Do you have a great idea for a mobile application? Then, it is worth taking care of its high-quality technical part. The app developers are responsible for it, and therefore it is worth approaching the choice of an employee with all responsibility. We have some tips for you to find the perfect developer to create a successful application.
How to choose an app developer?
First of all, you will need to choose the most convenient way of cooperation: with a freelancer or with a company. Initially, your acquaintance with the developers begins with a website or freelance platform. Let’s take a closer look at the points worth paying attention to when choosing candidates.
Development Company
To choose the best, you need to spend enough time studying the market. The company’s website is their business card; this is the stage at which you can make a conclusion about further work. Often, good companies care about their reputation, so a professional website is a must. It should be informative and visually appealing.
One of the main issues is cost. You shouldn’t look for the cheapest option, because quality is a priority for a new product. But, unfortunately, the high development cost doesn’t guarantee you perfect work. Approach the issue comprehensively and appreciate the price/quality ratio.
The site must have a portfolio, be sure to check it. This is a great way to see the capabilities of the company and its specialization. Did the company have large customers? Can you download and test applications developed by them? Do they fit the format of your idea? A good company will answer all these questions from the first minutes on the site.
Pay attention to the Team section. Do you see the professionals involved in their work?
It is quite important because the customer and the contractor must understand each other and go to the same goal. It will be cool if you can build strong working relations and achieve success. If all these suits you, do not hesitate and go to the Contacts section to find out all the information about the location of the company and contact a potential team.
Freelance developers
Freelance platforms kindly simplify the finding of the remote employee. They gather specialists around the world who are ready to provide their services for companies. The most popular international platform in the US is UpWork, so let’s look, how to choose a freelancer on its example.
In every profile, you will find the hourly rate, job success, work history, and feedback from clients. Such services allow you to simplify the search for candidates, thanks to the rating. The higher the freelancers ranking, the more popular and experienced he is. But, note that this is not a 100% guarantee of good work as well as the high cost of work. Do not measure candidates only with stars in profiles. Be sure to check out the portfolio. Learn the developer’s skills and download released apps to check it’s ranking, quick, and debugging.
Choose a developer from your city or a remote employee?
It is absolutely not necessary to look for a developer exactly in your city; you can also find a remote employee who will do just fine. Decide for yourself how it will be more comfortable for you to work. Both options have both pros and cons.
Pros of a remote app developers
- Cost. You don’t need to rent an office or organize a workplace. If you hire developers from other countries, salary or hourly rates can be much cheaper. Even if you hire independent remote workers from your own country, you can still see some decrease in wages.
- Time and energy. This is a plus for both you and the employee. No one needs to spend time on the way to work and back. This saves energy for good work and other important things.
- Talent. If you can’t find qualified developers in your city, you have a whole world to choose one. Believe us, there are many talented guys who meet all your requirements.
- Productivity. Remote employees are often more productive and focused. After all, nobody is distracted by meetings or just annoying co-workers.
Cons of a remote app developers
- Communication issues. If you like to discuss everything in person, this option is not for you. With remote employees, you will only chat online.
- Engagement. If a freelancer has many other projects, he may not be passionate about your app, unlike full-time workers.
- Overpayments. If nevertheless, a developer is simply necessary, for example, at a presentation, this can result in big expenses.
- Security Risks. As with full-time employees, it is imperative to sign a contract with the remote developer. So your idea and all the data will be safe.
Pros of local app developers
- Always there. You can meet anytime, anywhere to discuss work details. This is a big plus for those who value live communication with employees.
- Local culture. Foreign remote app developers or developers from other cities may face a misunderstanding of the local culture, especially if the application is designed for a narrow audience. This is important if your application is associated, for example, with navigation or local cultural features. This is unlikely to happen with locals.
- Native language. If you hire a remote app developer from other countries, a language barrier may arise. Even if it is a qualified specialist, it can be a problem for communication.
Cons of local app developers
- Skills. When you face a difficult task, it may be that you simply will not find an app developer with the necessary skills and experience in your city.
- High cost. If the average salary of a developer in your city is very high, then you should think about a remote worker.
- Workplace and software. You need to organize a workplace with all the necessary equipment and software if you choose to assemble a team.
How do outsourcing and remote development work?
It doesn’t matter, you will choose local or remote app developers, you always need to build the right workstream for both sides. Of course, work with freelancers and development companies will be different.
Work with freelance app developers
Platforms establish their own rules for conducting transactions between freelancers and customers. This is to protect both sides from fraud. Always freelancers set a fixed price per hour or whole work. Therefore, we advise you to prepare a detailed technical task, so as not to waste time on misunderstandings.
You can choose between a hundred professionals or post your task, so app developers will send proposals. To understand whether communication will take place, you can have a short interview with every app developer you like right in the platform’s chat.
When you find the perfect candidate who has all the necessary skills, you should take care of signing the contract. Risks can always arise with a remote employee: a freelancer simply will not answer, will not finish work, or will be careless with your company’s confidential information. So it’s better to reinsure yourself.
Without a contract, you are unlikely to be able to, for example, return your prepayment by running into an unscrupulous developer. Even if the freelancer lives abroad, it’s still worthwhile to conclude a contract. Of course, it will be more difficult to sue in case of violation of the contract. Be sure to indicate in the contract the terms of the order, as well as the sanctions provided in case of failure by the app developer to fulfill its obligations.
Work with development companies
Working with companies is always less risky. However, after choosing suitable app developers, your cooperation will also begin with signing a contract. This is a must for all of the work types.
However, if you don’t want to immediately conclude a long-term contract, many companies offer a two-week sprint. This is kind of a trial version of working with a company in the development world. Sprint is a certain period for which a team of app developers performs a task. At the same time, a large amount of work is divided into small tasks that help to gradually achieve one big goal. This is a great opportunity to understand whether the company and its work are suitable for you. If all OK and you are happy about all of the workflow, sign a contract bravely.
What about the cost?
To determine the cost per hour of app developers, you need to decide which developer you need. It all depends on the complexity and type of mobile application. We will give the averaged costs so that you generally understand what to count on.
Again using UpWork as an example, the average cost of freelancers is:
- Basic/Intermediate iOS dev – from $45 to $75;
- Basic/Intermediate Android dev – from $35 to $60;
- Xamarin dev – from $20 to $50;
- PhoneGap – from $16 to $55.
Let’s analyze the average cost of working with different types of contractors according to Clutch and PayScale:
- Freelancers – $543 for a completed project;
- Hiring in-house – $69,209 is the average salary for app developers for a completed project;
- Agency – $30,000–$700,000 for a completed project.
Conclusions
We examined in detail all the pros and cons of working with development companies and remote app developers. It’s really hard to choose between these variants, but we advise to determine the type of application, timing, how you want to communicate, and, of course, evaluate your capabilities. So, we hope that you select the best option for your project. Good luck!
