Top 11 Unicorn.Dev Alternatives To Hire Remote Developers

Unicorn.Dev is an excellent solution for companies looking to hire remote tech talent. This platform offers a global pool of pre-vetted developers and designers, with over 8,000 senior tech talents available to source from. 

One of the significant benefits of Unicorn.Dev is that all of their senior talents have at least 5 years of experience, ensuring that you get the best-qualified candidates possible. 

Unicorn.Dev’s talents are also available to work for you with a 4-hour time zone gap, making it convenient for them to collaborate with your international teams. 

Key info for Unicorn.Dev:

Pricing: All developers have a flat rate of $35/hour with customizable and flexible contracts.

Hiring Time Period: 24-48 hours after your initial query/request.

Trial Period: 7-day free trial for each talent match

Best for: Companies that want to hire senior developers for long, complicated projects.

As more and more companies move towards remote work, hiring talented developers who can work from anywhere in the world has become increasingly important. Unicorn.Dev might seem like the best platform for finding and hiring top remote developers, but there are better alternatives that offer quicker, wider, and more specialized services than Unicorn.Dev.

Here’s a list of 11 alternatives for Unicorn.Dev to hire efficient remote developers:

1. ReactSquad.io

This is one of the new and emerging alternatives to Unicorn.Dev to hiring remote developers. ReactSquad is perfect for providing developers who are specialized in React. You can easily get a fully vetted developer embedded within your team and get code shipped within 7 days or less.

ReactSquad helps startups to accelerate their product development in a cost-efficient manner. They also have a risk-free 7-day trial to ensure you find the right React developer for your product needs!

Here’s what makes ReactSquad stand out:

✅ Quick Team Expansion: When your dev team needs to grow fast, ReactSquad matches you with qualified developers in just 24 hours.

✅ Long-Term Collaborations: 50% of all customer engagements are over 12 months.

✅ Placement Guarantee: Replace your developer with another candidate if you’re not happy at any point.

✅ Flexible Contracts: Whether your requirement is part-time or full-time, or you want to outsource an entire project, EarlyNode works with flexible month-by-month contracts.

✅ Cost-effective Expertise: They have pros in React, Next.js, Redux, Tailwind CSS, and more at less than half the normal rate you’d pay.

✅ Time-Zone Overlap: Their globally distributed talent pool is available to you with a working time overlap of 4 hours daily for easy collaboration.

✅ Risk-free trial: You get to try out a developer for 7 days, absolutely free. It’s like a test drive for top-notch talent.

You can get started here.

2. CloudDevs

CloudDevs is a talent hub that offers pre-screened designers and developers for hire. As a leading Unicorn.Dev alternative, this platform is home to over 8000 senior designers and developers hailing from Latin America. 

CloudDevs’ top tech talent is carefully matched with the clients’ requirements, and the recruitment process is completed within 48 hours.

CloudDevs also operates remotely, hence they have affordable/competitive market rates compared to other competitors!

Pricing: A flat rate of $40-70/hour.

Hiring Time Period: 24-48 hours after your initial query/request.

Trial Period: 7-day free trial for all their talents, providing clients the option to replace or walk away from their talent match if it’s not the perfect fit.

Best for: Hiring developers and designers either individually or as a team from your timezone and at affordable rates.

3. Toptal

For years, Toptal has been the go-to platform for businesses and entrepreneurs seeking tech talents such as software developers, graphic designers, and product managers. 

Acting as an intermediary, Toptal connects companies and startups with highly multi-stage vetted offshore tech talents specializing in various fields, including project and product management, software development, and web design. They’re also great if you need programmers for both short-term and full-time projects!

Toptal is easily one of the best alternatives to Unicorn.Dev – assuming you’re putting quality developers on top priority.

Pricing: Varies as per the freelancer’s rates and your requirements

Hiring Time Period: Based on the developer’s availability (due to a selective matching process)

Trial Period: Upto 14-day no-risk free trial

Best for: Hiring high-quality, cherry-picked developers and designers for your tech needs.

