Hire the Top 3% of Freelance JavaScript Developers
Toptal is a marketplace for top remote JavaScript developers, programmers, engineers, coders, architects, and consultants. Top companies and startups can hire Toptal dedicated (full-time), hourly, or part-time JavaScript freelancers for their mission-critical software projects.
Prashant is a UI engineer and architect with more than 20 years of UI development. He likes to freelance because he gets to choose whether to take on short or long-term projects and be selective about the companies he works with. Prashant is a JavaScript guru interested in UI or JavaScript projects only. His biggest strengths are his exposure and experience of working with many npm packages, different industries, and projects.
Patrick is a full-stack JavaScript developer passionate about building web and mobile applications, UI component libraries, and open-source software. He is a highly competent UI/UX designer proficient in Figma, Sketch, and Adobe Creative Suite. Patrick has five years of engineering management experience and has worked with startups and enterprises in the fintech, healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI), music, and civics industries for the last 15 years.
Kevin specializes in PostgreSQL, JavaScript, Perl, and Haxe, among many other programming technologies he's explored since grade school. Primarily a lead desktop and full-stack developer, he enjoys project management, back-end technologies, and game development. With more than 20 years of remote work experience, Kevin excels both independently and as part of a team. Notably, he is a Pluralsight author and ranks in the top 2% on Stack Overflow.
Mina is a front-end developer with eight years of experience in web development, passionate about turning ideas into web applications. She specializes in JavaScript and uses React and Vue for smooth, user-friendly experiences. She delivered custom solutions for client needs at Monsieur Biz, Saegus, and UbiOps. Mina manages projects focusing on quality and detail. With a master's in IT and a scrum master certification, she combines technical expertise and collaboration for integrated solutions.
Matthias is a software engineer living in Munich, Germany, with over a decade of experience designing and developing apps using the best web technologies. He has a soft spot for the open-web platform and open-source software. He mostly works with JavaScript or TypeScript to develop modern software for the browser or the Node.js platform.
András is a full-stack developer with seven years of experience in JavaScript, TypeScript, React, and Node.js. In addition to a strong foundation in software development, he has conducted UX research and established design processes. This combination allows him to explore users' needs while evaluating the feasibility of potential solutions. For every project, András focuses on building the right things and building them in the right way.
Johnathan has 15 years of experience writing web apps that span consumer productivity software to mission-critical financial trading platforms. He has extensive knowledge of front-end JavaScript and browser APIs as well as significant experience with popular frameworks and libraries like React and Redux. Johnathan's deep full-stack experience includes Node.js and Express, MongoDB as well as more traditional technologies like PHP, ASP.NET, and MySQL.
Josiah is a senior full-stack developer with a strong background in all things JavaScript and front end. He loves JavaScript and building applications with Laravel. He is a CSS wizard who's built a great number of web apps from scratch, worked on enterprise web front-end teams, taught others to become front-end developers, and mentored junior front-end devs. Josiah's latest project was founding a SaaS company he ran successfully for four years before being acquired (LAMP stack/AWS/Laravel/Vue).
With over 15 years of extensive experience in web development, Tarcisio has a solid foundation in PHP, which he worked with for several years. His current focus is leveraging Go and JavaScript/TypeScript to develop robust back-end services. Tarcisio is committed to continuously learning new technologies that can help him deliver outstanding software.
Gustavo is a software engineer with 10+ years of experience in web development. He's been a bootcamp mentor on full-stack JavaScript and authored books about Node.js and JavaScript. Gustavo has gathered an expertise in many technologies working in small and large teams in different time zones, but he's currently using Node.js, MongoDB, JavaScript, React, and several libraries.
Eduardo is a full-stack developer with 5+ years of experience in JavaScript, specializing in React, Node.js, NestJS, and TypeScript. He also has expertise in Flutter, Laravel, Express.js, and Next.js. With an antifragile mindset, Eduardo adapts and remains resilient, fostering a high-performance culture, blending technical and strategic expertise, and applying best practices and optimization techniques. After revamping a legacy system—he cut load times by half and boosted user engagement by 30%.
