May 23, 2024 · 4 min read

Contract-to-hire freelance developers (aka why you should try before you buy)

Finding the right developer.

It can be a minefield, right?

You go through the hiring process and find an “incredible” candidate, only for them to be the proverbial lemon. They say all the right things and smash your interview, but when you actually start working together, they deliver subpar work.

You’ve just wasted thousands of dollars and months of your life.

It sucks.

So what’s the alternative?

Here at Gun, we realized that some of our clients like a “try before you buy” approach, so we offer a range of hiring options. One of these is contract-to-hire freelance developers – something you don’t get with most hiring platforms.

What is contract-to-hire and how does it work?

That’s what we’ll explore in this post.

What is contract-to-hire?

Contract-to-hire lets you work with a developer until you confirm you’d like to make them a full-salaried employee. You pay their hourly rate during the contracting period and then pay their buyout fee when you bring them on full-time.

Of course, at the end of the contract, you may decide you don’t want to hire them full-time. Maybe they’re not the right fit. Maybe your budgets have changed.

That’s totally cool.

You can thank them for their work and go your separate ways.

Quick sidenote: Because our team of senior developers vets all the developers that join our platform, we’re confident we’ll find the perfect developer (or developers) for you.

Other hiring options we offer

It’s not just contract-to-hire freelance developers we offer here at Gun.

Because our goal is to make working with a contract developer incredibly simple, we offer a range of package options.

These include:

Monthly retainer

You can pre-book a portion of your developer’s time on a recurring monthly basis. This is a great option if you need ongoing (3+ months) bandwidth or you want to keep moving without having to re-up hours every month.

Accelerate package

You can purchase a single bucket of hours up front. This is perfect for shorter projects, doing a quick trial run before committing to a larger contract, or for a project with a clear timeframe and set of deliverables.

Direct hire

If you’re building out an internal recruiting function, augmenting your existing one, or just know you’d like to skip the contract period, our direct-hire option fits the bill.

What’s it like hiring developers with us?

At Gun, we truly believe we’re redefining how software engineering talent is found and onboarded. No more hiring headaches – just a smooth, streamlined process.

Here’s what it’s like discovering your next start team member with us:

Explore our network

Say goodbye to generic job posts. Just plug in the skills, experience, and location of your ideal talent match and our algorithm will instantly present a tailored list of candidates.

Shortlist your favorites

Easily save your favorite talent matches and even receive expertly-curated selections from our in-house talent sourcing team, all tailored to your unique needs.

Describe the work

Share the details of your Mission with Talent on your shortlist by outlining job goals and objectives to set the stage for insightful and successful interviews.

Concierge experience

Your dedicated Gun.io team member will schedule interviews, manage follow-ups, and more on your behalf. We’ve got all the details and tasks covered.

Select and relax

When you’re ready to hire, we manage contracts, make billing arrangements, and ensure smooth onboarding to your project, freeing you up to focus on crafting something truly extraordinary.

Work together flexibly

Need to go up or down on hours booked? Change out one contractor for another? Pause while you secure funding? We can work with you no matter what your company’s needs may be.