Full Stack Developers vs. Specialized Developers: What’s the Best Option for You?

Emma Jhonson
Nerd For Tech
Published in
9 min readMay 26, 2022

With so many developers available today, it can be hard to decide whom to hire when you’re starting your business or non-profit organization. Should you go with the full-stack developer, who can handle all development needs, or should you hire someone specializing in one area?

Here are a few of the pros and cons of each approach (Full Stack Developer Vs. Specialized Developer) to help you decide what approach is best for your project.

Full Stack Developers Overview

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Full-stack developers are a great option if you need someone who can handle all aspects of development, from front-end design to back-end programming. They’re also a good choice if you don’t have a large budget since they can do everything themselves.

Moreover, full-stack developers are a good option if you need someone who can wear many hats and juggle multiple projects at once.

Specialized Developers Overview

Hiring a specialized developer may be a better option if you need to focus on developing CMS. Specialized developers are also a good choice if you need someone with particular skills, such as iOS development or graphic design.

In addition, specialized developers can sometimes be more efficient than full-stack developers since they only have to focus on one area.

Pros and Cons of hiring full-stack developers

If you’re looking to build a world-class and dedicated development team, one of your top priorities should be hiring full-stack developers rather than specialists. If you hire developers in India who is good at multiple things and learn new skills, they will be valuable assets that can solve a wide range of problems (not just limited to backend or frontend technologies).

These employees make great candidates for future managers because they have a strong understanding of what it takes to work in all layers of a project (from design to coding) and have many transferable skills.

However, hiring full-stack developers requires more time and effort during interviews as you will have to evaluate their technical knowledge across several areas before extending an offer.

The additional time spent is worth it, though, because if you get someone who truly has expertise in a variety of areas, they could quickly become one of your most valuable employees.

Pros of hiring full-stack developers

Flexibility

With a full-stack developer, you can be sure that they are flexible and versatile enough to help your company with whatever is needed.

If you have an idea for a new product or service, they can help bring it to life, and if you need someone to work on your website or program an app, they can do that too.

They can adapt quickly, which is extremely valuable in today’s world of rapidly changing technology.

Know-it-all

A full-stack developer is a jack of all professions and a master of many. They can do everything from front-end design to back-end programming and adapt quickly to any new technology that comes out. Because they know so much, they can be more valuable employees because they can take on more responsibilities in your company.

If you hire someone who specializes in one area, you may need to hire another person just for that one thing which will cost you more money than if you had hired a full stack developer in the first place.

Can work independently

Full-stack developers do not need to rely on others to get their job done since they have all the skills necessary to complete a project from start to finish.

Cost-effective

With a full-stack developer, you are getting someone who can do many different things for your company, and they can do them all well. This means that you don’t have to hire multiple people with different skill sets to help your business succeed, and it also means that you don’t have to pay a lot of money either.

A good full-stack developer is worth their weight in gold, but they won’t cost as much as you might think.

Cons of hiring full-stack developers

Less efficient

Full-stack developers have to be familiar with a lot of different technologies, which means they spend more time learning and less time doing. For example, hiring a full-stack developer to work on your back-end will take them longer to complete tasks because they constantly have to switch between front-end and back-end tools.

This can be especially problematic when your business is running on a tight schedule. Plus, it’s hard for full-stack developers to specialize in one specific technology because they need to know how everything works together to quickly and efficiently troubleshoot issues.

May not be proficient in a specific technology

Full-stack developers have to constantly keep up with new programming languages, frameworks, and tools because they use them every day. However, it’s hard for full-stack developers to specialize in one specific technology because they need to know how everything works together to troubleshoot issues quickly and efficiently.

For example, if you hire a full-stack developer who specializes in Ruby on Rails, he will have a hard time working on your Python project if you ever need him to do so.

Pros and Cons of hiring Specialized developers

If you are working on a task that requires particular skills, such as iOS development or graphic design, hiring a specialized developer maybe your best option.

Specialized developers usually have a deep understanding of the area they specialize in and can be more efficient than full-stack developers since they only have to focus on one area.

However, specialized developers are usually more expensive than full-stack developers and can be hard to find if you need someone with particular skills.

Pros of hiring Specialized developers

High-Quality Work

These developers will be able to create a high-quality product that has no bugs or flaws. They are experts in their field and will be able to create a perfect product for you.

This is especially important if you want to create something that is very specific and needs to work flawlessly for it to be effective, such as an app or website that requires it to function correctly all of the time.

