar and then reaching out to the ones you prefer. You can also post a job ad for free to get interested freelancers to apply.
Pros
High volume of freelancers.
Cons
Lots of time spent sifting through freelancers to find the right fit.
Guru is not a specialist development site.
12. FreeUp.Net
FreeUp is a marketplace for hiring virtual assistants, freelancers, and agencies in eCommerce and digital marketing.
Business owners can submit info about the details of your project. The FreeUp team will connect you to freelancers that you can hire.
Pros
Freelancers are vetted.
24/7 customer support.
Cons
No set pricing as the platform is quote-based.
You can only hire web developers, not software developers.
13. Lemon.io
Lemon.io is a platform that seeks to connect developers with startups. Lemon.io vets every developer who applies to join their network. Lemon.io specializes in web development and uses languages such as PHP, WordPress, Magento, Drupal, HTML5/CSS3, JavaScript, and node.js.
Pros
Lemon.io recommends developers.
Helpful customer support.
Cons
Do not have embedded & firmware developers.
It may happen that the platform doesn't have anyone available.
Could be expensive, depending on the project.
14. CrunchBoard
CrunchBoard is a niche job posting site that advertises a variety of software engineering vacancies. CrunchBoard is a subset of TechCrunch, a tech news outlet.
Getting started is easy as posting a job ad (not free). You'd have to buy job listings. A single job listing is $349, a 5-job pack is $1,295, and a 10-job pack is $2,495.
Pros
Job packs never expire, so you can buy and use them whenever.
Access to many developers.
Cons
Lengthy hiring process
You'd have to select and vet the developers yourself.
Quality of work is not guaranteed.
Job ad only lasts for 30 days.
15. UpStack
UpStack is a niche network of software developers, web developers, and engineers. First, you'll create an account and communicate your project needs to their reps. Then, you'll get a list of developers that you can go ahead and vet.
Pros
Developers are vetted before they are allowed onto the platform.
14-day free trial.
Cons
Relatively expensive. Not for you if you're on a tight budget.
Not good for short-term work.
You’ll have to pay a $399 deposit fee.
16. Working Nomads
Another option for finding developers is through Working Nomads. It’s a well-known job board for digital nomads.
To get started, you need to post a job ad. Prices for job ads start at $150 per month for a single job, $387 per month for 3 jobs, and $545 per month for five jobs.
Pros
Access to many developers.
Direct communication with developers.
Cons
Can be very expensive.
Lengthy hiring process.
You'd have to screen the developers yourself.
Quality of work is not guaranteed.
17. Codeable
Codeable is a platform for WordPress users. It's free to post a job on Codeable. If you want to consult with a Codeable expert before you post your project, you can do so for $69 an hour.
Pros
Vetted experts.
Recommended experts.
Good for both short-term and long-term projects.
Cons
Can be expensive, depending on the project.
Caters mostly to WordPress users, so other types of programming take a backseat.
Remember, hiring a great developer is one of the most important things you can do for your company. Make sure you get it right once and for all. If you're looking to hire a developer or a team of expert strategists, DevSquad is the agency for you.
With DevSquad, you won't have to spend copious amounts of time searching for the right developer to help you with your product. You get instant access to not just developers but other experts necessary to the product marketing journey, who have had their feet wet in fast-paced startup environments and will ensure that your product achieves market fit.
If you want to take your product to the next level, talk to us. You'll see the DevSquad difference right away!