4. Lemon.io

Lemon.io is a network of screened and vetted freelance developers that are primarily focused on web development. 

The hourly rates for these developers are quite affordable for most businesses, but the platform does require you to purchase hours in advance before you can start working with one of their developers.

Unlike some other Unicorn.Dev alternatives, Lemon.io has a rigorous screening process. They evaluate developers on 3 key factors: overall adequacy, English proficiency, and qualifications. This ensures that you get access to a pool of highly skilled and competent developers.

Pricing: Ranges between $35-55 per hour for a developer.

Hiring Time Period: Depends on your requirements, but usually within a week. 

Trial Period: No trial period but you’re given the option to swap your developer if you’re unsatisfied.

Best for: Any company looking for a cost-effective yet quality alternative for middle-to-senior level developers.

5. Turing

Turing offers a diverse pool of tech talent sourced from 140 countries, making it a perfect fit for organizations seeking to hire remote developers. Their unique semi-automated and rigorous talent vetting process tests for both technical and soft skills, which is on par with Silicon Valley standards. 

Out of the 1.5 million applicants, only the top 1% were selected through this scientifically crafted process. Turing prioritizes long-term job opportunities, resulting in better retention rates and more reliable matches for their clients.

Pricing: Varies per your requirements.

Hiring Time Period: You’ll match with a suitable tech developer within 1-5 days of your initial request.

Trial Period: 14-day free trial period.

Best for: Any company looking for an alternative that provides the top 1% of developers on a long-term basis.

6. Hubstaff Talent

A fairly recent Unicorn.Dev alternative that’s entered the market is Hubstaff – a completely free talent service. It is a great alternative to Unicorn.Dev and is free for both clients and freelancers. Hubstaff is an ideal platform for companies looking to hire independent freelancers and agencies.

Hubstaff’s approach sets it apart from other platforms, as it operates mainly as a database of freelancers without a manual vetting process to assess developer quality. That said, users can easily browse through developer profiles and directly contact them, making it convenient to use.

Pricing: Free to use.

Hiring Time Period: Depends on how early you find a developer as per your requirements. 

Trial Period: No trial period.

Best for: Any company needing to complete small-scale development projects or gigs.

7. Codeable

Codeable stands out as the sole alternative to Unicorn.Dev that entirely concentrates on WordPress developers, helping you to kickstart WordPress projects that range from short-term to recurring or full-time. 

Codeable’s specialists represent over 60 countries, with 97% of them having more than six years of professional WordPress experience. Codeable’s single-price algorithm eliminates both undercutting and over-pricing, making it an ideal platform for WordPress development projects. ⭐

Pricing: Ranges from $70-120/hour, depending on the scope and complexity of the project

Hiring Time Period: Nothing openly disclosed. 

Trial Period: No trial period, but you may request a partial refund if you’re unsatisfied.

Best for: Companies who need WordPress experts as soon as possible.

8. Scalable Path

Scalable Path is another tech staffing agency that has over 28,000 experienced freelance software developers and designers from around 180 countries. 

As a client, you’ll receive personal support throughout the hiring process as their team handpicks candidates based on your project’s requirements.

Like Lemon.io, Scalable Path is also known for its strict screening process, which evaluates both technical and soft skills. This helps you find the most qualified and competent developers available in the market. 

Additionally, Scalable Path offers a speedy hiring process, with clients typically being able to hire developers within three weeks, making it an ideal solution for clients who require quick and efficient hiring.

Pricing: Depends on your requirements, but developer rates typically range from $45-65/hour.

Hiring Time Period: Less than 3 weeks.

Trial Period: Free trial is offered, but no specific period is defined.

Best for: Companies looking to hire strictly specialized developers quickly without paying upfront fees.

9. Gun.io

Gun.io stands out as a Unicorn.Dev competitor that exclusively focuses on the recruitment of top-notch software developers. It has an invite-only network made up of an exclusive community of elite developers, and the platform uses a bespoke recommendation process to match them with suitable companies. 

Gun.io ensures that only the best matches are made by relying on user relationships to handpick top-quality developers.

