Quick note before we start: this was written by Ryz Labs, and we're one of the options below. We're biased, so we've been straight about where others beat us.
Terminal helps US companies hire remote engineers in nine markets: Canada, four Latin American countries and four European ones. It can act as employer of record for full-time hires, or place contractors and dedicated teams. People look for alternatives for a few structural reasons. Full-time placements take about 45 days by Terminal's own FAQ. Four of its markets are 5 to 7 hours ahead of New York. Full-time hires carry a placement fee plus a monthly fee, and neither amount is published. And Terminal's Clutch profile had no client reviews when we checked, so there's little independent feedback. If you want engineers as your own employees with benefits, including in Canada or Europe, Terminal may still be your best option. If you want senior engineers on US hours inside your team quickly, read on.
We place senior Latin American engineers (plus data, product and design people) inside your team: same standups, same repos, from week one. Fortune 500 engineering teams trust us, and only the top 1% of the tens of thousands of engineers we've interviewed make it through. Every engineer works within about an hour of US time zones, so there's no European-hours gap. We also run AI pod teams, dedicated pods of senior engineers that build AI systems inside your cloud and ship them to production. Our case studies show the results, and our vetting process shows how we screen.
Where we're not the right fit: we're not an employer of record, so if you need engineers as your own employees with benefits, Terminal, Howdy or Revelo fit better. We don't place people in Canada or Europe, and we don't publish prices. See Ryz Labs vs Terminal for the full comparison.
If you like Terminal's employer-of-record model but want everyone on Americas hours, Howdy is the closest swap. Howdy hires engineers through EOR with benefits, coaching, equipment and office access, and it publishes its fee split: 85% to the professional and 15% to Howdy. It markets "Top 1% LatAm engineering talent" and runs hubs in cities such as Buenos Aires, Medellín, Mexico City and Montevideo. The catch: Howdy says a full recruitment cycle is typically 4 to 6 weeks, much like Terminal's timeline, and we found no trial period.
Revelo handles payroll and compliance for full-time remote engineers in 18 Latin American countries. It says you get a curated shortlist in 48 hours, most developers are shipping code within 14 days, and you can try for two weeks and pay only if you're happy. That's faster on paper than Terminal's 45-day full-time timeline, with a written trial. The catch: you manage the engineers day to day, and quotes come from a calculator rather than a published rate card.
If what you liked about Terminal was hiring in Europe as well as the Americas, Andela covers more ground. It says it has 17,000 certified AI-native engineers and has trained 200,000+ technologists since 2014, and it offers individual engineers, blended teams and project work. Its vetting includes a skills assessment reviewed by trained humans, plus proctoring and an interview. The catch: with talent in many regions, US Eastern overlap varies by person, and pricing isn't published.
BairesDev says it has 4,000+ engineers and says "Teams ready in 2-4 weeks". It offers staff augmentation, dedicated teams and full project outsourcing under one contract, and says its engineers work your hours. If you need a whole team rather than a few hires, it moves faster than a recruiting-led model. The catch: no published pricing, and some Clutch reviewers mention rate increases and early developer churn.
Stay with Terminal if you want engineers on your books as full-time employees with benefits, handled through an EOR, and you don't have entities abroad. Stay if you need to hire in Canada (Terminal names hubs in Vancouver, Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo) or in European markets such as Poland and Spain. Stay if its written terms matter to you: a 14-day risk-free guarantee on contract engagements, and fee-free replacement within the first 3 months of a full-time hire. And if you value seeing each candidate's AI fluency rating, Terminal labels every candidate.
Consider switching if 45 days to a full-time hire is too long, if you need guaranteed New York hours, or if you want a team that builds AI systems rather than a hiring pipeline. Our guides to hiring LatAm engineers directly and nearshore developers for New York companies cover more options.
Howdy and Revelo both handle employment or payroll for LatAm engineers. Ryz Labs is not an EOR: you sign one contract with us, and our engineers work with us as independent contractors.
Revelo says shortlists arrive in 48 hours and most developers ship code within 14 days. BairesDev says teams are ready in 2 to 4 weeks. Our engineers join your standups from week one once scoped. Ask each vendor for a date in writing.
Andela has talent in Europe and many other regions. Ryz, Howdy, Revelo and BairesDev are focused on Latin America.
Our AI pod teams build AI systems inside your cloud and repos, and Andela and BairesDev also offer project work. If you need AI engineers on a pod, talk to us.
Everything here was checked against each company's own site and public sources in October 2026. Vendors change terms often, so confirm before you sign.