About 16% of companies are already fully remote, operating without a physical office. So, the need for hiring remote developers globally continues to grow. But, choosing the best and budget-friendly platform for hiring remote developers is a challenging one.

While the AI-based talent cloud Turing is an excellent place to start, there are several other options available that can fulfill your developer needs. Let’s go into more detail. 

A Reputable Platform: What is Turing?

Turing is an AI-based talent cloud that offers pre-vetted and Silicon Valley remote developers across 100+ skills. Additionally, Turing uses AI Intelligent talent cloud to vet and hire a global pool of engineering talent.

Features of Turing

• Talent pool: Top 1% of global developers of the 1.5 million candidates
• Platform: Both freelancers & full-time remote developers
• Highlights: AI-backed intelligent talent cloud 
• Risk-Free Trial: 2 weeks
• Hiring Costs: The cost of full-time developers are expected to be around $50-$150 per hour. 

Why Turing?

1. ‍Turing’s global pool of tech talent is sourced from 140 countries, which makes it a fit for all organizational structures, from enterprise to startups, interested in hiring remote developers.
2. They have a unique semi-automated and meticulous talent vetting process consisting of testing for specific technical skills along with soft skills for improving remote performance. The process is on par with Silicon Valley vetting standards, resulting in only the top 1% of the 1.5 million who applied, being selected into their team.
3. Turing's focuses primarily on long-term job opportunities. This increases retention and matching reliability.  
4. Turing will match you with a suitable candidate within 1-5 days which is much faster than the conventional recruiting process. In terms of costs associated with remote developer hiring, Turing does not charge you any fees, but encourages you to negotiate wages with the tech talent while giving you a 14-day trial period.
5. Turing offers a workspace to improve the communication, performance, and management of remote workers. They also provide access to the Turing Virtual Machine which ensures developers’ code and data are protected.

Why Look Elsewhere?

1. Turing.com might not have a wide range of specialists, especially for niche skillsets.
2. If you need freelance or part-time developers, Turing might not be the best fit as they primarily focus on full-time positions.
3. Turing handles the initial matching but may not offer comprehensive solutions like payroll or time tracking, requiring additional setup for clients.

But are there any alternatives to Turing.com? Yes, plenty! In this article, we have gathered some of the best ones for you to consider. We recommend going through each one carefully and selecting the option that best suits your requirements.

Looking to hire high-performing tech talent remotely? See how Index.dev can help you:

🎯Find the world’s top 5% developers, designers, and AI/ML specialists 

🎯Hire faster and scale more easily with 100% vetted tech talent 

🎯 Get interview ready candidates in 48-hours and save up to 40% with global hires

Hire qualified tech talent with Index.dev risk-free. Only pay if you’re happy → 

10 Top Turing Alternatives 

1. Index.dev

Index.dev is one of the best Turing alternatives when it comes to hiring, managing, and retaining vetted remote developers globally. The platform offers access to a talent network of  15,000 senior tech talent pre-screened for English proficiency, remote performance, hard skills, soft skills and culture adaptability. 

Index.dev only works with 5% of senior tech talent globally of the 200,000 candidates that applied. The candidates work with you full-time with a minimum of 4 hours overlap. They are highly-skilled and each one has 6+ years of experience in the tech industry. 

You can work with Index.dev contractors for a 30 days risk-free trial without paying any upfront charges. Alsto the platform provides a 95% retention rate, meaning 19 out of 20 developers complete the trial and will commit to your project from start to end. 

And, Index.dev doesn’t charge any other hidden fee or deposit fee like other platforms. In contrast, Upwork charges a platform fee, Toptal charges an initial deposit of $500, Lemon.io charges a platform fee of 20% commission, and Arc charges a deposit fee of $300. 

Plus, you can save up to 60% of recruitment costs vs. traditional hiring by hiring tech talent with Index.dev.

Features of Index.dev

• Talent pool: The elite 5% of tech talent
• Platform: Full-time, 100% vetted remote contractors
• Highlights: Rigorous 4-stage vetting and dedicated account management 
• Risk Free Trial: 30-day trial, only pay if you are happy
• Hiring costs: No platform or hiring fees

Why Choose Index.dev?

