How to Find and Hire Skilled Developers & Programmers

Finding a skilled software engineer or developer can be tough.

In fact, the global shortage of software developers is expected to cross 4 million unfilled roles in 2025, according to industry research. This gap between demand and supply is one of the main reasons hiring feels like a constant battle.

Talented coders are rarely sitting idle. If someone is great at coding, they either have a solid job or enough freelance projects to keep them busy. That’s why more than 80% of developers are already employed full-time, while the rest often juggle multiple freelance contracts.

This can make the search for the right developer frustrating and time-consuming.

But don’t worry—we’ve got solutions.

There are platforms and services that connect you with top-notch developers, even though they may take a small cut. You can hire remotely, and there’s even a possibility of building a full-fledged in-house tech team over time. And here’s a bonus: with remote work now standard in tech, you aren’t limited to local talent anymore. About 38% of developers in 2025 work fully remote and another 42% hybrid, so the global pool is wider than ever.

If you’re looking for a co-founder or technical partner to share equity, there are also options for that.

No matter your situation, this guide will walk you through how to find and hire developers for your business, whether it’s your first hire or you’re scaling your team.

Let’s get started finding and hiring the most suitable coders for your project.

Preparations before hiring developers:

Before you embark on the journey to find developers, it’s crucial to define your project in detail. A well-articulated project plan will help you communicate your needs effectively and attract the best candidates.

Clarify your project scope:

Start by answering key questions about your project:

• What exactly is my project?
  
  Clearly outline what you want to build. This clarity will guide you in finding the right developers with the relevant skills and experience.
  
• Are you targeting mobile users, web users, or both?
  
  If your solution needs to cater to both mobile and web platforms, seek developers with expertise in hybrid technologies like React Native, Xamarin, Flutter, or Ionic. For dedicated mobile apps, decide whether you need Android or iOS developers, as each platform requires different software development kits (SDKs).

Remember, Android developers cannot build native iOS apps, and vice versa. Defining your platform needs upfront will simplify the hiring process.

Write clear job descriptions:

Once you’ve identified the types of developers you need, draft detailed job descriptions. Include:

• Type of employment: Specify whether you need in-house, hybrid, or remote staff. Also, mention if the role is for a permanent position, contract, or freelance.
• Role requirements: Clearly outline the duties, required skills, and experience. Include an overview of your company culture to show how the role fits into your team.
• Application details: Provide links to your contact information or application form. A straightforward application process will attract more interested and qualified candidates.

Cost and hiring considerations:

Understanding the cost implications of hiring developers is crucial:

• Freelance developers: Rates can range from $20 to $75 per hour. For instance, in many emerging regions (e.g., Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe), full-time local API developer rates are between $15 and $80/hr, and remote freelance ranges are $10–60/hr, depending on seniority and specialization. Platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Upwork are good places to find cost-effective freelancers. While freelancers offer flexibility and avoid additional costs like benefits, managing freelance projects requires time and effort.
• In-house developers: Salaries vary based on experience, location, and skills. In the US, the median yearly salary for software developers is around $109,020, though it can range from $70,000 to $170,000 or more for senior positions. Consider additional expenses such as taxes, health insurance, and relocation costs.
• High-Cost Freelancers: Developers from major tech hubs in the US, Australia, and Western Europe often charge $70 to $250 per hour. Their higher rates reflect access to top educational resources and cutting-edge technologies.

By carefully planning your project and understanding the costs associated with different hiring options, you can streamline the process and find the right developers to support your tech ventures.

Best platforms to find developers:

1. GitHub

GitHub is a platform where programmers collaborate on projects, share code, and build software.

With more than 150 million developers worldwide using GitHub as of early 2025, it’s an excellent resource for finding talent for your startup. A lot of developers showcase their work on GitHub. You can search by Java, Vue.js, or iOS development, as well as other programming languages you may need, and then approach the developers directly.

You can locate developers based on their contributions to projects, programming languages used, and skills mentioned in their profiles.

• Pros: A Wide community of developers with visible work through repositories.
• Cons: Open only to developers who actively participate in open-source projects.

2. Job Boards

Companies and recruiters use job boards to find candidates. When you post a job, you’ll need to manage all the applications yourself. You can search for specific skills like NFT development, iPhone app development, or game development and connect with potential candidates.

