Hire a software tester with these 7 trustworthy websites
You can hire a software tester with Grid Dynamics, Freelancer, Toptal, and about a hundred other services. But which one will match your needs?
To help you make a data-based decision, we made this analysis of the best freelance websites for software testing.
Inside this article, we’ll talk about salaries, pre-screening, knowledge transfer, and talent pools of top QA freelance websites so that you can hire the perfect software tester for your product.
Where to hire a software tester?
Grid Dynamics
Grid Dynamics is a technology services provider focused on accelerating digital transformation for startups, SMEs, and world-renowned enterprises. With over 15 years of experience driving software innovation, especially with open source and cloud-native technologies, Grid Dynamics partners with Fortune 1000 companies to create competitive advantage and enable business growth. The company has delivery centers located across the Americas, Europe, and India to serve its global client base.
Why hire a software tester with Grid Dynamics?
- Organizes the knowledge transfer process
- Helps hire full-time software testers
- Selects software testers according to each client’s unique requirements
- Has access to tech talent pools in Eastern Europe, Central Europe and Latin America
Grid Dynamics vs top freelance platforms
Services: Grid Dynamics offers an extended list of services: you can hire QA engineers or assemble an entire dedicated cross-functional team of fifty and more people with software testers, developers, DevOps engineers, and business analysts on board.
Knowledge transfer: Grid Dynamics ensures knowledge transfer for clients who use Grid Dynamics QA services every now and then.
In this way, clients save time that would have been spent onboarding a new software tester on the project.
Vetting process: Unlike job posting platforms, Grid Dynamics helps each client hire QA engineers who match their specific requirements in terms of both hard and soft skills.
Grid Dynamics exercises a personalized approach to each client: dedicated recruiters conduct pre-screening and (if requested) due diligence.
Then, they share candidates’ CVs with the client, who proceeds to pick the best-fitting candidates, conduct as many interview rounds as necessary, and, eventually, hire those who perfectly match the requirements.
QA specialist pool: Working with several largest tech outsourcing markets in the CEE region, we have direct access to highly skilled European developers.
A strong grip on the local talent market, a well-known brand name, and well-structured retention practices help Grid Dynamics recruiters attract qualified software testers.
Dedication: When you extend your tech team by hiring a QA engineer with Grid Dynamics, you get a fully-dedicated tech specialist who works on your project just like the rest of your in-house team members whom you manage directly and who report to you and work within your business hours.
Recruitment and retention: Grid Dynamics doesn’t have a bench of employees. Instead, recruiters look for candidates specifically for each client in a vast pool of specialists gathered over decades of work on the Ukrainian tech market.
Grid Dynamics reports above-average voluntary attrition, which is a result of a well-orchestrated talent retention process.
From the first day of work, each specialist is invited to participate in internal educational and entertainment events, and can use a range of social benefits ensured by Grid Dynamics.
Upwork
Upwork is one of the most popular freelance marketplaces on the web. It’s known for a robust choice of filters, ease of navigation, and a large candidate database.
Why hire a software tester with Upwork?
Services: Upwork’s main service is listing a large database of freelance software testers and other tech and creative specialists. Clients can also conduct an online interview through Upwork’s platform and pay through an integrated payment solution.
Knowledge transfer: Since Upwork lists both individual freelancers and QA agencies, there’s no certainty concerning knowledge transfer.
Most likely, it’s going to be the client’s responsibility to transfer knowledge to each new QA engineer they hire through Upwork.
Vetting process: Upwork lists profiles of quality assurance engineers and provides a detailed description of their previous experience.
The seeker can make decisions based on the portfolio and tech stack indicated by each individual user.
Upwork doesn’t make any pre-screening, so specialists of all expertise levels can get registered.
QA specialist pool: As of 2021 Upwork has around 12 million profiles with about 5,000 of them directly or indirectly indicating expertise in providing quality assurance services.
The expertise level of QA engineers registered in the Upwork network varies from super senior specialists with 20+ years of experience to absolute beginners.
This tendency directly impacts the price of an hour of work: you can pay as little as \$10 per hour or \$60 depending on the expertise level of each individual QA engineer.
Dedication: With Upwork, you can find specialists for full-time collaboration or engage them for hour-based work. So the question of dedication is to be negotiated personally.
Salaries: Upwork attracts freelance QA engineers from all around the world, which means that you may find a wide variety of hourly rates that can add up to salaries of only \$300 or reach \$11,000 per month.
Recruitment and retention: Although the platform offers basic assistance to its clients, the recruitment and retention services are not strong sides of the platform, which leads to the conclusion that it’s a great talent resource for companies that have recruiters and HR managers onboard.
Toptal
Toptal is a service that matches clients with candidates from their existing talent pool. Clients can choose from a selection of vetted candidates but won’t be offered custom recruitment services.
Why hire a software tester with Toptal?
Services: Toptal conducts the vetting process, connects clients with candidates, takes care of paperwork, and manages such aspects of collaboration as weekends, vacations, and terminations.
Knowledge transfer: If a client is dissatisfied with a candidate hired through Toptal, the platform searches for a substitution. There’s a possibility of organizing knowledge transfer between the former and new software tester, but this process will come at the cost of two software tester salaries.
Vetting process: Toptal claims to vet software testers and select only the top 3% of tech talents. The platform uses an internal professional matrix for vetting candidates, which in most cases doesn’t represent the requirements of each individual client.
QA specialist pool: The matching platform doesn’t officiate the size of their pool of software testers.
Dedication: While working with software testers you hire through Toptal, you can choose from hourly, part-time, and full-time engagement. Toptal charges clients for their services twice a month.
Salaries: Considering the fact that Toptal exclusively hires middle and senior software testers from all around the world, the salary range topped with a vendor fee can match the salaries of QA engineers in top tech countries such as Switzerland, Germany, the UK, and the US.