1. Index.dev provides each client with a dedicated Account Manager who facilitates onboarding, talent integration, communication, legal, and financial aspects of the engagement.
2. The platform offers experienced tech talent in any tech skill, from full-stack, front-end, and backend developers to QA experts, UI/UX designers, project managers, and data engineers. The hourly rate of Index.dev developers ranges between $50 - $85 for Java, JavaScript, Python, C++, Kotlin, Node.js, Data Engineer, Project Manager, UI/UX, QA professionals and $80-120 for Team Lead, Full-stack & DevOps roles or hard-to-recruit positions like RoR, Rust, Dart or Go.
3. Index.dev has engineers located in Central Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia which means your company can save up to 60% in hiring and development costs compared to hiring a developer locally in the US, UK or Australia. The hiring process typically takes only 3-5 days. 

Key Differentiator 

As a global tech recruitment platform that constantly puts its reputation under scrutiny. Index.dev simply can’t afford bad matches, so the platform has developed a system providing high-performing developers on demand. 

4-Stage Vetting

Index.dev has a rigorous vetting process that consists of 4 stages, including:

• Extensive sourcing of over 500 channels, including engineering communities, popular forums, global job boards, and specialized local job boards.
• Tech assessment focusing on evaluating a candidate's seniority in specific programming languages, frameworks, algorithms, system designs.
• Soft skills verification which means every candidate has tested and proven communication, problem-solving, creative-thinking, emotional intelligence, and time-management skills. 
• 99% matching accuracy which includes evaluating candidates alignment and culture fit with the clients’ specific needs, industry, time-zone, and tech stack. 

Filtering Layers

Additionally, Index.dev uses various filtering layers to curate an exclusive selection of high-performing profiles for our clients. This ensures that the tech talent we assign to your project possesses the following qualifications:

• Senior-level
• Confident English speaker
• Availability for full-time, long-term engagements
• Experience with remote work in fast-paced environments
• Adjusted work schedule for better time overlap
• Certifications & 6+ years of overall development experience 
• 3-4 years of expertise in a particular tech stack or field
• Excellent soft skills and fitting culture 

Read more: How Index.dev Vets Its High-Performing Tech Talent 

Focus on performance, not recruiting. Fill your front-end, backend, full-stack, AI/ML, data engineering, and QA roles with vetted senior tech talent from Indev.dev global talent network. Scale faster today →

2. Toptal

Toptal is your next Turing alternative. The platform is similar to Turing meaning you can hire both freelancers and full-time software developers. Toptal is a remote freelancing platform that will connect you with world-class talent skilled in software engineering, design, finance, product management, and project management, all of which have numerous sub-designations. 

You can reach out to Toptal through their website, specify your developer needs and team dynamics, and schedule a call to discuss it in more detail with one of their accountants anytime it’s convenient for you. 

Features of Toptal

• Talent pool: The 3% of freelancers
• Platform: Freelance network of various talents, including developers, designers, marketing experts, finance specialists, etc. 
• Highlights: Hire in under 48 hours
• Risk Free Trial: 2 week trial, only pay if you are satisfied
• Hiring costs: Initial deposit of $500

Why Choose Toptal?

1. You can hire qualified and industry expert developers within 48 hours on Toptal. Based on your needs, you can hire freelancers or full time remote developers on this platform.
2. The platform has an impressive pool of global freelance developers to fill many roles, from finance to web development to artificial intelligence and machine learning.
3. Also, Toptal provides a 2 weeks risk-free trial period to collaborate with their developer and pay once you are satisfied with the developer’s work. Toptal also allows you to replace the freelancer if you are not satisfied with the first one. Toptal may be an expensive platform like Turing due to this rigorous vetting process. 

Key Differentiator

Toptal screens and verifies all of its tech talent before presenting them to potential employers, which means companies can access a pre-vetted pool of software engineers. 

The platform follows a multi-stage vetting process, including:

1. Language and personality screening
2. In-depth skills review where only the best are selected to process further
3. Live screening conducted by experts to analyze problem-solving capabilities in real-time
4. Test projects that are comprehensive and take up to 1-3 weeks to complete

Through this process, you can hire the top 3% of freelance talents for your projects.

