Work that suits a developer you only need part of the week
Not every engineering job needs a full-time seat. Plenty of useful work fits inside a defined number of hours, and a senior developer can finish it faster than a junior working full time because they have solved the same problem before.
Good candidates for part time development include building an internal tool, adding an integration with a customer system, rebuilding a slow reporting query, improving test coverage, moving a service to a new framework version, or writing the first version of an API. Ongoing work also fits, such as being the dependable second engineer for a founder who writes code on their own.
Part time works less well when the job needs constant context switching between many people, or when the codebase is so tangled that learning it takes weeks of unpaid ramp up. In those cases, agree on a short paid discovery first, then decide the scope.
If the real problem is technical direction rather than coding, start with a fractional CTO. If you also need someone to plan what to build, see the fractional head of product page.
Python, React, and data skills you can filter for
The shortlist matches on skills, not just on a job title. Two role presets cover most requests. A senior Python engineer works on backend services, APIs, data pipelines, and automation, with a typical rate range of $110 to $185 an hour. A senior React engineer builds user interfaces in TypeScript and works on front end architecture, with a typical range of $110 to $180 an hour.
Other searches work as well. Type backend, mobile, infrastructure, machine learning, or data engineering into the widget and the matcher reads the keywords. If your need is reporting rather than product code, a part time data analyst may be the better hire.
When you describe the job, include the stack, the size of the existing codebase, how the code is deployed, and who will review pull requests. Developers decide quickly whether a job suits them, and a clear brief gets you better intros.
Be honest about timing. A developer with ten free hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays is a different match from one who can respond within the hour. Availability bars on profiles show the weekly pattern.
How the first four weeks usually run
A new developer needs a few days to get oriented. Plan for it, and the engagement works.
- Days one to three. Access to the repository, a running local environment, and a walkthrough of the architecture. The developer writes down every setup step that was missing.
- Week one. A small, real task goes through your normal review and release path. This tests access, communication, and code style.
- Weeks two and three. The main scope begins. The developer posts short written updates and flags blockers early.
- Week four. First meaningful release or milestone. You review the work, decide on hours for next month, and confirm how knowledge will be shared.
Treat the developer like a member of the team. Invite them to the right chat channels, give them a named reviewer, and keep tickets specific. Vague tasks waste paid hours.
Agree on code ownership early. The default contract assigns intellectual property to you, so everything written for your company belongs to your company.
Part time developer, full-time hire, or development agency
| Option | Typical cost | Time to start | Seniority | Commitment | Contract and payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part time developer on Side.work | $110 to $185 an hour plus a 12, 8, or 5 percent platform fee | Days, after intro and signed contract | Senior, verified profile | Weekly hours cap, notice period | NDA and IP assignment, one invoice |
| Full-time engineer | Salary, benefits, equipment, recruiting time | Often months to hire | Junior to senior | Full time, open ended | Employment |
| Development agency | Project quote or monthly retainer | Fast to engage after scoping | Mixed team, varies | Fixed scope or retainer | Agency terms |
| Generic freelance marketplace | Wide range of rates | Fast to post a job | Not consistently senior | Per project | Platform terms, varies |
A full-time engineer is the right answer for core product work that never ends. An agency suits a defined project with clear specs. A senior part time developer fits the space in between, especially when you need judgment as well as typing speed.
Questions that separate strong engineers from weak ones
Technical hiring can feel intimidating if you are not an engineer. You do not need to be. Ask questions about how the person works and listen for specifics.
- Describe a system you built from scratch. What would you change now?
- How do you decide when to write tests and when to skip them?
- Tell me about a production incident you caused or fixed. What changed afterward?
- How do you estimate work, and what do you do when an estimate turns out wrong?
- How do you leave a codebase for the next person when your hours are limited?
Strong engineers give concrete answers with trade-offs. They mention what went wrong. Weak answers are general, blame others, or claim that everything was perfect.
If you have an engineer on staff, ask them to join the call or do a short code review of a sample the candidate shares from a public repository. If you do not, a paid trial task of two to four hours gives you real evidence. Our profiles show verified work email domain, a checked LinkedIn profile, live portfolio links, and payout identity, which removes the basic identity questions.
Pricing a 20 hour week for a growing product team
Say your team needs a senior Python developer to build an integration layer for twenty hours a week, and you run on the Scale plan because you manage several roles with a purchase order process.
At $140 an hour, twenty hours is $2,800 a week. Multiply by 4.33 and the approved hours are $12,124 a month. The Scale platform fee is 5 percent, which is $606.20. The monthly invoice is $12,730.20, plus the plan subscription.
On the Growth plan the same work would carry an 8 percent fee of $969.92, for a total of $13,093.92. On Starter, the 12 percent fee would be $1,454.88. The fee drops as the plan rises, so heavy users save on volume. See the pricing page for each plan.
For a smaller job, five hours a week at $110 is $2,381.50 a month before the fee. Compare that with the loaded cost of a full-time salary, and remember that the contract hours cap prevents surprise overruns.
Keeping code quality high when hours are limited
The risk with any outside developer is code that only they understand. The remedy is a handful of working rules that cost little and protect you for years.
Require pull requests for every change, with a named reviewer on your side or a second developer. Even a founder who is not deeply technical can read the description and ask questions, and the habit creates a record of what changed and why. Ask for short descriptions that explain the purpose of each change, not only the code.
Keep the work in your repository from day one. The developer should commit to your source control account, not a private copy. Use your deployment path so that releases are repeatable. Secrets such as keys and passwords belong in a managed store with access you control, never in shared documents.
Ask for automated tests on anything that touches money, accounts, or customer data. A senior developer will propose this on their own. Tests make later changes safer for whoever works on the code next.
Write down decisions. A short document that records why a library was chosen or why a table is shaped a certain way is worth more than a hundred code comments. Request it as a deliverable at the end of each milestone.
Finally, plan the handover. In the last week, the developer should walk another person through the system, update the setup guide, and list known problems and open ideas. If the developer leaves with notice, you should be able to hire the next one and have them contributing within days rather than weeks. These habits turn a part time arrangement into a reliable part of your team.
From search to first commit on Side.work
Enter the role, the hours per week, and your budget. You get a ranked shortlist of verified developers with weekly availability bars and rates. Send intros to a few people and speak with them.
When you choose, sign a contract with a weekly hours cap and a notice period. The default NDA and IP assignment are attached, and Scale customers can use their own template. The developer logs hours in a weekly timesheet, you approve, and you pay one invoice with approved hours plus the platform fee. The developer is paid by the platform and keeps 100 percent of the agreed rate.
Specialists confirm that their side work does not conflict with their employment terms, which matters for developers who also hold a day job. Read how it works and the security overview for details. To compare roles, see part time designers for product and brand work.