How to Find an Engineer for Your Startup: The Complete 2026 Guide

Starting a successful company isn’t just about the idea. It’s about the people you build it with. If you’re launching a tech startup, finding the right software engineer is crucial. You want someone with the right skills, motivation, and mindset. You want someone who’ll grow and adapt as you expand.

The problem? If you’re a non-technical founder, the hardest part is knowing what to look for. The hiring process is incredibly time-consuming and difficult. Ask for the wrong things, and you could set yourself back weeks — even months.

Below, we’re covering seven methods to help you find an engineer (or even a technical co-founder). We’ll look at the pros and cons of each approach and define what you need to know to get started.

Understanding What You Actually Need

The first question is the simplest and most complicated:

What kind of startup engineer do you actually need?

Answering this question means defining the type of engineer, what they’ll be doing, and how much you can afford to pay. It’ll also help determine the best method for finding a software engineer. 

Types of Engineers

“Engineer” is a catch-all term. Just as construction has civil, structural, and electrical specialists, software development spans very different roles with very different skill sets.

Here’s a quick overview:

• Full-stack vs. specialized developers. Some engineers can work comfortably across the whole stack, from front-end interfaces to back-end logic. Others go deep in one area, like front-end, infrastructure, or data, and bring serious depth where it matters most.

• Junior vs. senior engineers. Junior engineers are still building confidence and learning how things fit together, often needing guidance and review. Senior engineers bring judgment as much as code, spotting risks early, making trade-offs, and helping shape the direction of the work.

• Product engineers vs. system architects. Product engineers focus on what users see and feel, turning ideas into features that actually get used. System architects think at a higher level, designing the underlying structure so everything scales, stays reliable, and doesn’t fall over when the product grows.

Scope Assessment

What will the engineer be doing?

Are they just there to create the minimum viable product (MVP)? Or will they spend the next few months (or years) building the full product from scratch?

You might also want to keep them on the team after they’ve finished with the initial stages. That could be the difference between a freelancer who builds an MVP and a technical co-founder who scales the product. 

Lastly, there’s the complexity of your product. An app for storing recipes is much simpler than a construction management system. How much expertise does your engineer need? And can you afford it?

Budget Reality Check

No one wants to think about budget constraints. You just want to hire the best software engineer for the job. Unless you’re heavily funded, hiring top-tier senior engineers outright is usually unrealistic.

In 2026, the average base salary for a software engineer in the United States is $130,370. For an experienced engineer or specialist, that could easily spiral into the $160K–$220K+ range. While it might be tempting to hire someone young and less experienced, it can lead to more trouble down the road if the platform isn’t built correctly. 

Plus, there are several hidden costs: onboarding time, training, software licenses, unexpected revisions, and maintenance — depending on the type of engineer you opt for. 

How to Find an Engineer for Your Startup

Method 1: Hiring a Full-Time Engineer

Full-time engineers are the gold standard. They’re fully invested in your product, dedicating all their time and attention to it. But they’re not involved as co-founders. That means you retain the freedom to run the startup as you want — just with the expertise you need.

Full-time engineers are perfect for medium-complexity tech projects. You’re going to need to scale and require ongoing support. You can’t just swap the project between freelancers or farm it out to AI. You need a team in place, with a full-time engineer working on the project every day.

It’s also a smart option if the founder is an engineer themselves. You might think the founder can handle software development on their own. However, that’s often a poor use of time (and a waste of money). To grow, it’s smart to invest in a full-time engineer (either full-stack or complementary to the founder’s skillset) to manage the bits they can’t. 

Pros

• Someone who wakes up every day thinking about your product

• Deep knowledge builds fast and compounds over time

• Strong ownership and accountability

• Easier to embed values, standards, and culture early

Cons

• Eye-watering cost once salary, benefits, and equity are counted

• Long hiring runway before meaningful output

• You’re now managing people, not just building

• A bad hire is expensive, slow, and emotionally draining to fix

Best For

A full-time engineer is best suited to a well-funded startup with a predictable runway. Ideally, the founder would have some tech experience and be comfortable managing and leading engineers. Also, if you are planning to scale headcount in the long term, it makes sense to get a lead engineer straight away. 