Read more: Looking for Toptal Alternatives? Discover 10 Best Platforms for Hiring Developers

3. Upwork

Upwork is another great Turing alternative to consider. The key differentiator between the two is the fact that you can post your job directly on the website and then be matched with potential hires under a bidding system. Upwork is a marketplace for freelancers specializing in software development, graphic design, operations, finance, marketing, and writing. The platform has a massive pool of freelance developers. 

The marketplace version of Upwork does not have an in-depth vetting process however their enterprise version does - if you are willing to upgrade.

Features of Upwork

• Talent pool: Global talent bidding for jobs
• Platform: Marketplace for freelancers 
• Highlights: 24 hours hiring and budget-friendly hires
• Risk Free Trial: 2 week trial, only pay if you are satisfied
• Hiring costs: Initial deposit of $500

Why Choose Upwork?

1. Candidates reach out to you by providing samples of their work and their bid for the project. You’ll be able to compare bids, reviews, and prior work. You can interview to find the best fit. You can pay hourly or fixed-rate and receive invoices through Upwork.
2. The marketplace version of Upwork does not have an in-depth vetting process however their enterprise version does - if you are willing to upgrade.
3. Once you've hired a developer, Upwork provides built-in project management tools. These include to-do lists, activity trackers to monitor freelancer hours, work diaries, and even time trackers to ensure you stay on budget.

Key Differentiator

The Upwork differentiator is its affordability. As for developer fees, you can find candidates with hourly rates as low as $10/hour and as high as $150/hour. The low costs make Upwork a great option for short-term projects and one-off tasks.

Upwork has a ‘badge’ system in place for tech talent so keep an eye out for ones that say “Expert Vetted”, “Rising Talent” or “Top rated” in order to get talent that is of similar caliber as those offered by other less mass market Turing competitors.

4. Arc.dev

Arc is an AI-powered remote jobs marketplace for hiring software developers. A mere 2.3% of applicants are able to meet their rigorous standards. Arc.dev offers an AI recruiter assistant, HireAI, that can instantly match your company with top-rated developers. You can access Arc’s community of 250,000 remote developers from 190 countries without the hassle of manual search, outreach, and resume screening. 

Similar to other remote hiring platforms, Arc offers a 2 week risk free trial. Also the platform charges a deposit fee of $300 and the platform offers 2 different hiring models that are Full time hires and Freelance hires.

Features of Arc.dev

• Talent pool: Top 2% of Developers
• Platform: AI-powered remote jobs marketplace
• Highlights: Instant candidate search with HireAI and hands-on help from expert team of recruiters
• Risk Free Trial: 2 week
• Hiring Costs: Deposit – $300; Full-time hire [HireAI Lite] – $900 per month, Freelance Hires – Hourly Rate

Why Choose Arc.dev?

1. Arc.dev's services cater to businesses seeking long-term recruitment solutions, handling compliance, payroll, and legal requirements for working with offshore teams. Both full-time and contractual engagements with Arc developers are available.
2. Arc.dev’s talent engine sources expert developers from various regions, including the U.S. and Latin America. Candidates undergo a thorough review process, including a ~1-hour interview to assess their background and remote work compatibility. 
3. For freelance hires, Arc.dev uses AI to match you with a shortlist of skilled candidates within 24 to 72 hours. For permanent hires, Arc.dev collaborates with you to identify your needs and matches you with pre-vetted developers. 

Key Differentiator 

Arc.dev provides access to a pre-vetted pool of software developers. The platform follows a multi-stage vetting process, including:

1. Manual profile screening of thousands applicants for background checks and relevant experience.
2. Video developer introduction to assess English proficiency and soft-skills.
3. Evaluation of technical skills and logic during ~1 hour interview.
4. Final candidate review comprising evaluation of each stage of the developer vetting process. 
5. Candidate onboarding where Arc.dev team welcome developers, answer questions and set expectations. 

Through this process, you can hire the top 2.3% of developers for your project. 

5. CloudDevs

CloudDevs is an outsourcing platform that supports organizations to find pre-vetted developers from a pool of 8000+ engineering talent based exclusively in Latin America and Europe. Once matched you are assigned a dedicated Slack workspace to improve visibility into your remote workers' progress. The company also matches you with a remote worker who is open to working hours that are comfortable for you despite the time difference.