These developers are trained in how to build these types of products, so they will know what they need to do for it to work correctly.

In sync with the latest developments

These developers are usually up to date on all of the latest trends and changes in their field, so they will be able to create a product that is on par with all of their competitors. They know what customers want and what products are most effective, so they will be able to design your product accordingly and make it as applicable as possible for customers.

This is especially important if you want your product to have the edge over other similar products that might already exist or if you want your product to stand out from its competitors.

Efficient

These developers are usually more efficient at what they do than full-stack developers, so they will be able to create your product much faster than a full-stack developer would be able to.

This is especially important if you want to get your product out there as soon as possible and don’t have time to wait for a full-stack developer to finish building it for you.

Cons of hiring Specialized developers

High Cost

The high cost of specialized developers is due to their high level of experience and expertise. The price may be too much for small businesses that are just starting, but as your business grows, you will find that it is worth every penny spent on them.

Many other factors contribute to how much a developer costs, such as location, experience, etc., but in general, specialized developers tend to be more expensive than full-stack developers.

Also, when you need additional work done or want to hire someone else, they might not have enough knowledge about your project and may cost you even more money to fix things or add new features later on down the road.

High Level of dependency

Developers specialized in one field may not be as versatile as full-stack developers. For example, if you hire a developer who is an expert at JavaScript and NodeJS, they may not be able to work on your Ruby on Rails application or vice versa. So the dependency rate will be higher.

The choice between Full Stack Developer Vs. Specialized Developer depends on what you are looking for and what your needs are as to whether you should hire a full-stack developer or specialized developers.

If you want high-quality work and don’t mind paying a bit more, then specialized developers are the way to go. However, if you want a more efficient process and can sacrifice some quality, then full-stack developers might be a better option for you.

How Will You Decide To Hire Full-Stack Developers Vs. Specialized Developers?

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The size of the project you are working on, what your needs are, and how much you are willing to pay will all be factors in deciding whether to hire full-stack developers or specialized developers. The factors stated below will help you decide on hiring full-stack developers Vs. Specialized developers.

Size Of The Project You Are Working On

Both strategies have pros and cons, so your decision should be based on your project size and needs. Generally speaking, full-stack developers tend to work on smaller projects while more specialized programmers work with large-scale projects.

However, a company may not have any other choice but to hire specialized developers if they cannot find a full-stack developer with experience in their specific field of expertise.

As technology becomes increasingly complex in all fields, businesses will likely demand workers with an array of different skill sets that are cross-functional rather than concentrated in one area or specialty alone.

This means that companies will need specialists and full-stack developers who can do everything from writing code to managing a project and training new hires — all in one job position if necessary.

How Flexible Is Your Project

If your project requires a variety of different skill sets, you might want to consider hiring full-stack developers rather than specialists in various areas of programming. They can quickly adapt to changes in project requirements without needing additional time to learn new skills and knowledge necessary for carrying out tasks related to software development.

If there’s no particular area that needs urgent attention, then it’s not worth hiring a specialist who may require months just to catch up on any specific knowledge gaps and other required skills required for carrying out their duties.

However, if your project does need significant modification along certain lines, then getting a specialist may be necessary, as full-stack developers can typically only focus on one or two domains and won’t have expertise outside their primary skill set.

The Quality Of Work You’re Looking For

If you’re not bothered about quality, then you can skip hiring a specialist for your project and hire full-stack developer in India instead. They can do everything from writing code to managing a project with limited problem-solving skills or knowledge gaps.

However, if the quality is an essential concern for your business and its software products, then it may be best to hire specialists who are more knowledgeable in their specific field of programming than full-stack developers.

Hiring specialists will likely require more effort in terms of training them on other programming aspects so they can also contribute to other projects requiring specialized knowledge and skillsets and complex coding techniques.

Conclusion

There is no one correct retort when deciding whether to hire full-stack developers or specialized developers — it all depends on your specific project needs. However, you should keep in mind that full-stack developers are more versatile and can adapt to changes quickly. In contrast, specialized developers have more expertise in their field and can provide higher quality work.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to what you value more: flexibility or quality. Whichever you choose, make sure to communicate your expectations to — hire software developers India so they can deliver accordingly.

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Emma Jhonson
Nerd For Tech

I am a technical expert, a passionate writer, and a seasoned IT professional for the last 5 years at www.ValueCoders.com