JavaScript developers are needed in many contexts—front-end, back-end, full-stack, and mobile development can all involve JavaScript skills. This guide to hiring JavaScript developers features interview questions and best practices to help you find the perfect fit for your company’s project.
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Testimonials
Tripcents wouldn't exist without Toptal. Toptal Projects enabled us to rapidly develop our foundation with a product manager, lead developer, and senior designer. In just over 60 days we went from concept to Alpha. The speed, knowledge, expertise, and flexibility is second to none. The Toptal team were as part of tripcents as any in-house team member of tripcents. They contributed and took ownership of the development just like everyone else. We will continue to use Toptal. As a startup, they are our secret weapon.
Brantley Pace
CEO & Co-Founder
I am more than pleased with our experience with Toptal. The professional I got to work with was on the phone with me within a couple of hours. I knew after discussing my project with him that he was the candidate I wanted. I hired him immediately and he wasted no time in getting to my project, even going the extra mile by adding some great design elements that enhanced our overall look.
Paul Fenley
Director
The developers I was paired with were incredible -- smart, driven, and responsive. It used to be hard to find quality engineers and consultants. Now it isn't.
Ryan Rockefeller
CEO
Toptal understood our project needs immediately. We were matched with an exceptional freelancer from Argentina who, from Day 1, immersed himself in our industry, blended seamlessly with our team, understood our vision, and produced top-notch results. Toptal makes connecting with superior developers and programmers very easy.
Jason Kulik
Co-founder
As a small company with limited resources we can't afford to make expensive mistakes. Toptal provided us with an experienced programmer who was able to hit the ground running and begin contributing immediately. It has been a great experience and one we'd repeat again in a heartbeat.
Stuart Pocknee
Principal
How to Hire JavaScript Developers Through Toptal
1
Talk to One of Our Industry Experts
A Toptal director of engineering will work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics.
2
Work With Hand-Selected Talent
Within days, we'll introduce you to the right JavaScript developer for your project. Average time to match is under 24 hours.
3
The Right Fit, Guaranteed
Work with your new JavaScript developer for a trial period (pay only if satisfied), ensuring they're the right fit before starting the engagement.
Find Experts With Related Skills
Access a vast pool of skilled developers in our talent network and hire the top 3% within just 48 hours.
How much does it cost to hire a JavaScript developer?
The cost associated with hiring a JavaScript developer depends on various factors, including preferred talent location, complexity and size of the project you’re hiring for, seniority, engagement commitment (hourly, part-time, or full-time), and more. In the US, for example, Glassdoor’s reported average total annual pay for JavaScript developers is $154,000 as of August 2024. With Toptal, you can speak with an expert talent matcher who will help you understand the cost of talent with the right skills and seniority level for your needs. To get started, schedule a call with us — it’s free, and there’s no obligation to hire with Toptal.
How do I hire a JavaScript developer?
To hire the right JavaScript developer, it’s important to evaluate a candidate’s experience, technical skills, and communication skills. You’ll also want to consider the fit with your particular industry, company, and project. Toptal’s rigorous screening process ensures that every member of our network has excellent experience and skills, and our team will match you with the perfect JavaScript developers for your project.
Are JavaScript developers in demand?
Yes. JavaScript is the de facto front-end standard and also widely used for back-end systems, so JavaScript developers are always in demand. Full-stack developers are especially sought-after, as their arsenal of skills enable them to independently create and manage a website. But they’re not just cost-effective for small and medium-sized businesses. In many cases, having a full-stack developer working with a front-end specialist and a back-end engineer creates a strong team with smooth development, as the full stack can precisely interact with both ends and handle the middle ground, making the whole team more efficient.
How do you choose the best JavaScript developers for your project?
