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.
Choose Ryz Labs if you want senior Latin American engineers embedded in your team, working within about an hour of US time zones, or an AI pod team that builds AI systems inside your stack. We're trusted by Fortune 500 engineering teams, and only the top 1% make it through our vetting. Choose Gun.io if you want one very senior individual contractor, possibly on a contract-to-hire path to a full-time salaried role, and you can manage time-zone fit yourself.
Very senior individuals. Gun.io says 70% of currently engaged developers have 10+ years of experience, and it publishes the experience breakdown of approved developers. If you want a staff-level contractor for a hard problem, that's a real strength.
A clear path to full-time. Gun.io offers contract, contract-to-hire (which it calls "a favorite among clients and developers") and direct placement, and it publishes the placement fee: 20% of first-year salary. If you want to try someone on contract and then hire them as your employee, the route is written down.
Global reach. Gun.io handles payroll and compliance across 100+ countries, so it can find people in places we don't cover. Our engineers are in Latin America.
Price on the profile. Gun.io says you see the full price upfront on each developer's profile, with no additional fees. That helps when you're comparing individual candidates.
US hours by design. Our engineers all work within about an hour of US time zones, so code review and standups happen the same day. Gun.io makes no time-zone commitment, so you screen each candidate for overlap yourself.
Teams, not just individuals. Gun.io's own FAQ says the platform is "mostly optimized for individual freelancers". We place senior engineers who join your standups, repos and roadmap from week one, and we run AI pod teams: dedicated pods of senior engineers (often about 7 people, including a tech lead, an ML engineer and backend engineers) that build AI systems inside your cloud. Our case studies include fraud detection for a global fleet company that scored 244K+ invoices in under 30 seconds each, and an AI voice platform with 1M+ outbound calls.
Top 1% vetting with recruiters involved. Recruiters source, our in-house ARC system ranks the pipeline, and every candidate goes through a structured NTRVSTA AI interview, with recruiter review before and after. AI scores are advisory; people make the decisions. Only the top 1% make it, and you run the final interview from a recruiter-curated shortlist. See our vetting process.
Public track record. Gun.io's public reviews are thin: Trustpilot shows 2.2/5 from 8 reviews, mostly from developers, and Clutch has a single 2020 review (both per our Oct 2026 check). That's a small sample, so don't over-read it, but ask any vendor for references. We're trusted by Fortune 500 engineering teams across industries, including financial services, and we'll put you in touch with clients.
Gun.io says it doesn't have standard prices. It offers retainers based on your needs, the project and the developer's salary expectations, and says the full price is on each developer's profile, with no additional fees. Full-time salaried placement costs 20% of first-year salary. Gun.io's terms include a two-year non-solicitation agreement, and taking a developer off-platform requires a negotiated buy-out. No hourly rates are published.
Our pricing is a custom quote, scoped per team. You sign one contract with Ryz; our engineers work with us as independent contractors, and we handle paying them. You get a scoped plan, a price, and the names of the people who'd do the work.
Keep comparing: our Gun.io alternatives, Ryz Labs vs Toptal, and our guide to staff augmentation for senior engineers.
Gun.io says every developer passes an algorithmic screening, a work history and background review, and a live technical interview with a senior engineer, and that about 100 of roughly 1,000 monthly applicants are approved.
20% of the negotiated first-year salary, per Gun.io. Contract rates vary by developer and aren't published.
We didn't find written trial or replacement terms. Gun.io's homepage says "risk-free" without stating terms, so ask for them in writing.
Yes. Our engineers are in Latin America and work within about an hour of US time zones. If that's your requirement, talk to us.
We checked every provider on this page in October 2026. If something has changed, tell us and we'll update it.