Cost Breakdown

The obvious downside is cost. As mentioned, the average base salary for a software engineer ranges from $120k to $200k+ (depending on seniority). Add in benefits and payroll taxes (+20–30%), and equity (0.5%–2%+), and costs can quickly spiral to over $260k at the most senior levels. 

Method 2: Finding a Technical Co-Founder

Not technical yourself? This is your ideal scenario. It’s the Steve Jobs and Wozniak option. Jobs handled design, marketing, and company management; Woz focused on developing the hardware and software. 

Here, you’re not just looking to hire a software engineer. You’re after someone willing to give up months — most likely years — of their life to devote to a company. It could be a friend with a strong technical background or a stranger. But that dedication has to be there.

Part of the deal is an equity partnership. An equity partnership is when someone receives ownership in a company (equity) in exchange for long-term contribution, rather than just being paid cash. But a better way to frame it is that they have skin in the game. They’re just as invested in success as you are.

Pros

• Incentives are naturally aligned from day one

• Shared vision, pressure, and responsibility

• No upfront cash required

• Makes fundraising conversations easier

Cons

• Finding the right person can take months or years

• Giving up a large chunk of equity early

• Working style mismatches can quietly kill momentum

• Almost impossible to reverse if it’s the wrong fit

Best For

A technical co-founder works for pre-funding or bootstrapped startups. Generally, it’s got to be a highly ambitious, long-term product. The original founder must feel comfortable sharing control and upside. In fact, early-stage companies are ideal as the product vision is still being shaped.

Cost Breakdown

Technical co-founder is simultaneously one of the cheapest and most expensive options. The cash salary can be anywhere from $0–$50k. The real cost is equity — usually around 20–40%. Long term, that could 40% of nothing or 40% of $20m. A lot more than just paying a full-time engineer. But that kind of growth also comes from the right kind of partnership.

Method 3: Hiring Freelancers

Freelancers, by their nature, don’t work on projects for the long term. They provide immediate, short-term support for a specific aspect of a project or to increase capacity during gaps. 

Platforms like Upwork, Toptal, Fiverr, and Freelancer offer some of the best freelancers at reasonable rates. But it can also be hit-or-miss. While some freelancers go above and beyond, others promise high and deliver low. 

It requires a founder who is willing to manage closely. For example, a freelancer works well for a technically minded founder who lacks the time to build an MVP.

Pros

• Flexible and budget-friendly upfront

• Easy to get started quickly

• Access to global talent

• Works well for short, well-defined tasks

Cons

• Quality varies wildly between freelancers

• Communication gaps slow things down

• Little continuity between projects

• High risk of delays, drop-offs, or ghosting

Best For

Think of a freelancer as a short-term stopgap. They’re not an employee. They work on a small, clearly defined project, such as a prototype, an MVP experiment, or a proof of concept. They’ll need close management. But they can close capacity gaps early in a startup.

Cost Breakdown

Hiring a freelance software engineer is a lot cheaper than alternatives. According to the Freelancer Study 2025, the global freelance development market spans $25/hr in Asia to $140/hr in North America. But that can go much higher — AI specialists charge $100–200/hr.

The benefit is that you only pay for what you need. But if you get a poor-quality coder, expect rewrites, QA issues, and project management time. The true cost is often higher than the initial per-hour cost.

Method 4: Working with Development Agencies

Finding an engineer is only difficult because you’re doing it all yourself. The solution is to turn to a development agency. Ranging from boutique software houses to enterprise agencies, they can help turn your idea into a full-fledged product. 

Ideal for well-funded startups with clearly defined requirements. Development agencies might be a little pricier, but they offer guaranteed results. There’s no difficult communication or time-consuming hiring process. Plus, they’re comfortable jumping straight into a project. 