Features of CloudDevs

• Talent pool: Top 5% of remote developers from Latin America and Europe
• Platform: LatAm’s largest tech talent platform 
• Highlights: 24-hour hiring and extensive 5-stage screening process
• Risk Free Trial: 2 week trial
• Hiring costs: CloudDevs charges $500 refundable deposit

Why Choose CloudDevs?

1. CloudDevs charges $500 as a refundable deposit at the commencement of a project along with providing you with a 7-day risk-free trial period. The charge for talent will be as per the required project at a starting rate of $45 per hour.
2. The platform outsources top 5% of remote developers from Latin America and Europe to businesses globally. They offer full-time and part-time hiring option based on client’s projects
3. The company extends its support further by way of assisting you in the handling of employee payments, management, and compliance

Key Differentiator

Clouds has a 5 stage screening process that examines candidates for their coding skills as well as English proficiency. Here’s is how it works: 

1. Tech stack evaluation and language proficiency
2. Live coding challenge in order to evaluate the speed and quality of the code
3. An algorithm-based problem-solving challenge designed to deduce capacity to perform under pressure
4. Background checks
5. Client’s evaluation

Through this process, you’ll be able to hire the top-5% of developers for your project. 

Struggling to find the right developer? We offer a global network of vetted software developers, ready to join your team today. Hire faster, scale more easily → 

6. Lemon.io

Lemoin.io is another alternative to Turing if you are looking to hire developers from Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. They offer a large pool of vetted developers, specializing in Java, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, Python, Swift, and data science. You can simply hire developers from Lemon.io by sending a detailed description of your hiring requirements. Then, the Lemon.io team will review your application and help to hire you the right-fit developers for your project. 

Before starting to hire and work with developers on Lemon.io, you should first make a purchase hours on this platform. They charge a platform fee of 20% commission and doesn’t provide a free trial. Instead they provide a replacement guarantee policy like Toptal. If you do not like to work with the first hiring developer, you can replace another one with a free substitute. 

Features of Lemon.io

• Talent pool: Top 1% developers 
• Platform: Developers from Ukraine and Eastern Europe
• Highlights: Free quote with no obligations
• Risk Free Trial: Replacement guarantee instead of free trial
• Hiring costs: Platform fee – 20% commission and a pre-payment for 1 month/week of work, depending on the billing cycle chosen.

Why Choose Lemon.io?

1. Lemon.io sources developers from over 500 job boards, dev communities, and LinkedIn. To validate their skills, developers undergo a rigorous 90-minute assessment, including deep technical questions, live coding tests, and code reviews. 
2. The platform claims to save companies over 100 hours in the hiring process by eliminating interviews with unqualified engineers. Lemon.io's vetting process involves evaluating CVs and portfolios, conducting background and identity checks, and administering written and oral proficiency tests. Finally, candidates must pass a coding test to be shortlisted on the platform.
3. Hourly rates for the Startup plan range from $45 to $80, with a minimum of 120 project hours. The CTO plan's rates are provided upon contact. Lemon.io requires no upfront fees but does require payment before the project begins. They also provide time-tracking and weekly project progress reports.

Key Differentiator

Lemon.io follows a rigorous vetting process to screen applicants. Here are the stages of the Lemon.io vetting procedures:

1. Background verification
2. English language skills
3. Test assignment
4. Lemon.io team interview

As a result, only the top 1% make the final cut. 

7. Unicorn.dev

Unicorn.Dev is another Turing alternative for hiring remote developers, designers, and other technology experts. The platform has a talent pool of 8,000+ engineering talent, exclusively sourced from Latin America. Unicorn.dev supports sourcing, management, and payments as well and like CloudDevs, allows you to manage your selected candidate in a private Slack workspace once matched within 24-48 hours. 

Features of Unicorn.dev

• Talent pool: Pre-vetted talent from LatAm
• Platform: Senior tech talent with a minimum 5 years of work experience in their specialty
• Highlights: Simple & straightforward hiring process, flexible contracts
• Risk Free Trial: One week
• Hiring costs: Charges a refundable deposit of $500 that will be applied as a credit to your first invoice

Why Choose Unicorn.dev?

