Best Place To Hire Web Developers | Top Ten Places To Find And Hire Best Freelance Developers

best place to hire web developers

As your tech startup business expands, you will feel the need to expand your team of software developers sooner or later.

A web developer is a programmer who specializes in or is actively involved in the development of World Wide Web applications using a client-server model. The client applications typically use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, while the server applications use PHP, ASP.NET (C#), Python, Node.js, Go, or Java, and http for client-server communication. A web content management system is frequently used to create and manage web applications.

So, if you live in the United States or Western Europe and want to hire a developer, you should be aware that there may be a shortage of tech talent in your area. Not to mention that posting a job description will simply cause you to go through hundreds of irrelevant CVs, whereas the new talent will not be looking for opportunities.

According to Korn Ferry Institute research, by 2030, the technology, media, and telecommunications industries will be among the three major industries in the United States experiencing the greatest talent shortage. Furthermore, hiring a developer in-house for a short-term project may appear to be prohibitively expensive.

So, if you're having trouble finding tech talent in your area, you should consider switching to finding and hiring freelance developers. In this article, I'll list the platforms and portals where you can find the best web developers to hire.

Top 10 Platforms to Hire Freelance developers

There are numerous places where you can hire a web developer, but in this article I will provide the options that I believe are the best. You will be given an overview of each of them, as well as their benefits and drawbacks, so that you can make an informed decision based on the services that you require.

1. Upwork 

Upwork is probably the most mainstream website where you can find and hire freelance developers so check out the points below in order to discover how it works. 

  • You will have to post a job/ project description alongside the skills that you require form the candidates. 
  • Then Upwork matches against the profiles of freelancers who have similar skills 
  • Then you will get a shortlist of the most suitable candidates
  • After you have have interviewed and selected the candidates, you can start working and there 2 ways through which the freelancer can bill you, either flat fee or hourly rate. 

Here, you can also browse a freelancers' profile and if you find it suitable to you, invite them to apply for your job. 

Pros of Upwork 

  • Quick Customer supports
  • Easy to use
  • Mobile app available 
  • Safe Payments 
  • Built in time tracker 
  • You have quick access to a wide talent pool with reasonable prices

Cons of Upwork

High fees because Upwork withholds 20% of your payment, so in most cases, employers will have to include this 20% in their payments. However, for long-term projects, the fee can be reduced when a certain amount is reached.

2. TopTal 

TopTal is the second most popular website that can actually help you with the process of hiring a web developer. This platform was initially intended only for freelance software developers, but in 2015, the platform expanded from just software developers to now include designers. You can now hire Project/Product managers and Finance experts on TopTal to help you with more advice on how to better manage your finances.\

The most outstanding feature of this platform, is the rigorous screening of all candidates which ends up allowing only 3% of them. Below, is how the screening takes place in TopTal

  • A comprehensive language, personality and communication interview
  • A technical interview, where the skills, intellect and problem solving abilities are inspected 
  • After, each candidate undergoes a life test in order to evaluate their specific skills within the primary expertise sphere
  • Each candidate is given a test project which actually is a real world case and must be completed within 3 weeks maximum 
  • 3% of candidates pass the screening and aside that, they are also required to maintain a perfect track record during work with the clients. 

Advantages of TopTal

  • Quick recruitment
  • The free trial period for freelancers 
  • Ease of use 
  • There is strict vetting of candidates in such a way that only the best freelance developer is available for hire 
  • Protection of intellectual property 
Disadvantages of TopTal 
  • It is not suitable for small projects

3. YouTeam 

Actually, YouTeam is a tech talent marketplace that is out to connect businesses and startups to software developers and designers from offshore countries. Similarly to Upwork and TopTal, clients are able to browse the profiles of software developers and personally interview them. 

But the main difference lies in the fact that in YouTeam, you would find developers who are actually freelancers. They are part of a dedicated team working on full time basis at local software agencies. More to that, with YouTeam, the clients collaborate directly with the developers without a PM that acts an  intermediary. 

Advantages of YouTeam 

  • The team of developers is dedicated only to your project
  • All legal and financial aspects are handled in a single convenient interface 
  • There is strict vetting of candidates available on the platform 
  • All the developers here work in development companies and they will not switch to other projects untill they are done with you
  • Ease of Use 
  • Basically, recruitment is done for you after you have already given the project requirements. 

Disadvantages of YouTeam 

  • It is not suitable for short term projects like for example if you are in the search of a web developer to fix the layout of your website. 

4. MoonLightWork 

This is also  a community of software developers and product designers that also act as a marketplace where you are able to hire freelance developers. Moonlight works as seen below. 

  • You have to post the job description 
  • Moonlight will then notify the community and then find a perfect match for your project 
  • You work together with the applicants on a paid trial  project 
  • In case of a successfully completed trial, you can now hire the developers as ongoing contractors or full time employees
  • Now it will be left for you to either pay the developers on hourly basis through moonlight or your hire them directly. 

Advantages of Moonlightwork 

  • Ease of use
  • Safe Payments 
  • There is free trial period for freelancers
  • mostly automated and thus fast 
  • Narrow specialization of developers 

Disadvantages of MoonlightWork

  • The community is quite small so you got lesser options 
  • Since the talent here is based mostly in the U.S, the prices may be quite high
  • The vetting process is not strict enough as the platform allows even the candidates with relatively small experience to feature in their projects.

