Freelancer Vs. Dedicated Developer : What works best?

This post is aiming to help you decide what works best for you! It will help you to take the right decision. (If you are a startup, I strongly recommend to read!)
Comparing products on Amazon is easy! But comparing freelancer Vs. Dedicated Developer is not the same!
There are different phases of app development starting from concept building, wire-framing, prototyping, designing, development, testing, launching and post launch push & basic maintenance. It solely depends upon the requirements of your app development that decides what is better for you.
Examples Of Different Type of Requirements,
1)You are a software consultant
- You want to leverage mobile or web technology for one of your client’s business to help them
2)You have an awesome idea Or you already have an app
- You are looking to develop a new app
- You may need to add new features in your existing app & wants to maintain it on regular basis
3)You own a software development company
- Your team is occupied with existing projects so you are not able to land new projects
- Your team has a short hand on various mobile technologies and you need a tech support to build your product
So, a proper understanding of your requirements, budget, time constraint, quality aspects will help you to decide what will work best for you!
Mind it, both options has worked pretty well with people having clear requirements.
Let’s check the difference between freelancers and dedicated developers for some of the important criteria,
Dedication
- In general, a freelancer needs to work on multiple projects to maintain their earning where as,
Dedicated developers doesn’t need to worry about their earning as they are on a payroll of an agency. So, they work on single project on dedicated basis. - Freelancers spend time on marketing and networking to get projects in parallel to their current development work where as,
Development Agency manages the marketing & networking so the developer doesn’t have to work anything other than their assigned project. - Working on multiple projects may lead to missing your deadline where as,
Working on a single project ensures the deadline doesn’t miss out. - Any unforeseen situation is a RISK for your business where as,
Agency is responsible for handling any unforeseen situation.
Example — A freelancer meets an accident or can’t work due to illness
Impact — Your business will be directly affected
But if you have hired a dedicated developer from an agency like Hire Mobile Developer then it will immediately provide you another developer to finish your work. Minimum or no impact on your business.
Communication
- Freelancers usually don’t use any tool and rely on online chat or freelancing website’s messaging systems. Where as,
Dedicated developer works with a clean process of using Trello, Basecamp or Project management system that helps exponentially for effective communication. - Freelancers may not possess a good command over written and verbal English. Where as,
Agency like Hire Mobile Developer provides a client account manager that is expert in communication to ensure the developer is on the same page with you always! - Freelancers may not report you daily. Where as,
Dedicated developer reports you daily with the task status & its progress.
Collaboration & Availability
- Freelancers always need to juggle between clients Where as,
Dedicated developer works only for your project so collaboration is very easy and effective. - If a freelancer is busy in some other project then he may not be able to take up your small bug or issue in your app in a timely manner Where as,
Dedicated developer is always ready to take up anything smallest in a timely manner.
Quality of Work
- Freelancer may not be trained with programming best practices & industry standards where as,
Dedicated developer is well trained with programming best practices & industry standards before s/he is placed on a job. - Freelancers may not undergo the QA check so you may get substandard product or code where as,
Agency QA team ensures that you get the right quality of work by following the development best practices. - Freelancers work is never undergo to peer testing where as,
Dedicated developer’s work is always verified and tested by another developer from the team to ensure it is up to the mark.
Reliability, Security & Protection
- Freelancers can not provide you guarantee for the protection of your idea and information where as,
By hiring a dedicated developer from an agency, you are dealing with a registered entity with an assurance that is backed with an NDA & contract. - App security may be at a much higher risk while dealing with the freelancer where as,
Hiring a developer from a reputed agency ensures far better app security.
Resources
Freelancers always have a limitation in terms of infrastructure, development environment, communication facility, capabilities & backup
where as,
Reputed agency ensures that all required resources are well in place since the beginning as part of their business by default.
Backup & Peace of Mind
Freelancer may leave your work in between if they get bigger project or client at the verge of losing your money as they see better profit with someone else!
where as,
Agency will never leave your work in between because they do not have a single developer and a single client. They build a pool of developer in their team to deliver your work as per contract without failing.
No Risk Policy & Trial
- Usually, you hire a freelancer based on their past work. This is not the best indicator and many times in between of the project, you may feel it’s not a great fit for your project
where as,
You can get a 1-week free trial to check if a dedicated developer really the best fit for your project! - You need to suffer if you face quality issues in between of the project since replacement is not so easy with freelancers
where as,
As soon as you report the quality issue, the agency takes care of it by reaching the root cause with a concrete solution.
Agency can even provide you an immediate replacement of the developer in a worst case scenario.
Cost
- There is a myth that freelancers are cheaper!
Freelancers work usually on an hourly basis.
Where as,
Dedicated Developer package costs only US$ 1399 per month from Hire Mobile Developer.
No other charges. Period. - You have to track their hours and quality both for billing where as,
You do not need to track anything for billing.
The above list of comparison should be helpful for you to decide what is best for your app / project. Feel free to share your comment or ask a question and I will be happy to address it.
In case you need a developer then I strongly recommend to give take a free trial from Hire Mobile Developer for Dedicated iPhone, Android, Phonegap developer and share your experience with others.
This article was earlier posted on,
