TL;DR: The best Arc.dev alternatives are Toptal for the fastest senior contractors, Revelo or Proxify for developers in US or European hours, and Turing for AI engineers; Second Talent fits full-time engineers at a fixed monthly price including employment. Arc itself charges $15 to $110+ an hour for freelancers and 20% of salary for full-time hires.
Of every 100 developers who apply to Arc.dev, 55 clear its profile screen, 14 its communication assessment and 2 its technical interview.
That strict funnel is why teams use it, and the 20% placement fee on a full-time hire is the most common reason they look elsewhere.
Arc.dev alternatives compared
| Platform | Best for | Pricing | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toptal | Senior contractors, fast | Quoted, plus $79 a month | Candidates in 24 hours |
| Turing | AI and data engineers | Quote only | About 4 days |
| Upwork | Small, scoped tasks | Freelancer’s rate + 5% client fee | Depends on you |
| Andela | Enterprise AI teams | Enterprise quote | Not published |
| Lemon.io | Startups needing a freelancer | Quoted per developer | About 24 hours |
| Gun.io | Enterprise engagements | On request | Not published |
| Revelo | US-hours hires in Latin America | About $86K to $129K a year, senior | Shortlist in about 72 hours |
| Index.dev | Engineers plus AI researchers | Pay when you hire | 24 to 48 hours |
| Proxify | European teams | €32 to €50/hr | 2 days on average |
| Second Talent | Full-time engineers from Asia | $29 USD/hr (billed monthly) all-in | Shortlist in 24 hours |
- 1Arc.dev is one of the few platforms with published rates; Toptal, Turing and Gun.io quote on request.
- 2For full-time hires, Arc takes a one-off share of salary; Second Talent charges an all-in price from $29 USD/hr, billed monthly, with employment included.
- 3Toptal and Lemon.io present candidates in about a day, faster than Arc’s 72-hour freelance match.
- 4Rad Hires, often searched beside Arc, is a New York recruiting firm that hires from Latin America and the Philippines in 3 to 4 weeks.
What Arc.dev costs and how it screens
Arc’s pricing page lists freelancers at $15 to $110+ an hour with a risk-free trial of up to two weeks, and full-time hires at 20% of annual salary.
Its how-it-works page adds a free re-match during the first three months and about 14 days to a full-time hire.
Rad Hires vs Arc.dev
Rad Hires is a recruiting firm at 408 Broadway, New York, rather than a talent platform.
Its site says it sources from every country in Central and South America and the Philippines, mainly Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia, for mostly full-time roles across engineering, design, sales, finance and operations.
Sourcing starts within 24 hours and a full hire takes 3 to 4 weeks. Choose it over Arc if you want a recruiter running the search for a range of roles; choose Arc if you want to browse vetted engineers and see rates yourself.
1. Toptal
Toptal is the high-touch option: it screens hard, introduces candidates fast and quotes each engagement on a call rather than publishing rates.
Its FAQ lists a flat $79 monthly subscription, introductions within 24 hours in almost all cases, and a trial of up to two weeks in which you are not billed if you are not satisfied.
It says 90% of clients hire the first candidate it introduces.
Talent sits in more than 100 countries, mostly in the Americas and Europe, and Toptal invoices twice a month on Net 10 terms. It also sells employment through its HireGlobal add-on.
Against Arc.dev, Toptal is usually the faster route to a first name and the slower route to a price, because the rate only arrives once you have described the role.
- Best for: Senior freelancers or contractors for a defined project, fast.
- Watch out: No published hourly rates, so budgeting needs a call; the $79 subscription runs on top.
- Published scale: Experts in 100+ countries; 90% of clients hire the first candidate.
2. Turing
Turing’s homepage now leads with AI training data for model labs, but it still sells engineers on its hire pages, from AI engineers to Python developers.
There it claims the top 1% of more than 3 million developers, roles filled in about four days and a three-week risk-free trial, with prices on request.
It raised a $111 million Series E at a $2.2 billion valuation in March 2025. Next to Arc.dev, Turing’s trial is the longest of the hourly platforms, which matters if you need time to judge an engineer on real work before committing.
- Best for: AI and data engineering hires where a longer trial reduces risk.
- Watch out: Its focus has moved towards AI training work, and prices are quote-only.
- Published scale: A 3 million+ developer pool; Series E at $2.2 billion.
3. Upwork
Upwork is an open marketplace rather than a vetted network. Anyone can post a job and freelancers set their own rates, so one search can return beginners and senior specialists priced far apart.
Clients on the basic plan pay a 5% marketplace fee on each payment (3% for eligible US clients paying by bank), plus a small contract initiation fee per new contract.
The trade is control for effort: you screen, interview and test candidates yourself.
Against Arc.dev, it is the cheapest way in and the most work to get right, which suits short, well-scoped tasks more than a senior hire you need to trust with your codebase. Our Toptal vs Upwork comparison goes deeper.
- Best for: Small, well-defined tasks on a tight budget.
- Watch out: No vetting; quality varies widely and screening falls on you.
- Published scale: Freelancers across every professional discipline.
4. Andela
Andela now positions itself as the human layer behind production AI.
It sells blended teams of AI-native engineers, AI system development and training for in-house engineers, and says it has 17,000 certified AI-native engineers and has trained 200,000+ technologists since 2014.