• Main cons of job boards: You might get too many applications, which means more administrative work to create a shortlist.
• Also, there’s no vetting, so you’ll need to verify each candidate yourself.

Here is the Google Job Board to start recruiting your developers.

3. Toptal (hire from top 3% talent)

Toptal is a platform with top talent in software development, design, finance, project management, and more. You can quickly put together a team of experts for your project with flexible options from hourly to full-time work. Every freelancer in Toptal goes through strict testing to ensure high quality.

They offer specialized services in consulting, technology, web development, UX/UI design, programming languages, blockchain development, and data science. Toptal only includes the best developers on their platform.

Toptal charges a subscription fee of $79/month for clients to access its network of talent.

Developer rates on Toptal vary a lot depending on expertise. For example, full-time contracts (40 hrs/week) often cost between US$2,400 and US$6,400/week, depending on seniority and specialization. This reflects hourly rates roughly between $60/hr and $200+/hr for more experienced or niche talent.

4. Working Nomads

Working Nomads is a job board that lists remote jobs from various industries, including software development.

As the name suggests, it’s ideal for finding digital nomads. Just browse the remote job listings until you find a suitable candidate.

The Premium subscription (for job seekers) costs US$17.95/month, or US$59.95/year (which averages out to $5/month). Premium features include access to more job postings (up to around 10× more than public ones), advanced filters, ad-free browsing, etc.

• Pros: Focuses on remote work opportunities and gives access to a global talent pool.
• Cons: For employers, a single job posting costs roughly US$199 on Working Nomads but bulk posting plans (e.g. 3 or 5 postings) reduce the cost per job somewhat.

5. Upwork (Affordable labor available)

Upwork is the largest online community of freelancers, making it a great platform to hire developers. It has around 18 million freelancers registered.

There are approximately 814,000 active clients on Upwork who spend at least US$5,000 on projects.

Additionally, Upwork generated US$769 million in revenue in 2024 and projects $1.04 billion by 2026, representing an anticipated average growth rate of 17.6%.

Average wages for freelance programmers (depending on experience and specialization) are between US$21–US$55/hr for many roles.

Once you sign up, you can post your job, and freelance developers will bid on it. You can then screen candidates and decide who to invite for an interview.

I’ve used this platform many times. It makes finding developer talent easy, simplifies the payment process, and has safeguards to ensure you only pay for completed work.

6. Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow is a popular forum where developers and industry leaders share knowledge and learn from each other.

Similar to LinkedIn, Stack Overflow has a job board where you can post ads and hire developers.

It’s great for finding candidates who join forums. 

People from all over the world participate, so you’re likely to find the developer you need

7. Gun.io

Gun.io helps entrepreneurs hire developers, either full-time or freelance.

The good thing about Gun.io is that they go through the developers first before posting them on the platform; they carry out code exercises to prove their skill level and get previous employer endorsements.

This gives you access to 20,000 vetted developers.

Posting job listings on Gun.io is free. If you hire a freelance developer, you pay hourly rates for a minimum of 10 hours a week. For full-time developers, Gun.io charges a one-time fee of 15% of the developer’s annual salary.

8. Lemon.io (hire developers for startups)

Lemon.io is a platform focused on connecting developers with startups. They promise to match you with a developer in 24 hours or less.

To scrutinize developers, they use a four-step process, which includes resume reviews, soft skills and language proficiency evaluation by a screening call, technical ability checks, and lastly, interviews conducted by senior team members to test the candidate’s passion for startups.

9. Turing (you hire top talent here)

Turing is another one-stop solution for hiring developers remotely.

Turing claims that they hire 1% of the best software engineers. That means it’s harder for coders to join and easier for companies to find professionals.

But the same issue persists here. It can be a little expensive for you because of the vendor fee and high rates.

If budget is not your issue, it will save you much of your time. Secondly, hiring through Toptal and Turing is much more secure than many other platforms.

There are two benefits: you will always meet expert developers and programmers. Your money is in safe hands.

Otherwise, below are some easier ways to find affordable programmers. In some of the opportunities, you won’t even need to pay the vendor fee.

10. Dev.to

Dev.to is another place to manually find and hire developers without paying anything to the platform.

On Dev.to people often share their ideas, work, and problems; in this way, they also build their profiles, and you can find suitable developers according to your project demands.