Pricing: Depends on the freelancer’s rate – which is usually between $20-88/hour.

Hiring Time Period: Only a few days.

Trial Period: No trial period, but you may request to swap your talent through Gun.io’s team.

Best for: Those looking for a highly customized developer for their projects.

10. Moonlight

Moonlight is an online community and marketplace that connects software developers and product designers from all over the world. 

As soon as you post a job description, the community is notified of the opportunity to apply. The applicants are then screened by working on a paid trial project to ensure the best fit for your needs. If you are satisfied with the results, you can hire the developers as ongoing contractors or full-time employees, either through Moonlight or directly.

Their streamlined process ensures that you get the best possible talent for your project, regardless of its scale or complexity. 

Whether you are looking to hire a freelancer for a specific project or onboard someone full-time, Moonlight is an excellent platform to connect with top-notch developers to bring your ideas to life.

Pricing: Depends on your requirements.

Hiring Time Period: Not disclosed publicly.

Trial Period: You work with the freelancer on a paid trial project before choosing to hire them full-time.

Best for: Companies looking for mostly US-based narrow specialized developers.

11. Arc.Dev

Arc.Dev is a quality platform that caters to diverse tech stacks and time zones, ensuring the timely delivery of complex projects for a wide range of industries. 

As one of the leading Unicorn.Dev alternatives, Arc.Dev offers the flexibility of hiring both permanent and freelance remote developers while finding hidden potential within your local area too!

Arc.Dev’s unique selling proposition is its ability to hire freelance developers in as little as 72 hours, while the recruitment process for permanent developers may take up to 14 days. This feature provides clients with greater flexibility and faster turnaround times, making Arc.Dev an ideal choice for businesses in need of efficient and reliable software development solutions.

Pricing: This could be anywhere from $60-200/hour or more, depending on the talent’s experience.

Hiring Time Period: Realistically it could take 1-3 weeks of your initial request.

Trial Period: Arc.Dev offers a 2-week trial for short-term hourly hires and a three-month risk-free period for full-time hires.

Best for: Companies looking to quickly hire top-notch talent on a both short-term and long-term basis.

Best Alternative to Unicorn.dev

We recommend ReactSquad as the best alternative to Unicorn.dev for hiring freelance developers, especially if you run a SaaS startup.

Why We Recommend

• Unlike other alternatives, ReactSquad is fully focused on one specific tech stack (React & Node.js). Their developers have high expertise and a niche focus on SaaS products
• ReactSquad has a rigorous vetting process for their developers; with 4 interview rounds and 4 weeks working on a paid test project
• Senior developers with 5+ years experience
• Startup-friendly rates (starting from $75/hr)
• 7-day free trial with your matched developer and a replacement guarantee at any point during your project
• You can hire React devs for short and long-term SaaS projects and pay on a month-to-month basis

Visit ReactSquad’s website to get matched with the best React developers for your SaaS startup.

Factors To Consider When Choosing a Unicorn.Dev Alternative

When choosing a remote developer hiring platform like Unicorn.Dev, you need to consider several factors to ensure you find the right alternative for your needs. 

Here are some key factors to consider: 👇

• Quality of talent: Look for a platform that offers a high standard of talent, with developers who are experienced, skilled, and vetted.

• Cost: Consider the cost of hiring developers through the platform. Some platforms may charge a premium for the quality of their talent, while others may offer more affordable rates.

• Flexibility: Look for a platform that offers flexible hiring options, such as hourly or project-based rates, to suit your needs.

• Communication: Consider the platform’s communication tools to ensure you can easily communicate with your developers and they can provide regular updates.

• Timezone: Consider the timezone of the developers available on the platform to ensure they can work efficiently and effectively in your timezone.

• Platform reputation: Research the platform’s reputation by reading reviews and testimonials from other businesses that have used the platform to ensure it is trustworthy and reliable.

Other than the ones listed above, there are so many other platforms and alternatives that you can choose to hire quality remote developers for your business. Make sure you do your research well and consider all factors into account before making a long-term decision.