Review of the best freelance web developer websites

You’ve heard that taking your business online is the next (almost inevitable) step towards growing your business. Or maybe you’re just a budding photographer who needs a portfolio site to host images. Whatever the case, if you need to go online, you need a web developer.

Good (great) web developers are not exactly scarce, but you need to know where to search when you’re ready to hire a web developer. This review highlights the best places online to find competent web developers.

The deal with online marketplaces

Why you shouldn’t just jump to hire the first developer that pops up for a ‘hire developer online’ Google search

The best freelance web developers don’t have websites that show up on search engine pages. When you search for a freelance web developer, what you’ll see are sites (usually agency sites) that have found a way to capture the top spot of Google’s search results. And that’s not necessarily a fact to say that they have excellent devs.

In fact, most top search engine listings are paid ads, which reflects how much money they have to spend rather than the skill of developers they have to offer.

From my experience (and I’ll agree that it is purely anecdotal), excellent web developers don’t necessarily ‘compete’ for top placement on either search engine pages or the agency sites that line the first page of search results. Usually, they are flooded with work, so you, rather than them, have to search and make first contact.

What I’ll do in this guide is outline the freelance web developer sites (that might not necessarily top search engine results) where you have the best chance of finding such excellent developers.

The best sites for hiring a freelance web developer

Stackoverflow and Github

Stack Overflow and Github are where the professional, insanely skilled web developers hang out. If this is your first time coming across both names, think of them as a LinkedIn type of social media site specifically for developers. Developers post questions, answer questions and interact on both – so it’s literally ground zero for sourcing dev talent.

Hiring a freelance developer on either GitHub or Stack Overflow is a little bit tricky, which is why many people don’t bother. For the advantages it proffers though, the fact that you plug in direct to high-quality dev talent, I’d say it’s still a worthy use of your time.

See my how to hire a developer on Stack Overflow/GitHub guide for a detailed explanation of how to go about it.

What makes Stack Overflow great for hiring freelance web developers

• The singular most attractive advantage of using Stack Overflow or GitHub for hiring a freelance web developer is the quality of talent both platforms host. The extent and depth of quality is such that recruiters can filter potential hires with granular details like location and still get extremely qualified applications.
• Better quality production code. With top tier talent, you’d expect top tier web development, and that’s exactly what you get with devs sourced from Stack Overflow or GitHub.
• Option for reputation-based hiring. On both Stack Overflow and GitHub, there are reputation levels associated with how much the developer engages and contributes to associated dev communities. Usually, this is a fairly reliable indicator of their expertise and skill.
• Unlike consumer reviews (which is what you get with other freelance web developer hiring sites on this list), it’s difficult to fake this reputation level.
• Access to even niche-specific developers. Let’s assume you already have a website or app developed by some indie developer using some relatively unpopular programing language. Chances are you’ll find it challenging to find a replacement web developer who codes with said unpopular language. On Stack Overflow, there’s a community for even the most esoteric developer niches.

The drawbacks

• The hiring process is not quite as smooth as with other sites. Freelance sites like Fiverr.com (which I talk about next) pretty much allow you to make hiring a web developer plug and play.
• There’s a learning curve to both Stack Overflow and GitHub, and it takes some getting used to for the uninitiated. But remember, I did say that for the overall value you get, the additional stress rounds up to be a well worth investment.
• It can be expensive. Top tier web developer talent will charge top tier rates, so expect to pay top dollar for web development services if you go through the Stack Overflow route.

Fiverr

If you’ve been running your business for long enough, chances are you’ve heard of Fiverr – It’s the go-to site for hiring all kinds of freelancers. Good thing that the platform also has a budding web development segment that plugs you into a relatively extensive pool of freelance web developers.

Unlike Stack Overflow, where there’s a learning curve to hiring a web developer, Fiverr is pretty much plug and play. Sign up, search for a freelance developer, and you get a tiered, automatically sorted list of developers you can hire almost immediately.

This is a more efficient way of hiring a freelance web developer for anyone unfamiliar with web development or not keen on screening and interviewing potential hires. Fiverr automatically screens candidates – freelancers returned via a search for any particular search are those who’ve performed exceptionally well with other clients at the service you’re looking to staff.

What makes Fiverr great for hiring freelance web developers

• Easy and relatively stress-free hiring. Skip the detailed screening and interviewing process you’d normally have to go through on a platform like Stack Overflow. On Fiverr, you can hire a freelance web developer in a heartbeat and even better still; you can negotiate for project commencement and delivery at earlier dates.
• It’s cheaper. The Fiverr hiring route for a web developer is probably the cheapest option on this list. Dirt cheap pricing for services is part of what defines Fiverr. However, I would add that it’s probably not in your best interest to select the cheapest freelance web developer available on Fiverr if you’re looking for top draw quality.
• Money-back guarantee. Fiverr operates a buyer refund policy that allows you to get your full money’s worth for projects not completed as per specified requirements. If a freelancer on the platform falters on delivery timelines or, worse still, delivers a botched project, you can get a refund by opening a dispute.