11. Ask a friend

It might surprise you that 30% of jobs are filled through referrals. This is because you gain trust from someone else’s experience, especially from a friend you know won’t mislead you.

The same strategy can help you hire capable developers and programmers.

You can ask on social media, your phone contacts, or even their friends to help you find people who are very good at completing your coding tasks.

They will definitely share their experiences and might refer you to some good freelancers or agencies.

12. Fiverr (the best place to find cheap developers)

Like Upwork, Fiverr is another great place to hire cheap developers.

Here, people have already shared their Gigs; what will they do for you, and at how much price?

The second option is to post a job, but in that case, you will get tons of irrelevant messages, and that’s why I don’t recommend that.

The best way to find developers on Fiverr is that search the relevant Gigs, reach out to people, and tell them what you want them to do. In this way, you will find someone ready to do your job at very cheap rates.

According to the 2025 Software Development Cost Guide published by Fiverr, hourly rates on Fiverr range from $20 to $400/hour depending on the levels of complexity, expertise, region, and if it is a premium service.

For WordPress development on Fiverr in 2025, typical rates are more in the $20 to $250/hour range again, depending on developers’ levels (junior to senior) along with the level of project complexity. Fiverr also has a “Pro” tier of developers, who are vetted. These will typically charge a higher rate, e.g., $75-$200+ hourly, but are often more reliable and communicate better.

In short, if you are looking for developers at cheap rates, Fiverr is the best platform.

13. Freelancer (low-rate coders available here)

Freelancer is also one of the most popular freelancing platforms in the world. Its popularity makes it a diversified place to find developers from all over the world.

Hence, it increases the chances of finding low-rate coders.

Here is why this happens and why you should explore these platforms when you are under budget.

You might know the difference between currency rates all around the world. When you pay in dollars, people convert them to see how much they are getting in their currency.

They are more likely to accept if that amount becomes a reasonable amount (according to their inflation rate). Let me make it a bit simpler for your understanding.

The hourly rates for people all around the world are different. If you are bound to pay $75 an hour in your country, for some countries, it can be $10.

So, this diversified audience makes your hiring very affordable.

14. LinkedIn (the best place to build an in-house team)

LinkedIn is a social platform for professionals and has over 1.1 billion users worldwide making it a great place to find developers, programmers, and engineers for free. If you don’t know how to find developers on LinkedIn, here’s how to do it easily:

The simplest way to find employees is to post a job, even with a free or premium account. The free version will still get your ad a lot of impressions, and you will start receiving emails and messages from candidates.

The rest is up to you to judge and finalize developers based on your project details. Whenever I post on LinkedIn, I receive more emails from female professionals. So if you need a female developer, LinkedIn might be particularly helpful.

By setting a location, you can also find developers near you who can work for your startup as full-time employees.

15. Geebo (find developers locally)

Geebo is well-known for job postings. It offers a unique way to promote ads on many platforms, including search engines like Google. If your startup requires dozens of employees and you want to recruit from thousands of professionals, then Geebo is the best alternative to Dice.

Post an ad and let Geebo promote it to find the best employees for your company.

16. Be active on social media and in communities:

Actively share your work culture, open positions, and benefits you offer through social media. LinkedIn, Reddit, and Discord could be a good choice, as most applicants are found there.

On Discord, for example, you can find developers by joining groups that focus on specific programming languages like Java or Python or specialized developers like NFT, iPhone apps, or WordPress. There are also general developer groups that you can look at.

Don’t just lurk in these groups; get into the conversation! Talk to people, ask questions, and contribute your own thoughts. This way of being socially active links you up with developers and you may even find someone to hire or work together with.

Remember that the choice of platform depends on who you want to reach out to. TikTok, LinkedIn, and Instagram can be great options if you are looking for junior developers.

How do I find the right developer?

Start by knowing what you need. Is it a website, app, or something else? Then check places like Upwork, Toptal, or ask around. Look at their past work and maybe give them a small task first.

How do I choose a developer?

It can be challenging to choose the right developer. So, ideally, you should go for someone who’s done similar stuff before. Check their reviews, talk to them, and see if you vibe well. A short paid test project can help too.

Can I pay someone to code for me?

Definitely. People hire developers all the time. Just make sure you’re clear on what you want and agree on the price and deadlines upfront.