Pros

• Clear structure and delivery process

• Full team available from day one

• Timelines are usually respected

• Legal contracts provide protection

Cons

• Expensive for the level of hands-on attention

• Engineers are often hidden behind account managers

• Scope changes become slow and costly

• Senior pricing often masks junior execution

Best For

Development agencies work well for founders who prefer hands-off delivery. If you don’t want a startup engineer to stick around, you just want a polished project that meets your exact brief, then this is the best option. You’ll just need the funding to cover the costs.

Cost Breakdown

By far the most expensive option per hour. Depending on the agency's size, you can expect to pay anywhere from $20k to $5m+. The big difference is the size of the project and the quality of the development. For most startups, a mid-market agency is suitable. Hourly rates vary from $120 to $250 per hour, totaling $75,000 to $2m for a project.

Method 5: Using DIY No-Code/AI Tools

You might be wondering if you even need a developer. Can’t AI just do it for you? That’s the promise of companies like Bolt, Lovable, Bubble, and Webflow. Instead of finding an engineer, you “build it yourself” using their ready-to-go toolkits. No coding experience required.

That’s the promise, at least. 

This approach is intensely gratifying. You get to build the entire product yourself at an extremely low cost. You understand how it works, determine features, and design the UI you love. The problem comes when you add more and more complexity.

Reality Check: It’s great for early-stage or simple products. However, as more features get added or ideas grow, AI tools just aren’t good enough (yet). They struggle with reliability, edge cases, and long-term maintainability as the product grows. Sooner or later, you need human support.

Pros

• Very low cost to start

• Fast feedback and visible progress

• Useful for learning and experimentation

• Fine for simple landing pages

Cons

• Quickly collapses under real complexity

• Hard limits on custom functionality

• Doesn’t scale beyond early experiments

• You still do all the thinking and problem-solving

Best For

No-code or AI tools are brilliant for quick prototypes and mockups. They can help non-technical founders get a feel for their product and plan ideas before bringing them to an expert developer. It’s a chance to test out an idea before fully committing. 

Cost Breakdown

Many AI coding websites are free to get started. Monthly subscriptions are generally quite low-cost. Bolt AI builder, for example, costs just $25 per month for its Pro subscription.

Method 6: Offshore Development Teams

Offshore development teams give you the expertise of a full-time developer (maybe even several) without the costly monthly salary. Given everyone already works from home, you’re no longer restricted to talent in your base country. 

Teams in India, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia are on your digital doorstep — and at a fraction of the cost. Consider that many US software companies hire developers from these countries. This option skips the middleman and goes straight to the source. 

Pros

• Much lower hourly rates

• Large and accessible talent pools

• Time zone differences can speed delivery

• Established firms offer structure

Cons

• Communication takes constant effort

• Quality control is inconsistent

• Cultural differences affect expectations

• Harder to maintain close oversight

Best For

If you’re operating on a shoestring budget and well-defined specifications, opting to go abroad isn’t a bad idea. Given the communication difficulties (and inconsistent quality control), it’s best not to rely on this option for core features. But for optional extras or ongoing maintenance, these teams can provide a cost-effective alternative to Western-based development teams.

Cost Breakdown

As mentioned, the cost of a freelance developer in Asia is less than a quarter of the cost in the US. Full Scale puts the cost of an offshore developer (senior) at $45/hr, for a total of $54,000 annually. For a mid-level developer, that cost drops to $42,000.

Method 7: On-Demand Engineering Services

Want an experienced engineer without the full-time salary? The answer is an on-demand engineering service. The concept works similarly to freelancing in that you pay for what you need. The big difference is in the quality. 

Rather than paying an agency for bloated bureaucracy or taking a chance on a freelancer, you get a guaranteed, experienced, senior engineer to work directly on your product. It’s the middle ground that solves the “impossible choice.” The best of all worlds.

Lively is one of the most prominent on-demand engineering services. It helps you hire a startup engineer for your project in under 24 hours. You get rapid development, real-time collaboration, and flexible product design through the platform. The engineer builds to your exact specifications. 

