Full disclosure: we're Ryz Labs, and we're one of the options on this page. So yes, we're biased. Here's what we'd actually tell a friend, including when you should hire someone else.
Arc (arc.dev) is a remote hiring platform for freelance and full-time developers. It's one of the few that publishes pricing: $15 to $110+ an hour for freelancers, 20% of salary for full-time hires, and a trial of up to two weeks. That's a lot to like. People look for alternatives for structural reasons. Arc places individuals, so you manage the day-to-day work. Its pool is global, so overlap with New York depends on the developer. Its own pages give two rate ranges (the FAQ says most developers charge $60 to $100+ an hour). And some buyers want a vendor with more client reviews. If you want one remote developer at a known price, Arc is probably still a good call. If you need something different, here's where we'd look. (Arc is unrelated to ARC, the in-house system we use to rank candidates.)
If you've hired through Arc and wished the developer were more of a teammate, that's what we do. We place senior Latin American engineers inside your team (same standups, same repos, roadmap from week one), all within about an hour of US time zones. Fortune 500 engineering teams trust us, and only the top 1% make it through our vetting. You sign one contract with Ryz; our engineers work with us as independent contractors, and we handle paying them. We also run AI pod teams that build AI systems inside your cloud and ship them, which our case studies show in production.
Where we're not the right fit: if you want published prices, a self-serve start, a short freelance gig, or talent outside the Americas, Arc itself or Toptal fit better. Full comparison: Ryz Labs vs Arc.dev.
Toptal is Arc's closest rival. It says fewer than 3% of 200,000+ yearly applicants are accepted, matches take under 24 hours on average, and it offers a trial of up to two weeks. It has far more public client reviews (4.8/5 from 53 on Clutch when we checked) and covers designers, finance experts and product managers. The catch: Clutch lists a $100-$149/hr band, higher than Arc's published range.
Lemon.io says it matches in about 24 hours, has no minimum on hours or duration, and that only 1% of applicants pass a senior-engineer interview. Its terms spell out a 4-week trial for direct hires and a 60-day replacement guarantee. It holds 4.8/5 from 370 reviews on Trustpilot (Oct 2026), many from developers. The catch: client rates aren't published, and overlap with New York depends on the developer.
If you liked Arc's full-time hiring but want guaranteed Americas time zones, Revelo is built for that. It handles payroll and compliance in 18 Latin American countries, says it delivers a curated shortlist in 48 hours, and offers a two-week trial with month-to-month billing. The catch: you manage the engineers yourself, and there's no published rate card.
If Arc's rates are the issue, Upwork is cheaper for small jobs. It publishes its client fees, says most software developers on Upwork charge $10 to $100 an hour, and offers an Expert-Vetted filter on Business Plus. The catch: outside that filter you do the technical screening yourself, and quality varies widely.
Stay with Arc if published pricing matters to you. Few vetted platforms show rates up front, and Arc's flat 20% full-time fee is easy to budget. Stay if you want both freelance and full-time hiring from one place, with a trial of up to two weeks for freelancers and a 3-month replacement guarantee for permanent hires. Stay if speed matters: Arc says contract roles can be filled in 24 to 72 hours. And stay if you need designers or marketers as well as developers.
Consider moving if you need guaranteed New York hours, if you're now managing several Arc hires as a team, or if you need a team that builds AI systems end to end. Our guides to developer staffing for startups and nearshore developers for New York companies go further.
For small tasks, Upwork, with published client fees of 5% or 10% on top of the freelancer's rate. For vetted developers, Arc's published range is already among the most transparent.
Toptal and Revelo both offer two-week trials, and Lemon.io has a 4-week trial for direct hires. We don't publish a trial.
Ryz Labs and Revelo both place Latin American engineers who work US hours. Toptal, Lemon.io and Upwork are global, so check each person.
Yes. Our AI pod teams build AI systems inside your stack, and we place LLM engineers and machine learning engineers on US hours. To scope one, talk to us.
We checked every provider on this page in October 2026. If something has changed, tell us and we'll update it.