Agency Developer vs Freelancer: Who to Hire for Your Next Project

Finally, you have a bright business idea in mind. Yes, the excitement begins when you start imagining business profits, isn’t it? But, to accomplish that vision, you need to go through a series of steps. And, the first step begins with finding the right person to bring power to such ideas. That’s the struggle! With so much competition in the market, finding the right fit person to complete this role is daunting.

Bear in mind, if you want to get the best results for your business, then you need help from professionals. Now, the question is what factors to consider when making that important choice? Well, commonly people struggle to choose between freelancers and agency developers. To be honest, both have their own set of pros and cons. So,  before we begin highlighting the differences between the two, let’s begin with the basics.

Hiring from an agency means you can hire from a pool of dedicated developers, designers, quality analysts, and project managers. Freelancers, on the other hand, are self-employed professionals with much-in-demand skills. They usually work with multiple clients at the same time.

In this post, we will be highlighting a few major differences between freelancers and agency developers. Let’s read the details. 

Agency VS Freelancers: Skills

The first thing to analyze is the skill set. To begin analyzing the skills, you need to understand your business requirements. For example - if you want to build a complicated product like - CRM solutions, mobile or web applications, and more, then you should invest in an agency. Then begin finding your answers for whether to hire a freelancer or an agency.

Hiring agencies means you not only get acquainted with the right team members but also enjoy polished skills in a more efficient way. Agencies assure not only quality work but also better coordination that boosts overall productivity. Apart from that, the agencies always work in a competitive space and always look for ways to serve clients with the best. They keep on implementing new strategies, ways, tools, and technologies that can help in better deliveries.

Freelancers are an ideal choice if you want to get specific tasks or one-time tasks. Well, if you plan on hiring freelancers, bear in mind that they are experts in one field. However, you might come across several freelancers who claim to be the jack of all trades, but it's not something you should look onto. Always make a point to go through the portfolio and see the variety of work they have done over the years. Analyze the work and make decisions accordingly.

Agency VS Freelancers: Schedules

Concerned about the work schedules? Let’s begin with the ground realities. The freelancer regularly in their comfort. They have their own work rules and enjoy the freedom to work as per their preferences. They have to manage a lot of clients on a regular basis and manage the work tirelessly for all. While some freelancers enjoy working in day time others might like working at night. They enjoy full control over their work and flexibility regularly.

On the other hand, agencies are quite focused on their schedules and workflows. They work at a standard time and might also work overtime if required. Apart from that, in case one developer is not available, another developer with the same skill set can easily be replaced for work. The organizations can work seamlessly and help in achieving the deadlines in a defined manner. 

Remember this is a crucial consideration. So, while making the final selection, make sure you consider the time zone difference and make the adjustments to base the right decision.

Agency VS Freelancers: Quality of Work

The agencies always look onto making long-term relationships with the clients and focus on the professional reputation of the organization. They will always consider quality over quantity and put their best efforts to bring the desired results. They will look for building high-end products to meet the saint’s expectations and look forward to positive client feedback for the next development projects. For example, if you hire an agency for the app development project, but a glitch is found in the process, then they will consider all the steps again to ensure the client receives a bug-free product. All in all the agencies are capable of providing the whole package to the clients which includes from initial consultation to the post-development process.

Freelancers, on the other hand, you might find ample highly-skilled freelancers, but not everyone will be that efficient to provide you with the right work. Some might only focus on delivering the work, receiving the payment, and then hopping onto the next client. They mainly focus on delivering the project at the earliest so they can go to the next client. This is simply because freelancers have a high workload and you might not always be on the top of their priority list. However, this does not mean that they are not you will get less quality work. So, before making any decision, surf through their portfolio and know the types of clients they have worked with and also check the client reviews to know better about the quality of work they have produced.

Agency VS Freelancers: Management

Managing the work is a daunting task and requires some expertise. When it comes to understanding the tasks, delegating the tasks, and maintaining proper coordination, there needs to be proper task management. No matter if you choose an agency or freelancers, you must understand the fact that it is you who have to manage and coordinate with them regularly. So, how many people or burdens of work can you handle?

Agencies usually have dedicated project managers who assign tasks, coordinate with the team through regular scrums, and also focus on the core tasks like -creating strategies, growth opportunities, and more. They know when to increase or decrease the number of developers for the project, eliminate the overhead expenses, how to speed up the time-to-market, and more. So, ultimately you will be coordinating with the managers to ensure stable project growth.

With freelancers, things might be a bit tricky, especially if you don’t have some background or knowledge of the process. They will take your extra time as you have to make them understand things and supervise them from time to time. Also, if you plan on hiring more than one freelancer then time will require additional task management work for you. As you not only have to spare time to make them understand your requirements but also have to keep a check on them while ensuring the coordination of work. So, ultimately, your responsibilities will add up automatically.

Agency VS Freelancers: Which One To Hire? 

Making this decision is definitely a tough call. We have tried to cover all the pros and cons of both agencies and freelancers. We hope you have got your answers.

If you are still confused, then simply drop us a message and we will get back to you with the best-fit answers. Get in touch to know more.