The drawbacks

• The quality of freelance web developer talent is not exactly exceptional. Of all the platforms listed here, you’re more likely to hire an underqualified freelance web developer on Fiverr than anywhere else. That’s the price (pun intended) you have to pay for the overly cheap developer pricing on the platform. To avoid this, you need to know how to approach hiring a web developer on Fiverr.
• Fiverr also recently came up with a Fiverr Pro feature to counteract this flaw. Pro freelancers are screened and vetted web developers with demonstrable evidence of expertise. As you expect, they cost a lot to hire – probably approaching Stack Overflow developer rates.

Upwork

Like Fiverr, Upwork is another well established third-party freelance website. Unlike the former, however, Upwork operates a Stack Overflow-like hiring process, so you still need to post a job and potentially screen candidates to make a hire.

If you need help with the questions to ask or just general information on how to hire a web developer, you can go through my freelance web developer hiring guide.

The good thing about Upwork is that it staffs professional freelance developers – almost of the Stack Overflow caliber – on its platform at a more manageable price point.

For more information on how to hire a freelancer on Upwork, see my Upwork freelancer hiring guide.

What makes Upwork great for hiring freelance web developers

• Good quality talent
• Not the best on the list but certainly good enough to handle any mild or even complex web development project. If you’re looking to set up a WordPress, React or plain JavaScript site, Upwork freelance web developers are usually up to the task.
• Cost-effective rates. Upwork freelance web developers will, on average, charge a little bit higher than Fiverr developers, but the price bump doesn’t usually go past the threshold of developers you’d hire on Stack Overflow or GitHub.
• Buyer protection and escrow services. Like Fiverr, Upwork offers the same buyer protection services to customers on their platform.

The drawbacks

• You still have to interview and screen candidates yourself, and this can be an issue if you don’t have the slightest idea what to look out for. Got spare time? checkout my freelance web developer hiring guide for information on what to look out for and how to go about screening freelance web developers.
• As was the case with Fiverr, there’s still a probability that you could unknowingly hire an unskilled candidate. My Upwork freelance hiring guide dives into what it takes to filter qualified from unqualified on Upwork.

Lemon.io

Until now, we’ve talked about sites where part or all of the hiring process is on you. If you’re a layperson who’s not familiar with how the internet works and all that stuff, hiring and screening might be too much of an ask. That’s where you want a managed service like Lemon.io.

Unlike the earlier three options where you actively source for freelance web developers yourself, with Lemon.io, all you need do is provide your requirements.

The platform operates more like a web development agency. There are freelance web developers on there alright, but rather than burden you with the responsibility of making a pick, Lemon.io matches you to a web developer based on your needs. It’s a very convenient setup and the hiring process is swift and very easy.

What makes Lemon.io great for hiring freelance web developers

• Excellent quality web devs. Almost on par with what you’d get on sites like Stack Overflow. Lemon.io actively screens and vets freelancers on their platform using a particularly stringent assessment sheet
• Better quality customer support. The support desk at Lemon.io is arguably one of the best in the industry, and that’s something you’d want if you’re going into this as an internet layperson.
• Ease of use. No convoluted hiring process and freelancer screening make hiring a freelance web developer on Lemon.io almost effortless. Sign up, provide your requirements, get a quote, pay and get your project delivered.

The drawbacks

• Can be expensive – in the same range you’d pay for a skilled dev on Stack Overflow and GitHub even though the quality might not necessarily outclass Stack Overflow dev expertise. But don’t get me wrong Lemon.io freelance web developers are still in the top percentile. The extra costs is, however, more of a reflection of the managed service you get than it is accounting for dev skill.

Toptal

Toptal also runs a managed web development service where you don’t necessarily have to screen potential hires yourself. Compared to Lemon.io they also staff really skilled developers. I’ve left this platform to the very end because of their tendency to screen would-be customers. Yes, you heard that right; Toptal assesses your project after you fill in a questionnaire to determine if it’s worth the consideration. Chances are that if it’s nothing major, it won’t be worth the consideration.

For full-scale, extensive web development projects, say you plan on launching a competing social media platform to web Twitter, then yeah, Toptal would work just fine. In fact, even better than Lemon.io because they staff slightly better talent. Startups, global businesses looking to create truly robust web applications are the target audience.

What makes Toptal great for hiring freelance web developers

• Managed service. Like Lemon.io, Toptal takes the screening, recruitment and web developer management off your shoulders. With dedicated project managers, the managed service on Toptal is arguably one of the best in the developer hiring industry.
• Tier-one dev talent. Freelance web developers on Toptal must pass a rigorous screening process to get listed on the platform. Toptal says it only hire the top 1% of developers, and given the quality of code put out by devs from the platform, as evidenced by their stellar list of clientele, it’s hard not to believe that claim.

The drawbacks

• It’s straight-up expensive, the most expensive option on this list asides from directly hiring devs on Stack Overflow and GitHub. Again, part of the expense goes into paying for the managed services you get.
• Getting your project screened before consideration sucks. The fact that you’re not guaranteed a freelance web developer when you log on to the Toptal site with your needs is a major turn off. And I get it; they (Toptal) probably have too much on their table.

To conclude

Never has hiring a competent freelance web developer or any other developer for that matter been easier. The main issue is knowing where to look, and with this guide, that should be more than obvious by now.

One thing to note; asides from a few cases, you generally get what you pay for, so be careful with cheaping out when hiring a web programmer. The dangers might not seem apparent at first, but unskilled developers, the ones who usually quote dirt cheap rates, cannot develop a truly robust and functional website.

Frequently asked questions