Besides proficiency with JavaScript and at least one back- or front-end framework, the best JavaScript web developers will follow best practices, know their way around Git, have experience maintaining a production project, and be able to quickly identify and resolve bugs. But their soft skills will also shine: effective communication and stakeholder management, strong attention to detail and a commitment to delivering high-quality work, and adaptability to thrive in the JavaScript ecosystem where frameworks, libraries, and environments are constantly changing. The best JavaScript developers will work confidently but not egoistically in order to effectively collaborate within and between teams.
How quickly can you hire with Toptal?
Typically, you can hire a JavaScript developer with Toptal in about 48 hours. For larger teams of talent or Managed Delivery, timelines may vary. Our talent matchers are highly skilled in the same fields they’re matching in—they’re not recruiters or HR reps. They’ll work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics, and match you with ideal candidates from our vetted global talent network.
Once you select your JavaScript developer, you’ll have a no-risk trial period to ensure they’re the perfect fit. Our matching process has a 98% trial-to-hire rate, so you can rest assured that you’re getting the best fit every time.
What kind of JavaScript developer can help me?
To properly answer this question, an understanding of the scope of the project is required. If you need to build a front-end-only website (without any database), then you need a front-end developer, who will usually use a framework like React, Angular, Next.js, Ember.js, Vue.js, or Svelte. If you only need to create an API or handle a database, you need a back-end developer, who will be specialized in back-end JavaScript technologies such as Node.js, MeteorJS, Backbone.js, or Express.js. Finally, if you need both front- and back-end developers—or if you’re unsure—a full-stack developer will be the safest option.
Toptal’s JavaScript (and TypeScript) developers include experts in these technologies who will be able to guide you and help you achieve your project goals.
How are Toptal JavaScript developers different?
At Toptal, we thoroughly screen our JavaScript developers to ensure we only match you with the highest caliber of talent. Of the more than 200,000 people who apply to join the Toptal network each year, fewer than 3% make the cut.
In addition to screening for industry-leading expertise, we also assess candidates’ language and interpersonal skills to ensure that you have a smooth working relationship.
When you hire with Toptal, you’ll always work with world-class, custom-matched JavaScript developers ready to help you achieve your goals.
Can you hire JavaScript developers on an hourly basis or for project-based tasks?
You can hire JavaScript developers on an hourly, part-time, or full-time basis. Toptal can also manage the entire project from end-to-end with our Managed Delivery offering. Whether you hire an expert for a full- or part-time position, you’ll have the control and flexibility to scale your team up or down as your needs evolve. Our JavaScript developers can fully integrate into your existing team for a seamless working experience.
What is the no-risk trial period for Toptal JavaScript developers?
We make sure that each engagement between you and your JavaScript developer begins with a trial period of up to two weeks. This means that you have time to confirm the engagement will be successful. If you’re completely satisfied with the results, we’ll bill you for the time and continue the engagement for as long as you’d like. If you’re not completely satisfied, you won’t be billed. From there, we can either part ways, or we can provide you with another expert who may be a better fit and with whom we will begin a second, no-risk trial.
Edoardo is a data scientist who has worked as a CTO and vice president of engineering and started multiple projects and businesses. He specializes in R&D initiatives, having created analytics and security front ends with JavaScript, as well as several highly scalable back-end APIs, scrapers, and computational projects with Node.js. Edoardo has a master’s degree in applied mathematics from the University of Warwick.
Demand for JavaScript Developers Continues to Expand
In today’s rapidly evolving technology landscape, hiring the right talent is more important than ever—which is especially true when it comes to JavaScript, the leading programming language for websites and web apps. According to the 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, JavaScript continues to dominate the programming landscape for the ninth year running—62% of professional developers use it. This immense popularity can be attributed to its versatility, ease of use, and robust ecosystem. With the advent of front-end frameworks and libraries such as Vue.js and React.js, as well as back-end ecosystems such as Node.js, JavaScript’s reach has extended far beyond the browser to server-side and even mobile application development.
As the language expands and the ecosystem improves, the need for skilled JavaScript developers continues to rise. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment of web developers—largely including those proficient in JavaScript—will grow 16% over the decade ending in 2032. This increasing demand, coupled with a limited pool of experienced JavaScript developers, has made hiring for this role particularly challenging for employers. What’s more, when hiring a JavaScript developer, you’re not just looking for one skill: A diverse set of additional skills is required, the combination of which is highly dependent on each individual project. Consequently, the search for a candidate with the right complex skill set can seem even more daunting without the sufficient guidance.
In this hiring guide, we discuss the essential skills and knowledge a top JavaScript developer should possess, as well as the significance of understanding popular frameworks and libraries. We delve into strategies for identifying candidates, such as crafting effective job descriptions, leveraging online assessments, and evaluating their problem-solving abilities, to find developers who can excel in your organization—whether you’re a startup, SMB, or enterprise company. Finally, we explore best practices for onboarding and retaining top talent.
What Attributes Distinguish Quality JavaScript Developers From Others?
JavaScript is ubiquitous; therefore, JavaScript developers are ubiquitous as well. However, the sector in which JavaScript has its firmest grip is web development, both for the front end (the website as the user sees it) and the back end (what happens behind the scenes). Since there is limited overlap between the skills required for front- and back-end development, JavaScript roles are commonly separated along those lines:
Front End
A front-end developer typically uses a framework like Vue.js, Angular.js or Ember, and libraries like Redux, React.js and jQuery, together with components and raw CSS, JavaScript, and HTML, in order to create the client-side (user-facing) portion of a project. Front-end developers can complete some projects themselves—websites that involve no data storage, for example—but in a team context are often complementary to one or more back-end developers.
Back End
A back-end developer deals with all the processes that run on a central server instead of a user’s computer. A developer using JavaScript for back-end development will very often be a Node.js developer. Back-end developers are also responsible for user authentication, working with APIs, and performing database operations (using MongoDB or MySQL, for example). Nowadays, their code usually runs in the cloud, so experience with cloud platforms and deployment is a key skill to look for in candidates.
Full Stack
A full-stack developer is versed in both front- and back-end development. Usually, it takes time to become so well rounded. However, with the vast number of frameworks and libraries available, it has become more and more achievable to be a full-stack JavaScript developer without having accrued many years of experience.
Note: While full-stack developers have a breadth of knowledge, it’s typical for some candidates to be stronger in front-end development with others stronger in back-end development. Be sure to understand your needs to ensure you hire the best candidate for your project.
Simply put, finding a quality JavaScript engineer with the right expertise is key to transforming your project idea into reality.
How Can You Identify the Ideal JavaScript Developer for You?
When hiring a JavaScript developer, it’s essential to consider their technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, and experience with relevant frameworks and libraries. The best JavaScript developers have not only a large portfolio and a track record of delivering high-quality projects, but also modern coding habits in line with the evolution of ECMAScript—JavaScript’s formal specification.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to identifying the perfect candidate for your project, but these are the three most important aspects to take into consideration:
Is the project starting from scratch?
When starting from scratch, look for an experienced developer who has participated in the greenfield stage of production-grade JavaScript or has maintained an existing project for at least a year; this is fundamental. Unwise architectural decisions will have a compounding effect on the final product and its long-term maintenance costs.
Is there tech stack overlap?
JavaScript’s very large ecosystem increases the importance of specialization when hiring JavaScript developers. An experienced developer whose skills match your project’s tech stack and tooling may be more effective than an expert JavaScript generalist. For front-end JavaScript experts, check for experience with APIs and your project’s specific framework. Similarly, for back-end developers, look for matches in frameworks, authentication methods, and other libraries.
Will they be under the supervision of a senior developer?
