Today, there are many models of cooperation with software developers. Some of the most popular approaches are working with a dedicated software development team and hiring freelancers.

Both models have advantages: the possibility of finding specialized specialists and flexibility in scaling resources according to the project needs. However, there are also essential differences in work organization, management, distribution of responsibilities, and other aspects when considering a freelance vs. full-time developer.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. It will help you make an informed decision about which model best meets your project and business needs.

What is a Dedicated Software Development Team?

A dedicated development team is a third-party group of highly skilled software developers who work exclusively on a specific project or set of tasks.

A standard dedicated team includes the following roles:

• Project managers. They are responsible for the entire development process, coordinating tasks, managing schedules, and meeting project goals. They are the main link between the development team and the customer.
• Software developers/engineers. These specialists write, test, and maintain program code. They are experts in programming languages and frameworks.
• UX/UI designers create intuitive, user-friendly, and visually appealing interfaces.
• Test engineers, as the name suggests, test software and identify bugs, glitches, or performance issues.
• DevOps engineers design, build, test, deploy, operate and monitor applications and infrastructure to enable continuous integration and continuous delivery of high quality software.
• Technical architects are responsible for creating the software architecture and making critical technical decisions.
• Business analysts link the software team and the customer’s business, collecting and analyzing requirements.

Companies usually hire dedicated teams to augment their in-house development capabilities for a major new software project or initiative or to rapidly prototype and validate new product ideas. This way, the internal workforce can focus on other important tasks.

Let’s take a look at some benefits of a dedicated development team as well as its disadvantages.

The Dedicated Software Development Team: A Dual Lens View

Dedicated development teams have several advantages over freelancers:

• Outsourcing of recruiting. Outsourcing providers specialize in finding talent with the right technical and soft skills required for particular projects. This way, the dedicated team can hit the ground running from day one with all roles filled skillfully, while companies don’t have to spend time recruiting themselves.
• Better team chemistry. It is another key benefit of dedicated teams. When the same group works together over an extended period, team members get to know each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and preferences much more intimately. This depth of understanding enables them to collaborate more effectively than scattered specialists.
• Increased productivity. As members settle into their roles and responsibilities, workflows become streamlined and intuitive. The team establishes standards and best practices that optimize their output. Team members can make reliable assumptions about each other’s work and the project’s direction.
• Better code and architecture quality. Time invested in deep discussions and thorough code reviews pays dividends in cleaner, more extensible architectures. In addition, there are more mentorship opportunities between senior and junior developers.
• Easier coordination of work. With a well-established coordination process and reporting structure, dedicated teams can eliminate much of the coordination complexity. Typically, such teams use dedicated software development platforms and tools designed specifically for collaboration, so it gets much easier to stay aligned. Team members can easily track who is working on what, exchange information, and make decisions.

However, dedicated teams have disadvantages:

• Employee churn. Even dedicated team members may leave for other opportunities. A turnover can undermine project continuity and working relationships. However, to ensure projects don’t suffer from the loss of any single expert, the provider bears responsibility for swiftly finding a replacement specialist.
• Lack of flexibility. It’s more difficult to rapidly grow or shrink a dedicated team compared to using freelancers. If business needs change suddenly, you may end up with excess capacity. Still, dedicated teams usually divide work into smaller sprints with releasable increments, allowing for more fluid priority adjustment and staffing each cycle.

Nevertheless, if you pick the right dedicated team provider, its disadvantages, in most cases, will outweigh the possible drawbacks.

Cost Implications: Analyzing the Pricing Model of Dedicated Software Development Teams

The cost of a dedicated development team can vary depending on the functionality, complexity of the project, and the technology stack used.

There are the main pricing models for dedicated teams:

• Fixed cost. Companies pay a pre-determined flat monthly rate for the team, covering all basic operational costs.
• Time and materials. Companies are billed based on the number of hours logged by team members at hourly rates for their roles and experience levels.
• Milestone-based. Charges are tied to delivering defined project milestones rather than time spent. This model directly aligns payments with the value delivered but can be complex to define and measure.

When choosing a pricing model, you should consider the scale and specifics of the project, precise requirements, budget flexibility, and other factors. Dedicated development team providers can offer favorable solutions.

Decoding Freelancers: An In-depth Look

Freelancers are self-employed professionals who work on a project basis for a specific remuneration. They typically take on short-term tasks and are not bound by labor relations with client companies.