Talent comes from Europe, Kenya, Brazil, India and North America, and profiles on its site show monthly ranges such as $6,500 to $8,500, with enterprise pricing through sales.
Next to Arc.dev, Andela suits a larger company building an AI team rather than one buying a single freelancer.
- Best for: Enterprises building AI teams that also want upskilling.
- Watch out: Built for enterprise buyers; small teams may find it heavy.
- Published scale: 17,000 certified AI-native engineers.
5. Lemon.io
Lemon.io matches startups with vetted freelance developers quickly and says only about 1% of applicants get in, an acceptance rate of 1.2% on its pricing page.
Matching takes around 24 hours and there are no upfront fees: you pay for the work delivered.
Its developers come from North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Next to Arc.dev, Lemon.io is built for startups that want a vetted contractor this week without a subscription or a placement fee, though it does not publish hourly rates on that page.
- Best for: Startups that need a vetted freelancer within a day or two.
- Watch out: Rates are quoted per developer rather than listed.
- Published scale: A sourcing base it puts at 50M+ profiles.
6. Gun.io
Gun.io has moved upmarket. Its homepage now sells engineering talent with governance for high-stakes projects, matching vetted engineers to an enterprise’s stack and managing the outcome rather than just the introduction.
It lists thousands of vetted engineers by skill, among them 3,950 JavaScript, 3,412 React and 2,820 Python developers across 100+ countries.
Compared with Arc.dev, Gun.io fits larger companies that want a managed engagement and compliance around it, and it does not publish rates.
- Best for: Enterprises that want managed, governed engineering engagements.
- Watch out: No published pricing, trial or guarantee on its homepage.
- Published scale: Thousands of engineers by skill in 100+ countries.
7. Revelo
Revelo places senior engineers from Latin America on month-to-month terms and publishes an all-in yearly rate through its calculator, about $86,000 to $129,000 for a senior full-stack engineer.
It says it accepts the top 2% of 400,000+ engineers, all within two hours of US Eastern time.
It sends a shortlist in about 72 hours, averages 14 days to a hire and offers a 14-day risk-free trial. Engineers work as independent contractors with Revelo as agent of record.
Next to Arc.dev, it is the strongest fit for long-term US-hours hires; our Revelo vs Toptal page compares the two.
- Best for: Long-term hires who work US hours.
- Watch out: Engineers are contractors, not employees.
- Published scale: 400,000+ engineers in 18 countries.
8. Index.dev
Index.dev has widened from engineers to AI work. Its homepage lists 30,000+ senior engineers, PhD researchers and evaluation specialists, human-vetted and background checked, matched in 24 to 48 hours.
There are no upfront costs: you pay only when you hire. Compared with Arc.dev, Index.dev is a good fit for teams that need both product engineers and people for AI evaluation work from one supplier.
- Best for: Teams mixing engineering hires with AI research or evaluation roles.
- Watch out: Rates are not on its homepage.
- Published scale: 30,000+ senior engineers and researchers.
9. Proxify
Proxify calls itself Europe’s largest vetted tech talent network. Its pricing works out at the equivalent of €32 to €50 an hour, it accepts only 1% of applicants, and it presents candidates after two days on average.
It covers 1,000+ technical competencies across 6,000+ vetted experts and adds onboarding and HR support during the engagement. Against Arc.dev, Proxify is the natural pick for European companies that want euro pricing and overlapping hours.
- Best for: European teams that want vetted developers billed in euros.
- Watch out: A smaller network than the global marketplaces.
- Published scale: 6,000+ vetted experts.
10. Second Talent
Second Talent is for companies that want a full-time engineer on their own team, at a fixed monthly price set before the first call.
It places pre-vetted engineers from nine Asian markets, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore, at $29 USD/hr (billed monthly) per engineer.
That price covers sourcing, vetting and employment through Second Talent’s own employer of record, so payroll, tax and benefits are handled.
Screening runs in four stages: a technical assessment, a check of how the engineer works with AI tools such as Claude Code and Cursor, English at C1 or above, and a behavioural interview.
You can search vetted profiles yourself or hand over a brief and get a shortlist within 24 hours.
Where Arc.dev bills by the hour for an engagement, Second Talent sells a dedicated hire, typically 50 to 70% below a US salary for the same seniority, and replaces the engineer once within 90 days if the fit is wrong.
- Best for: Long-term, full-time engineers who work your hours, at a monthly price you can budget.
- Watch out: Talent comes from Asia only; it is not a global freelance marketplace.
- Published scale: 200+ client companies and 92% talent retention, on its own figures.
Hiring full-time instead?
Frequently asked questions
Is Arc.dev cheaper than Toptal?
Arc publishes rates from $15 an hour and has no subscription. Toptal quotes each engagement and adds $79 a month, so Arc is usually easier to budget, though senior rates on both can overlap.
Does Arc.dev have a guarantee?
Yes. Freelance hires get a risk-free trial of up to two weeks, and for the first three months Arc will match you with another engineer free if you are dissatisfied.
What is the best Arc.dev alternative for full-time hires?
If you want to avoid a one-off placement fee, a monthly all-in model such as Second Talent’s covers sourcing, vetting and employment in one price. Revelo is the option for Latin America on US hours.
Related comparisons: Arc.dev vs Toptal · Turing vs Arc.dev · Toptal alternatives · Turing alternatives · Revelo alternatives
