13 Best Sites to Hire Freelance Mobile App Developers in 2023

For the past several years, I’ve been working with software companies to help their businesses grow from inception to profitable and scalable companies, along with helping them find talented developers. To do so, I set out to hire app developers for several major (iOS and Android) projects.

After looking around several resources to find app and software developers, I noticed some common elements between all of them. 

They either all had some features that made it difficult to find an expert developer or the developers there just didn’t understand the project.

Due to the software and application development projects that I help companies with – they all need a nuanced understanding of app-dev. That left us with the problem of finding one site that has it all, namely high-quality developers who know their craft at the highest level, and an online platform that would help us find such a developer.  

Why Should You Use DevTeam to Hire Freelance App Developers?

The days of pinging app developers on LinkedIn are over (plus they’re notoriously known for not having a social media presence).

Finding the best developer for your projects is much simpler when you have a community of developers helping you out with hiring. 

DevTeam creates a full network of support and hiring assistance around you. They analyze your project needs and connect you with the perfect app developers from Swift to react native for all your software projects including web applications.

They also have an incredible technical management system that handles all the back-end processes, ensuring your project runs smoothly.

The member vetting process at DevTeam ensures that every profile they bring on board has the right developer credentials and a history of successful case studies. This, in turn, ensures that the app developers you hire for your mobile application or software development project will get the work you need done, efficiently. This way, you ensure you get positive reviews in the app store which is crucial for ranking.

13 Top Sites to Hire Mobile App Developers

If you’re looking on Google to explore the dev market for more options, here’s a list of the 13 top sites where you can hire app developers.

1)  DevTeam.Space 

DevTeam.Space has a giant freelance developer community filled with some of the industry’s top development specialists.

Interested project managers and founders can hire app developers and larger developer teams by putting forward a request.

The developer allocation teams at DevTeam.Space go through your project specifics in detail and hand-pick the developers who will be the perfect fit for you. Additionally, they have a system for choosing the right professional android, Swift, and other types of developers whom they associate with through their platform.

The community has a smart tracking system and user dashboard that lets you track how the developers are performing and what sort of projects they have under their belt.

Furthermore, you can also check on each developer’s response times for email and chat. This lets you know how efficiently the developer will communicate with you throughout the project’s run-time.

Whether you need a single developer to debug your app infrastructure or are looking for a full app development team to bring your radical new app idea to life, you can trust DevTeam.Space to have the ideal app development team or solo developer for you.

Visit DevTeam

2)  Toptal

Toptal is a talent-matching website that was originally started to host tech-based freelancers on its? platform but has since expanded its repertoire of members.

The company now includes talented designers, UI/UX experts, and even finance professionals in its freelancer pool.

The main aspect of the company is its developer vertical, which contains talented devs who have all worked on major projects in their time. They have an elite group of devs who become part of the platform after a series of comprehensive vetting stages and tests.

This ensures that only the most competent developers get through to the final pool.

If you’re looking for high-end developers with a seriously impressive portfolio of work, Toptal is the place to look.

Visit Toptal

Honorable Mentions

3)  Hired

Hired is a fairly straightforward hiring site for app developers and various software engineers.

The freelance website has a customized matching software that quickly connects you with the ideal candidates for the job.

You can use Hired’s pipeline to find customized matches, search for candidates using their intelligent search algorithm, and request interviews with the developers you have shortlisted. Their algorithm doesn’t present gender-based or racial identifiers, which results in fair hiring.

Hired is best if you’re looking for highly specialized developers (with a minimum of 2 years of experience) who are actively searching for a job in your location.

4)  Upwork

Upwork is one of the biggest freelancer portals in the world, with millions of remote freelancers from around the globe.

This popular platform brings together clients and freelancers from a huge variety of tech-based professional competencies, such as software development, design, marketing, and more.

Their sorting algorithms help employers filter through the millions of profiles to find an exact match of the skills they’re looking for. Plus, you can choose how high-end of a developer you want to bring on board based on the performance and project completion score that comes with each profile.

However, the website doesn’t have a detailed vetting process, so you’ll have to do most of the interviewing yourself.

Upwork is a massive marketplace with a huge pool of professionals providing app development services. If you’re looking for a very specific development skill sets, this service is for you.

5)  Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow hosts the largest online community of Apple and Android app developers and app programmers in the world, with a primary focus on developers.

The site is a major resource for employers looking to hire app developers of all skill and experience levels. Furthermore, it has a community feature that lets you ask questions about app and web development, making it a good place to learn about coding.

Their job board also provides their most dedicated developers a lot of exposure, so you’re likely to see the highest performing ones first on the boards.

If you’re looking for a variety of programming and app development specialists, Stack Overflow is a good place to look.

6)  GitHub Jobs

GitHub Jobs is a job board dedicated to tech talent from around the world.