The structure of freelancers’ work is characterized by flexibility — they can simultaneously perform tasks for different clients. Freelancers are also characterized by versatility — they can switch between projects in various spheres and companies.

As for the quality of work, it all depends on the particular freelancer. Someone conscientiously performs tasks, and someone can derail the deadlines or do the work poorly.

To assess the reliability of the programmer freelancer, you should pay attention to the reviews of previous clients, project portfolios, and work experience.

Freelancers can provide qualitative execution of project tasks where on-demand scalability and fast turnarounds take priority. By carefully choosing the right freelancer, clients can tap into the flexibility, speed, and responsiveness independent contractors offer through freelancer software development.

The Freelancer Model: Weighing the Pros and Cons

The cooperation model with freelancers has advantages and disadvantages compared to dedicated development teams.

There are significant benefits of hiring freelancers:

• Low cost.  You can achieve significant cost savings by working directly with freelance developers instead of going through a team provider that charges additionally for HR, sales, and different administrative tasks.
• Flexibility in building a team. The freelance talent market provides a variety of specialists, making it easy to curate a custom team tailored to your exact project requirements. Just engage specialists for the duration when their contributions directly boost output, then maybe try other talents next time the scope changes.
• High motivation of freelancers due to the direct dependence of payment on results. Unlike salaried staffers who earn the same regardless of effort, freelancers only get paid if they consistently deliver quality client results. There’s a direct link between their productivity and income. This incentivizes going above and beyond on assignments to secure great client reviews and repeat business.

However, this model has significant disadvantages:

• Inconsistent quality. Each freelancer brings their own approaches. When mixing multiple independent freelancers, you lose control over consistency in work methods, code style, documentation practices, testing rigor, etc.
• Intellectual property risks. Unlike dedicated team members, freelancers frequently juggle assignments simultaneously across multiple clients. Some caution is required to avoid leakage of proprietary ideas or technologies through their web of side projects.
• Unreliable availability. Freelancers inherently chase opportunities across many potential clients, making it hard to rely upon availability when you need them. Unlike dedicated teams, you can’t demand their attention whenever priorities shift.
• Coordination overhead. There’s substantial overhead managing a fluid set of independent freelance contributors rather than a unified dedicated team. You tackle all the administrative HR-type work — sourcing viable talent, screening capabilities, onboarding individals, reviewing work outputs, handling payments/contracts, and offboarding.

Thus, when working with freelancers, you have to manage more organizational tasks and risks than dedicated teams.

Dollars and Cents: Dissecting the Pricing Structure of Freelancers

Freelancers have several standard pricing models:

• Hourly billing. The freelancer sets an hourly rate, which the client pays for each hour worked.
• Pay per day. A freelancer is paid a fixed daily rate, usually equivalent to six to eight working hours.
• Pay per week. The client pays a fixed amount each week the freelancer works on the project.
• Fixed payment for the entire project. The total cost of completing the project from start to finish is negotiated.
• Value-based payment. The freelancer’s work costs are calculated on the value/benefit they create for the client’s business.

Each payment model has pros and cons, so freelancers often combine them depending on the project and the client’s preferences.

Making an Informed Decision: Dedicated Software Development Team or Freelancers?

Hiring qualified and efficient team members is crucial when launching or expanding a business. However, managers often face a dilemma — should they hire a dedicated team or outsource tasks to freelancers?

Here are the signs that hiring a dedicated software development team would be the best choice:

• You need to implement a large, complex, long-term project with precise requirements and quality standards.
• Tight coordination and collaboration between team members is required.
• Knowledge transfer and mentoring within the team is important.
• The technical scope still needs to be clearly defined. Exploration of different approaches is expected.

On the other hand, freelancers may be a better fit in the following cases:

• It would help if you had a one-time job done without further maintenance.
• The project budget is limited.
• The ability to run multiple independent subtasks in parallel is required.
• Quick turnaround is critical.

The critical difference lies in the relationship’s scope and flexibility. Dedicated teams allow close integration with the company’s processes and close attention to quality standards. Freelancers are easier to manage on a per-task basis.

Making the optimal choice depends on evaluating project needs through a freelance vs full-time developer approach. A thorough analysis of all significant factors is essential before hiring a dedicated team or engaging freelancers.