Visit MoonLightWork

5. Gun.io

Gun.io actually stands to be a developer-only freelance marketplace with a strict vetting process which operates as follows

  • The coders are tested for the ability to work remotely
  • The developers will have to pass and automated coding exam, a live coding exercise and a technical interview with a member of the engineering team 
  • The freelancer is interviewed by the CEO of Gun.io 
  • reference checks are carried out on the candidates previous clients by Gun.io representatives. 

Pros of Gun.io 

  • There is fast hiring  as hiring is within 48 hours 
  • User friendly software
  • The developers are dedicated only to your project 
  • You benefit from access to the highest quality talent due to strict screening 

Cons of Gun.io 

  • Distant customer Service 
  • The sign up process is long 
  • There is no client feedback available 

6. CodementorX

    Codementor is an online marketplace that comes in to help its clients find a professional developer or mentor for live programming help. It is also has a sub project known as CodementorX is a place where you are able to hire freelance coder picked from the pool of mentors. It can be seen that the hiring process is similar to that at other platforms and it goes thus: 

    • Normally, you will have to specify your requirements 
    • The CodementorX consultant reaches out to you and then helps you in finding a perfect match to it 
    • Based on you requirements, you will get a shortlist of 1 or 2 developers 
    • You will then have to review the profiles of the shortlisted candidates and then you interview them 
    • Start a trial project with the developer that you have selected.

    Pros of CodementorX

    • There is high quality of work provided 
    • Risk free trials period 
    • Ai powered vetting and matching process 
    • Relatively fast recruitment as it occurs within 72 hours 

    Cons of CodementorX

    • Technical difficulties 
    • not suitable for long term projects 

7. Pilot 

    Pilot just like the above the list, it is a hiring platform that connects clients from all over the world at large with the vetted developers and designers. With Pilot, the Vetting process goes as follows 

    • The written communication skills are being analysed 
    • Simulation of collaboration process challenges in order to see how the freelancer goes about solving them
    • Skill based evaluation 
    • Coding assignments which are then reviewed by senior members of the platform
    • Application review 
    • An interview that helps test the language and communication skills
    • Only 1% of candidates often pass this screening 

    Pros of Pilot 

    • There is an availability of long term full term collaboration opportunities 
    • There is a continuos assesment of platform members 
    • Strict vetting process 

    Cons of Pilot 

    • There are not so many reviews available in the internet

8. Fiverr.com 

    Fiverr.com is another marketplace for on-demand digital freelance services, from music and audio to programming and tech. This platform is actually more suitable for those that are in search to hire developers for short term projects. This is how the platform works 

    • You will have to search for the required services like for example Wordpress website design 
    • Then you will have to make use of the smart filters in order to narrow down your search 
    • Then from here, Fiverr is going to show you a list of available portfolios that you can browse, you can choose between the various pricing packages 
    • Then once you have selected your own service, click order now 

    Pros of Fiverr.com 

    • Easy, intuitive search 
    • you have the ability to browse through portfolios even without registration 
    • There is a wide rate of countries and rates
    • This is suitable for all types of businesses 

    Cons of Fiverr.com 

    • Only short time projects are available here 
    • There is no vetting process

9. Lemon.io 

    Lemon is a well known network of vetted developers that you are able to hire as freelancers. The developers in this platform are located mostly in the Eastern Europe and thereby offer quite reasonable hourly rates as compared to those in the U.S specifically between $25 and $45. You need to buy hours before you can start hiring and working with the developers on your project. 

    This platform is based mostly on web development and work with technologies such as PHP, WordPress, Magento, Drupal, HTML5/CSS3, JavaScript and node.js. This platforms screens their developers by 3 main parameters which are Adequacy, English level and qualifications. In case you are in the search for iOS developers then I think this might be the best option for you. 

    Pros of Lemon.io

    • Reasonable pricing
    • Strict vetting of developers 
    • There is a helpful customer support 

    Cons of Lemon.io 

    • They do not have embeded and firmware developers 
    • They offer only offer those developers that they know so it might happen that there is no one available

10. Scalable Path 

    Scalable Path is a technical staffing agency with thousands of freelance software developers and designers from over 138 countries. Scalable Path offers each client personal support throughout the entire hiring process, handpicking the candidates according to the project requirements.

    Pros of Scalable Path 

    • Quick hiring - up to 3 weeks 
    • Low overhead costs 
    • Strict vetting process

    Cons of Scalable Path 

    • There are not so many reviews available on the internet 

Tips on Hiring a Freelance Developer 

    Regardless of the platform that you may choose, we recommend you to follow these tips when looking for a freelance developer

    • Define your projects 
    • Check the experience candidates 
    • Establish a reliable relationship and build trust 

    Final thought on best place to hire web developers

    Web development is the building and maintenance of websites; it's the work that happens behind the scenes to make a website look great, work fast and perform well with a seamless user experience. Web developers, or 'devs', do this by using a variety of coding languages

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. How to Hire the best Freelance developers ? There are few options that says it all for this question, make use of your network, Social media, development communities and events or better still you can go to freelancer platforms such as Upwork, TopTal , etc. 

2. How much does it cost to Hire a freelance software Developer ? - Well the cost to hire a developer depends on the region and the most popular hiring regions are offshore destinations such as Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia.