Every business that wants to succeed and look professional needs a user-friendly and reliable web and mobile app. And what do you need for this? Of course, a good and reliable developer. Surely, finding a good developer is not a walk in the park. But if you really look for them, you’ll find them. You just need to ask the right questions. When you’re a business hiring a developer for your project you usually have two choices; a freelancer and a software agency. So how do you choose which to hire and what considerations should you take before hiring them?
What is their working style or method?
There is a slight difference between the working style of a software company and a freelancer. With software companies, you have an equipped team of professionals who are both onsite and remote but they are part of the company regardless. While freelancers can work with contracts or full-time, or just how the word says “freelance”. Freelancers are usually a one-person team so they might take on several projects simultaneously, while software companies have several developers who may take one project at a time.
What are the costs?
Unsurprisingly there are cost differences between freelancers and software companies since they have distinct characterizations and capacities which of course, don’t define the quality of work. It is more about how the team is equipped and how many team members there are. Based on this freelancers are less costly, firstly because they aren’t officially employed as part of a company and this reduces costs for medical insurance, taxes, work equipment, and so on.
Based on this exact factor, companies might charge more for app development than freelancers. However, this might have its advantages. For example, software companies are better equipped and have more people who can work on the project. Experience has shown that having several different sets of eyes on some task will result in a quality outcome. However, sometimes you might also need the company for overtime because they had to fix something urgent outside of their business hours. And this is when freelancers come into play because they’re setting their own working hours and can fix the issue even in the middle of the night.
US dev agencies can charge up to $200-$300 per hour for development, while freelancers will most likely charge $60-$100 on average. However, it’s not always that costs determine the quality of the work. Someone can charge less but be a talented developer and do an excellent job. Although there is also a reason behind high costs sometimes and this speaks volumes about experience and expertise.
What are their qualifications and expertise?
There is a slight difference if you compare the qualifications and expertise of freelancers and companies. While freelancers are more into narrow specialization, companies are multi-skilled in different fields. Companies can cover a wide range of tasks and are more flexible. The development teams of the company have a diversity of developers, designers, managers, QAs, and more and so they can meet the requirements in a variety of fields rather than one.
How can I trust them? Are they reliable?
You may give a task to the developer and they might disappear. Unfortunately, this is a common case during app development and not only app development or any other work. Developers may disappear for various reasons, however, as much as you may understand, there will be deadlines that should be met. Freelancers are harder to find amongst disappearances, unlike companies.
The latter usually has several people working on the project so if your developer is not replying there is always the project manager to address or other teammates. There will always be a person in a company to replace your developer in case of emergencies, while the freelancer is just a one-man team.
References or testimonials from past clients
It’s one thing to say you’ve had this or that experience and it’s another thing to hear it directly from the client. So, it is important to ask your potential developer to provide a reference from their former client to prove that the idea of their quality of work equals the one the client saw.
What are the legal terms?
Of course, in legal terms, companies might be stricter to work with but you are also protected. The provided contract works in both ways. Surely, the company might sue you if things get complicated but also applies to the client. So, it’s a fair game. Compared to companies, freelancers are only contract-based and the issue usually won’t get to the court and you’re not bound to them once the contract is over.
How are the tasks organized, assigned, and distributed?
Since freelancers are usually one person they tend to do several tasks with a one-man team. With companies each teammate is in charge of their own portion of the job. So let’s say developers develop, UI/UX designers UI/UX design, SEO specialists SEO and so on. So here you get a package deal and a certain concentration on different parts of the app development.
Experience with remote teams or clients from different time zones
In the era of remote work or working across oceans many people choose to work with remote teams or clients from different time zones. However, it is only sometimes you will find developers who are comfortable and flexible working with remote teams or clients from different time zones. Freelancers are a preferable choice for this since they’re the ones setting their own schedule and can choose to work this way if necessary.
How is the maintenance going to work?
Part of the package deal with the companies is maintenance of the app after development. Nothing is perfect and the app will surely need maintenance and updates in the future. Once you’re done with the app development with a freelancer and your contract expires they ought not to follow up with the maintenance. Since you get a full package with companies the maintenance part is covered as well and they’ll usually deal with updates in the future.
Can they deal with confidential information?
Of course, no one wants to deal with data leaks during the app development but no one can predict it. However, you can legally prevent it or even after having it leaked, sue the leaker. This is easier with companies because there is a legal portion concerning confidentiality in the contract between the client and the company. Unless you sign an NDA with your freelancer you cannot be sure that they won’t leak data.
How flexible are they?
If you hire a company to work on your project you have to keep in mind that this is a corporate environment and there is a designated work time. So, this means they are less flexible with their time if a bug needs to be fixed. However, with freelancers, it is easier to solve an issue because they’re their own boss and they set their times and they can work any time of the day they want without clocking in and out.
Reputation and feedback
The more experienced the developer, the bigger and more extensive the reputation and feedback. Since freelancers are individuals and not as big as companies, you’ll tend to find less feedback about them. While with companies you’ll usually get thorough feedback and a show of reputation from a third party and you’ll know whether it’s worth hiring them or not.
So, the key takeaways of the article are the factors that you should consider while hiring a developer for your website. Those factors are flexibility, reliability, pricing, organization of tasks, communication, and more. For example, freelancers are better with flexibility because they’re their own boss and can work at any hour of the day they want. However, there are cases when the company has more advantages like “not disappearing” when they’re needed. Overall, considering those factors, who would you pick?