Recruitment and retention: At the beginning of collaboration, Toptal offers a probation period for the client to decide whether they want to continue collaboration with the service. The matching service doesn’t charge for recruitment or termination of work, but requires a large set-up fee.
Guru
Guru is an online platform that matches freelancers and business owners. Clients are offered free and paid membership plans, with the latter offering multifunctional solutions that cover team and content management, communication, and payment functions.
Why hire a software tester with Guru?
Services: On Guru, users can both post their own jobs and search for software testers and other tech experts.
Knowledge transfer: Guru doesn’t take any responsibility for knowledge transfer, which means that it should be organized by the client. In the most common scenario, clients spend more time introducing new testers to their project than retaining them.
Vetting process: Each client has to do the vetting themselves. After posting a job offer, clients pick from matching profiles and lead the communication and the hiring process themselves.
QA specialist pool: Guru lists a staggering 253,856 profiles that in one way or another indicate “quality assurance” or “software testing” services. The only problem is that to reach top performers, clients are advised to purchase paid posting plans to get more quotes.
Dedication: Software testing specialists registered on Guru indicate various options of availability, from hourly to full-time engagement on the project.
Salaries: Salaries of software testers depend on individual preferences and are negotiated between the two sides.
Recruitment and retention: Recruitment and retention are not among the services offered by Guru. On the bright side, the platform has integrated communication and task management solutions that simplify collaboration between people from different corners of the world.
Freelancer
Freelancer is yet another talent matching platform popular among digital nomads. On Freelancer, a client posts a job, and freelancers place their bids.
Why hire a software tester with Freelancer?
Services: Freelancer allows tech businesses to match with top freelancers from all over the globe. In addition to the job posting function, the platform also offers an integrated payment solution and a robust choice of filters.
Knowledge transfer: While engaging new software testers on your project, you should spare time to introduce them to your project.
Vetting process: The platform doesn’t conduct any vetting and checking. This means that clients have to interview and probe the skills of candidates themselves.
QA specialist pool: The platform doesn’t officiate the number of registered software testers.
Dedication: Freelancer lists profiles of software testers who are open to hourly, daily, and full-time cooperation with clients. The client is free to negotiate the working terms directly with freelance software testers.
Salaries: The salary range of software testers on Freelancer depend on the extent of engagement, level of expertise, personal preferences, and location of each individual specialist.
For instance, a specialist from the US will charge the market-average hourly rates which will, in effect, amount to almost the same sum as in-house hiring.
Recruitment and retention: Freelancer doesn’t offer retention and recruitment.
After a business owner posts project details and job requirements, the bidding begins.
The client then looks through the portfolio, picks the most suitable candidates, and interviews them.
UserTesting
This crowd testing platform is known for applying a mixture of manual and automation software testing techniques.
It’s run by a great number of registered, but not necessarily advanced software testers who have various professional backgrounds.
Why choose UserTesting above other freelancing websites for software testing?
Services: With UserTesting you can get your digital solution tested by amateur software testers. Services like this are usually applied before the application is opened to publicity and don’t guarantee full coverage.
Knowledge transfer: The nature of the service excludes the possibility for knowledge sharing and transfer.
Vetting process: UserTesting employs software testers with zero experience.
QA Specialist Pool: We can only guess the number of software testers working in UserTesting. On LinkedIn, the company indicates about 1,300 employees.
Dedication: The service doesn’t promise any long or even mid-term dedication from their employees. Their software testers can pick any project and move between them freely.
Salaries: Clients are charged per project, not per number of software testers.
Recruitment and Retention: UserTesting takes care of recruitment and retention, while the client’s responsibility is to share access to the application.
PeoplePerHour
PeoplePerHour is a job posting platform on which clients can hire software testers with the required skills, location, and hourly rates.
Why hire a software tester with PeoplePerHour?
Services: This freelancer platform allows clients to post their projects and communicate with potential software testers.
The platform has a custom system that matches clients with the best-fitting talents.
Knowledge transfer: It’s the client’s responsibility to take care of knowledge transfer. Having failed to organize knowledge transfer from one software tester to another, the client risks to spend another month or two introducing the project to the new software tester.
Vetting process: Software testers eagerly share their previous experience on their profiles, but, if necessary, clients have to request more information directly from the specialist. The only possible way to learn more about the candidate is to conduct an interview.
QA specialist pool: The service claims to have helped more than 100,000,000 tech businesses worldwide to find necessary talents. The number of their software testers, however, remains a mystery.
Dedication: PeoplePerHour doesn’t limit users in time they’re allowed to spend on a project, so freelance software testers hired through the service can work a full workday or dedicate only a couple of hours per day depending on the client’s requirements.
Salaries: After software testers have seen your product description, they can send their offers and request a custom sum of money for the job. This means that rates can go as low as \$10 per hour and as high as \$80.
Recruitment and retention: Clients are expected to retain and recruit software testers by themselves. PeoplePerHour’s idea is to help tech businesses scale fast during the development phase, which leads us to the conclusion that clients have to be keen on retaining their talents by their own means.
Windup
Hiring a software tester through one of the listed QA freelance websites, you get a short hiring process and lower software tester hourly rates. What you lose, however, is the time you spend searching, hiring, and onboarding the suitable software testers.
For sure, hiring a software tester for an MVP through freelancing websites for software testing is an easy and fast solution that will be beneficial for short-term collaboration.
Tech companies that want to either have a dedicated software tester or to save time spent on onboarding and knowledge transfer are advised to seek collaboration with software testing outsourcing companies such as Grid Dynamics.
Unlike QA freelance websites, a software testing services company can do the pre-vetting, as well as ensure a structured approach to software testing and continuity of knowledge transfer.