It serves as an alternative to larger job boards such as Indeed and Monster and provides detailed profiles on all the available talent.

GitHub itself hosts a massive developer community. It’s one of the world’s biggest open-source online repositories for programmers, coders, designers, and even dev management.

The platform requires a small fee to post a job as a developer, but it does come with a lot of exposure due to the massive number of employers sifting through the board every day.

If you’re looking to create a team of developers with more than one competency, GitHub is a good platform to browse.

7)  Gigster

Gigster is one of the bigger recruiting platforms for app developers and highly qualified software designers.  

The platform connects employers with their in-house project managers who then communicate their requirements to the developers on board. They act as liaisons between Gigster developers and clients, effectively managing the project for them.

Gigster has an advantage over competitor agencies and sites since they save time and resources by selecting the developers for you, based on your requirements.

In addition to individual devs, Gigster can also put together entire development teams consisting of people with various developmental skills.

If you’re looking for expert client-dev matching, Gigster is a great company.

8)  Dice

Dice is an established IT job board and tech platform with a large pool of freelance developers on board.

It boasts some of the highest traffic numbers in the industry, making it more popular for highly talented developers.

While Dice does have elite developers in its pool, it is more expensive than some of the other job boards. This also means that you’ll end up with a highly skilled and experienced developer, which is ideal if your budget allows for it.

If you’re looking to hire app developers with a lot of industry knowledge and successful projects in their repertoire, Dice is an ideal platform to look through.

9)  People Per Hour

People Per Hour is a freelance marketplace that’s open to all kinds of professionals.

What makes People Per Hour unique is that it lets freelancers put up their own job postings with an hourly rate. The platform also holds contests among its freelancer pool.

PPH has millions of members and features some of the most successful freelance developers from around the world. It has also been the launching pad for quite a few entrepreneurs who started as fresh professionals on the platform.

People Per Hour makes it very easy for employers to select profiles. You can contact freelancers, pay for the exact number of hours worked, and even post as an employer.

However, you will need to interview and vet the candidates yourself as the site doesn’t have a screening process. Plus, the hourly rates mean that you’re better off looking if you need basic app development or maintenance work done since more detailed work could end up costing a lot more.

If you’re looking for a freelancer to do some light adjustments on your app, People Per Hour can be a great resource.

10) Gun.io

Gun.io is a growing developer community that is very particular about the people they allow on their platform.

Like Toptal, Gun.io is designed in a way that makes it easy to hire the best developers, with a slew of successful projects and tons of industry knowledge under their belt. They make sure that the talent they feature stays committed to every project they get and actively track their performance.

Gun.io is known for its humanistic approach to serving employers. Instead of being shown some recommendations based on some generic project-related questions, you are connected with a high-level staff member who hand-picks the candidate(s) for you.

In addition to that, they have a very efficient risk-management and employer backing system, with a 100% money-back guarantee.

If you want a top-grade hiring experience with complete payment security, Gun.io might be perfect for you.

11) X-Team

X-Team is a tech job board and a learning platform for amateur developers who are looking for high-level industry knowledge and mentorship.

Just like other high-end tech talent platforms, X-Team does the screening and vetting of the candidates themselves. This lets you focus on the project, while they pick the right candidates for you.

X-Team is unique among its peers since it’s the only site that organizes teams of web and app developers. They are good at putting together teams of people who fill in each other’s skill gaps.

However, this is a disadvantage in some cases. If you’re looking for a solo developer, you’re better off looking through some of the other sites on this list.

Nevertheless, if a carefully selected team of developers is what you need, X-Team is the ideal platform for you.

12) Freelancer

Freelancer is a giant job marketplace with over 25 million users registered on their platform.

The site has a professional for just about every tech-related job, so hiring an app developer can be easy. However, this also means that finding the perfect developer for the job will be tough.

There are bound to be thousands of profiles for even the more niche areas of app development. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you need basic work done on your app.

Furthermore, the site offers one of the most affordable options to hire an app developer. The competition means that freelancers offer lower prices to gain more opportunities.

If you’re working with a limited budget and want a lot of choices when you set out to hire app developers, Freelancer is a great place to start.

13) Guru

Guru is a worldwide freelancer network that features over 1.5 million profiles.

It’s very similar to freelancer networks such as Upwork, albeit with a smaller pool of members.

Guru has a unique payment transfer system called SafePay, which ensures complete payment safety and encrypted records.

The profiles on Guru are generally quite skilled, but the platform doesn’t interview or vet members.

If your hiring concerns lean more towards the payment safety side, Guru is a good option.  

How to Hire App Developers

Almost every recruiter has come across the challenge of finding the best candidate for a project, especially if the project has very specific requirements.

The developer community already numbers in the millions and is growing every day. With more and more profiles popping up on job sites, it’s even more difficult to get talented and dependable app developers on board.