1. You can opt to change the developer assigned to you if required at no cost. The talent rate is a flat $35 per hour for all senior developers with over 5+ years of experience in their respective fields.
2. Unicorn.Dev also provides timezone matching for clients’ convenience. Their globally distributed talent pool is available with a working time overlap of 4 hours daily, for easier collaboration.
3. Whether your requirement is part-time, full-time or you need to outsource an entire project, they can offer you a customized solution. 

Key Differentiator

Unicorn.dev has a proper vetting process. Here are its stages: 

1. Discovery: Getting to know the talent and their previous experience
2. Coding challenges: Validating the hard skills alignment with the project requirements
3. Problem-solving challenges: Evaluating the developers’ capability of critical thinking and adaptability in a tech stack environment
4. Background checks: Assessments of good work ethic and no criminal record
5. Client evaluations: Enabling clients to conduct interviews for culture fit

Continuous monitoring of post-matching talent performance is maintained within the project.

8. YouTeam

YouTeam is the world's first marketplace dedicated to increasing engineering staff for technology companies. The platform is an invitation-only network of top small- and medium-sized development agencies and it allows companies to quickly add full-time contract engineers to their teams, offering access to a network of over 50,000 vetted engineers from 500+ top agencies in Europe and Latin America.

Features of YouTeam

• Talent pool: 50,000 engineers from 500+ top agencies in LatAm and Europe
• Platform: Independently vetted candidates that precisely match your requirements
• Highlights: 24 hours hiring and free replacement
• Risk Free Trial: One month 
• Hiring costs: 10% commission of the engineer's rate

Why Choose YouTeam?

1. YouTeam functions as an outstaffing platform. All developers on YouTeam are full-time employees of top software development firms in Eastern Europe and South America. YouTeam acts as an intermediary between clients and these software houses. 
2. After submitting a project request, YouTeam's matching technology identifies suitable developer profiles. Clients can review CVs and portfolios, handpick candidates, and conduct interviews before engaging with the software houses that employ them. 
3. YouTeam handles the legal and financial aspects of offshore outsourcing and offers features like time zone matching and proactive quality monitoring. Clients also benefit from a Customer Success Manager who facilitates communication with developers and handles legal and financial matters.

Key Differentiator

YouTeam is an invitation-only network of top small- and medium-sized development agencies located in Latin America and Europe. Every talent on YouTeam passes a multi-step vetting process, including: 

1. YouTeam scans the outsourcing market and identifies top local development agencies for the client’s job requirements. 
2. The platform identifies the suitable agency with only 25% passing the vetting and diligence processes.
3. Agencies in the YouTeam network vet their talent and send it to YouTeam for vetting.
4. YouTeam re-vets talent every time it makes the matching process.
5. Client meets the top picks from the candidate shortlist and makes the hire. YouTeam takes care of the admin.

Java, Python, Rust, C++, AI/ML... We got you covered! Scale easily. Hire senior vetted tech talent with Index.dev →

9. Gigster

Gigster is a software development service that combines top developers, designers and product managers with artificial intelligence to build your project. 

Gigster specializes in offering entire tech teams for hire to build out your product from scratch. The platform has access to a tiny pool of qualified developers and project managers, and the company uses AI-based algorithms to curate the right team for your project needs. 

Features of Gigster

• Talent pool: Top 1% of global talent pool
• Platform: 800+ developers, 200+ project managers, and 100+ designers on the platform
• Highlights: Curation of a hand-picked and fully-managed team
• Risk Free Trial: N/A
• Hiring costs: Gigster has a minimum per-project fee of $52,000

Why Choose Gigster?

1. Gigster staffs full project teams of five or more roles, including an Engagement Manager, Product Manager, Project Manager, Solutions Architect, Designer, and Software Engineer(s) part- or full-time as needed. For larger or more complex projects, they may add a Program Manager role. 
2. Gigster allows you to monitor the progress of your project based on attributes like milestone tasks, bugs, blockers, and overall team satisfaction. 
3. Clients get complete ownership and licensing for the software built by Gigster and they’re free to use and commercialize it. Plus, Gigster provides additional help in training internal teams. 

