Heads up: we're Ryz Labs, so we have skin in this game. What follows is the advice we give buyers on calls, including the times we tell them to go with someone else.
Lemon.io is a fast developer marketplace built for startups. It says matching takes about 24 hours, there's no minimum on hours, and only 1% of applicants make it through. People look for alternatives for a few structural reasons. Its pool is global and, by Lemon.io's own 2025 description, mostly Eastern European, so overlap with New York depends on the developer. It matches individuals, not teams, and its terms say it doesn't supervise the work. Client-side hourly prices aren't published, and direct hires carry a flat placement fee. If you're an early startup that needs one developer for a sprint, Lemon.io is probably still a great fit. If you need a long-term team on US hours, here are the options we'd look at.
Lemon.io buyers often come to us once the product works and the work is no longer a sprint. 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; our case studies show the work in production.
Where we're not the right fit: a few hours of help this week, a part-time gig, or a self-serve sign-up. Lemon.io and Arc are better for those. We also don't publish prices. See Ryz Labs vs Lemon.io for the full comparison.
Arc is the closest like-for-like swap if pricing clarity is the issue. It publishes freelance rates from $15 to $110+ an hour, offers a risk-free trial of up to two weeks on freelance hires, and charges 20% of salary for full-time placement. It says it has 450,000 people in 190 countries. The catch is the same as Lemon.io's: with a global pool, check time zones person by person.
Toptal matches as fast as Lemon.io (it says the average time to match is under 24 hours) and adds designers, finance experts and product managers. It offers a trial of up to two weeks and says you won't be billed if you're not satisfied. The catch: Clutch lists Toptal at $100-$149/hr, so it usually costs more, and you still manage freelancers yourself.
If your Lemon.io developer has quietly become full-time and you want Americas hours, Revelo is built for that. It handles payroll and compliance in 18 Latin American countries, says you'll get a curated shortlist in 48 hours, and offers a two-week trial with month-to-month billing. The catch: you manage the engineers day to day, and it isn't built for short gigs.
Gun.io says 70% of its currently engaged developers have 10+ years of experience, and it shows the full price on each developer's profile. It offers contract, contract-to-hire and direct placement at a published 20% of first-year salary. The catch: no time-zone commitment, and public reviews are thin (Trustpilot showed 2.2/5 from 8 reviews when we checked, mostly from developers).
Stay if speed and flexibility are what you need. Lemon.io says it can match you in about a day, with interviews the same week, and there's no minimum on hours or duration. Stay if you're building an MVP and want one or two developers you'll manage directly. Stay if you want to try before a direct hire: its terms describe a 4-week trial, free replacement during the trial, and a 60-day guarantee after hiring. And its Trustpilot rating (4.8/5 from 370 reviews when we checked) is strong, though many reviewers are developers.
Consider switching if you need guaranteed New York hours, if you're now managing several marketplace developers as a team, or if you want someone else accountable for delivery. Our guides to developer staffing for startups and staff augmentation for scaling engineering teams cover the next step.
Arc is the only option here that publishes client-facing freelance rates ($15-$110+/hr), so it's the easiest to price. Everyone else quotes per role.
Ryz Labs and Revelo place Latin American engineers who overlap closely with Eastern time. Arc, Toptal and Gun.io are global, so check each person.
Use a marketplace for short, scoped work you'll manage yourself. Use embedded engineers when the work is ongoing and touches your core systems. If you're hiring full-stack developers for the long run, that's where we fit.
Our AI pod teams are dedicated pods of senior engineers that build together inside your stack. Revelo also does team hiring. Lemon.io, Arc, Toptal and Gun.io match individuals. If a pod sounds right, talk to us.
Last checked October 2026. Pricing, trials and services move fast in this market, so verify the details with each vendor.