According to a Statista report, the global mobile app development market is expected to grow to a whopping $581.9 billion in 2021. With so much money being poured into app development, you can expect more and more tech professionals to pick up app-dev as a career.

This, of course, makes it harder to sort out the talented ones, the ones who you can trust to make your dream app a reality.

Even despite all the freelancer platforms and tech communities out there, you’ll often find more average profiles than exceptional ones. Plus, each of those have some areas that could make it tougher for you to hire mobile app developers who can fulfill all your project demands.

Some platforms, such as Upwork and Freelancers, feature too many tech areas, which makes it difficult to narrow down your search for the perfect profile. Others, such as GitHub and Stack Overflow, are more professional communities than job boards. As a result, they’re better if you’re looking for app-dev advice.

Then there are platforms such as Gun.io and X-Team, who do select and vet their profiles. but are more for employers with bigger budgets and little hiring knowledge. Plus, you can’t really interview people from these two sites yourself, so you have to trust their management when it comes to picking the right candidates.

There are also platforms like People Per Hour, which are affordable and ideal for minor projects. However, since they don’t house mobile developers for full-time work, if you’re looking for end-to-end mobile development, their hourly rates can quickly drain your budget.

All the platforms mentioned above either require you to know the ins and outs of project management, have too many different profiles to choose from, or have some limitation that makes your life harder as an employer.

DevTeam looks at every aspect of bringing in cross-platform mobile and web app developers and streamlines the process for you, effectively creating a win-win hiring scenario.

Their members are allowed in by invite only, which means that all members are screened, interviewed, and thoroughly vetted even before getting set up on the platform. It’s essentially a community ‘for devs, by devs’, which guarantees that you hire only the most talented iOS and Android application developers for your project.

The DevTeam community has a profile for every aspect of mobile and web app development. All in all, whether you’re looking for an end-to-end android developer for a new app idea, need an iOS developer to debug an app’s front-end infrastructure and monitor the development process for smooth running, or are looking to hire someone with both app development and user experience design skills – DevTeam has a candidate for you.

As mentioned, each of their members are already pre-screened, eliminating a lot of the guesswork on your part. This means that you can direct your time and resources towards improving your product and/or setting up new projects, instead of worrying about whether the developer completely understands your project. In addition to that, you get someone with exactly the right skills for whatever task you have in mind. 

All of the above makes DevTeam your ideal hiring partner for app developers for Android or iPhone apps in any programming language (Java, Objective C, and more). Their pool of proven talent can see your project through to completion without any pitfalls along the way, while leaving the door open for any modifications and/or updates in the future. Furthermore, their experts possess many skills closely related to app development, helping them look at things relative to their task and enabling them to be more well-rounded pros.

With DevTeam, you get a master developer, or even a team of talented devs, to take your project and perfectly execute it. What’s even better about the members of the Toptal platform is that both the hiring team and the candidates take the time to understand your project first. This ensures that they know exactly what you want, eliminating the need for detailed project discussions and feedback sessions.  

DevTeam is the perfect platform to hire app developers for any sort of app development project, no matter how basic or complex. Whether you’re a full-service app development company, a solo client with a basic app, or even looking to hire PHP developers – you’ll find your ideal developer there.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where do I find top app developers for my project?

These platforms have the top app developers for all applications in 2023:

• DevTeam.Space
• Hired
• DevTeam
• Upwork
• Stack Overflow

These are some of the top sites to hire app developers in 2023. Check out the post above for the full list.

How do I hire an app developer in 2023?

Here’s a step-by-step guide to hiring app developers in 2023:

1. Know your project from the inside-out, including the size, scope, and potential for future developments.
2. Consult the experts over at DevTeam (or one of the other hiring sites) to hire high-level devs.
3. Look for core skills such as knowledge of programming languages, UI/UX design experience, etc.
4. Discuss the project details with the shortlisted candidate(s).

If the candidate shows a complete understanding of your long and short-term goals, they’re ideal for your project.

What skills should I look for in an app developer before hiring?

Any app developer you hire should have the following skills, at a minimum:

• Expertise in and experience with several major programming languages such as HTML, C++, Java, Python, etc.
• Experience in UI/UX design on various platforms and for multiple development project types.
• High-level awareness of new industry trends and tech.

In terms of soft skills, the candidate should have the ability to completely understand the specifics of a project, and be willing to work with clients to take it to completion.

Where can I hire app developers in 2023?

You can hire the best app developers for your projects at DevTeam or any of the other sites mentioned in the *full list* above.

Where do I find app developers if I live outside of the US?

DevTeam hosts expert app developers from around the world as part of the DevTeam community. Other than that, you can find remote international devs on sites such as Upwork.

Josh Fechter

Josh Fechter is a business strategy consultant and founder. He's written several world-recognized books on software configuration, speaks Spanish, ballroom dances, and owns The Product Company and Squibler.