Key Differentiator 

Gigster assembles full project teams of five or more roles. Here’s how it works:

1. They run a ‘Rapid Results’ workshop with the client to understand project needs and team dynamics.
2. Once they have all the necessary information, they assemble a full technical teams witht he roles, skills and experience to build your MVP. 
3. Selected project information is shared with the Gigster Talent Network, and available prospects compete to be selected for your team. 
4. During the project, your Engagement Manager adds or subtracts team members as your needs evolve, ensuring your project has exactly the right skills mix for every phase.

10. Flexiple

Flexiple is an invitation-only network that helps developers and designers collaborate with global companies. They help businesses to build their team of designers and developers and kick off engagements in 72 hours. Every talent is handpicked and goes through a three-stage screening process: depth in past work, technical test, and live interview.

Features of Flexiple

• Talent pool: Pre-vetted talent pool
• Platform: AI-driven hiring platform coupled with vetted talent pool
• Highlights: Deploy & start building in 72 hours
• Risk Free Trial: One week
• Hiring costs: Starter plan – $250/month & +8% of Annual Cash CTC for full-time hires

Why Choose Flexiple?

1. Flexiple has a pool of handpicked developers, designers, and tech experts from diverse backgrounds and skills sets. This enables businesses to hire strategically for round-the-block productivity.
2. The platform has a time-based compensation model that may differ from project to project. Businesses can engage with full-time contractors and build a tech team at competitive rates without any hidden costs.
3. Flexiple provides dedicated account managers to the clients. They help with matching, talent onboarding and further integration. 

Key Differentiator 

Flexiple provides hand-picked talent. Here’s how it works: 

1. Flexiple talent is evaluated on their experience and the complexity of the products they have built. 
2. An introductory call is set to those with extensive experience and technical depth.
3. The ability to communicate clearly and their motivation for contract work is assessed over the phone call.
4. The applicant's involvement in building complex software products is assessed over a series of face-to-face interviews.
5. Certain tests are used to assess the candidate's mental agility, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking.

Struggling to find the right remote tech talent? Index.dev has you covered. We offer a global talent network of 14,000 vetted engineering talent, ready to join your team. Hire 7x faster →

Which Alternative Best Fits You?

As demonstrated, each of the above-mentioned platforms offers distinct features suitable for different requirements. Based on your needs, you may want to consider the following options:

1. Vetting: If you need a platform with a robust vetting process that filters the most-qualified talent, then you might choose Index.dev, Toptal, or Arc.dev. They provide a multi-stage Human + AI talent screening process. 
2. Region: If hiring software developers from LatAm and Europe is a priority for you, then go for Index.dev, CloudDevs and YouTeam. They source and screen the best performing tech talent from these regions. 
3. Hiring speed: If you demand a platform with a fast and AI-powered matching process, they might choose Arc.dev and Flexiple. They use an AI-powered deep-vetting process to verify candidates’ eligibility for the role.
4. User-friendly experience: If you require a platform with a user-friendly interface and a fast hiring time, they might choose Index.dev, Arc.dev, Upwork and Toptal. They usually provide access to qualified developers in less than 48 hours. 
5. Cost-effectiveness: If you require great quality service while working with a strict budget, then Index.dev and Unicorn.dev are by far the best options. 
6. Seniority: If you wish to hire senior developers with 5+ years of experience, then Index.dev, YouTeam, and Flexiple might sound right. They are the platforms that solely offer senior software developers with 5+ years of experience. 
7. Long-term engagement: If you want the option of hiring a developer on a long-term contract, then you can choose Index.dev, Lemon.io and Toptal. They are renowned for offering long-term contracts for developers and keeping talent retention within the project high. 

Read more: How Index.dev helped Omio hire full-stack Java developers in a hyper-competitive talent market

You can also try Index.dev to access a global network of thoroughly vetted remote developers: 

🤖 Access to 15,000 thoroughly vetted developers, designers, PMs, and QAs

🤖 Ready to interview candidates who are available to start immediately

🤖 Full-time and long-term contractors tested and proven for remote work performance 

Hire developers risk-free right now. Only pay if you’re happy → 

If you’re a senior software developer looking for high-end projects in the US, UK, and EU join Index.dev for a rewarding remote career.