Plus, you can return to the platform whenever you need an update. No more explaining everything from scratch every time something breaks. And you’ve haven’t given up a percentage point of equity.

Pros

• Direct access to experienced, senior engineers

• Continuity without full-time commitment

• Flexible as scope and priorities change

• Transparent pricing without agency bloat

• No hiring, no equity, no long-term lock-in

Cons

• Not a permanent in-house team

• Scheduling may need light coordination

• Less familiar model for some founders

Best For

On-demand engineering services are the solution every founder wants but can’t articulate. Perfect if you want a technical partnership during MVPs and v1.0 projects — before you commit to a full-time engineer. There are no ongoing costs. No added overheads. You get agency quality with freelancer flexibility.

Cost Breakdown

The pricing model means you pay as you go. Everything is tracked within the platform. Generally, you can expect to pay around $80–$140+/hr, depending on the project’s complexity and the engineer's expertise. Overall, building a feature or prototype might be a few thousand dollars (often $5k–$20k).

Side-by-Side Comparison

Which Method is Right for You?

The real question is which method is right for your product and business right now. There are four core factors: stage, budget, timeline, and complexity.

Stage

Stage is the simplest deciding factor. During the pre-funding stage, you’ll either want a co-founder or an on-demand service, depending on product complexity and long-term goals. At post-seed, it’s time to switch to a full-time hire or continue with on-demand. And then, when it’s at Series A+, the only option is a full-time team.

Budget

Budget is usually the restricting factor. Here’s a brief overview:

• <$10k — DIY, freelancer, or on-demand service

• $10k–$50k — Freelancer or on-demand service

• $50k–$100k — On-demand service or offshore

• $100k+ — Agency or full-time hire

Timeline

Then there’s the timeline. If you needed the feature or MVP yesterday, a freelancer or on-demand service is the only option. However, freelancers are a risk to quality. Over a 2–3-month period, most options are viable. And if you’ve got 6+ months to spare, searching for a co-founder or full-time hire becomes much easier.

Complexity

Finally, consider complexity. Simple products — think productivity or gym apps — are perfect for either DIY or hiring a freelancer. Anything more complicated requires either a competent freelancer or an on-demand service. And, if you’re creating a high-end SaaS-level product, you’re going to need an agency, full-time hire, or premium on-demand. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Finding an engineer or technical co-founder is full of pitfalls and perils. Accept that some mistakes will happen. That’s just part of launching a business. But you can avoid the errors everyone makes.

• Don’t go for the cheapest option. It might seem like a cost-saving at first. But long term, you’ll pay far more than you originally intended in rewrites and repairs.

• Always vet carefully. Not vetting an engineer, looking at previous work, or asking for reviews is a mistake too many people make.

• Unclear specifications or requirements. Startup engineers aren’t mind-readers. They can only meet your expectations if you clearly explain what you want, how you want it to work, and what it should look like. That’s why platforms like Lively work well because of their easy communication.

• Giving equity too freely. It’s your company. Someone else might create the product, but you carry the risk. Don’t give equity too freely. Hold onto it for as long as you need.

• Not planning for maintenance. Your product isn’t done the moment the final line of code is written. Done is never done. Maintenance is a standard part of running software. Factor it into your cost assumptions. 

The last mistake needs a special mention: speed. You might need something yesterday. However, it’s always better to get something done right than to do it quickly. 

Taking the Next Step

So, what comes next in your search for a software engineer? You’ll need to define your requirements, set a realistic budget, and work out a reasonable timeline.

Then, pick the option that works for you.

Most importantly, build strong relationships with whoever you decide to work with. Plan for continuous iteration, changes, and maintenance as the product evolves. 

Lively was designed with all these needs in mind. We make building complex simple, bringing your ideas to life. Work with elite software engineers who can build, ship, and maintain your product, so you’re free to focus on developing the idea and scaling the business. 

Get started with Lively and move from idea to working product with experienced engineers — without giving up equity or committing to a full-time hire.