If there’s a senior JavaScript or TypeScript developer on the in-house team who will be able to oversee the candidate, then you can opt for a developer with less experience, especially if they’re motivated. A passionate junior can do wonders if trained well, while being an economical choice. However, you can’t expect a junior developer to work on large features for at least the first few months, or their need for assistance will likely consume too much of their peers’ time.
To summarize, start your hiring process by clearly defining your project’s needs, skills gap, and problem statement(s). Then use that context to inform the level of developer you will hire. If your project requires starting from scratch or designing a new core feature, investing in expert talent is justified. However, for less-complex tasks or when working with a limited budget, a junior developer who will have adequate supervision or a mid-level developer with previous experience in the right skills can be a cost-effective solution.
Regardless of project context, there are many common skills to look for when seeking to hire JavaScript programmers:
Understanding of JavaScript syntax and data structures, such as arrays and objects, is the most basic requirement for a JavaScript developer—they cannot write code without it.
Knowledge of asynchronous programming, event handling, and callbacks is very important, allowing apps to accomplish tasks in parallel. When working with web technology in particular, developers will use external connections often, for example, to fetch images from storage, make database requests, and call APIs. Without asynchronous programming, most server requests would cause webpages to take several seconds to load—a surefire way to lose customers.
Understanding of web development concepts, such as REST APIs, HTTP requests, and web security are key elements to look for in both front- and back-end JavaScript developers, as they involve how a website communicates with the back end and receives the required information to display to the user. A skilled developer will be able to implement APIs and security measures to protect applications from threats, ensuring seamless and safe user experiences.
Experience with version control (aka source control) systems, such as Git, is a necessity for any developer, including juniors, as it allows collaborating on large development teams, tracking code changes (to allow for backtracking), and resolving conflicts, all of which are integral throughout the project lifecycle.
Knowledge of software design patterns and coding best practices allows developers to create maintainable, scalable, and, most importantly, readable code, making it easier for other developers to collaborate or take over projects.
The ability to write modular code makes it easier to understand, test, and maintain a large codebase. It allows for easier tracking of issues, simpler updates, and lower likelihood of conflicts between developers’ updates. A typical characteristic of more experienced developers is the ability to write properly modularized code.
Understanding testing and debugging techniques is one of the most important aspects of a developer’s job and also one of the most differentiating attributes between junior and senior developers. Bugs are part of the lifecycle of apps. So a developer should have no trouble writing unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests; know how to create a good test environment; and be adept at finding bugs quickly.
There are three more key technical skills that only apply to front-end development:
HTML, CSS, and DOM manipulation are the building blocks of the design of a website, and any front-end developer candidate should have experience using them. DOM manipulation encapsulates changes to a website that are visible to the user, for example, animations or single-page apps. Even though modern frameworks have reduced the need for developers to work on these aspects, good candidates still need to know what’s happening behind the scenes to be effective.
Proficiency in using JavaScript frameworks and libraries, such as Angular, Vue, React, and Redux, requires the ability to leverage these tools to build efficient, scalable, and maintainable web applications. Skilled developers understand the unique features, best practices, and nuances of each framework, enabling them to create interactive user interfaces and optimize application performance. It’s common for developers to concentrate their experience in a particular framework, so it’s worth filtering for this with projects where the framework has already been chosen.
Familiarity with browser compatibility issues and cross-browser testing involves understanding the differences among browsers and their rendering engines. Skilled developers address these discrepancies and perform cross-browser testing to ensure consistent user experiences across various platforms, devices, and browser versions, optimizing the application’s accessibility and reach.
Now that you know what you’re looking for among JavaScript developers for hire, you’re ready to craft a job description.
How to Write a JavaScript Developer Job Description for Your Project
Start with a solid template and include as many details as possible to try to narrow the channel of prospective applicants and thereby avoid drowning in applications. Here are some specific points you might include about your project:
Your tech stack, tools, and industry
Whether the project is new or in process
The estimated length of the project
The expected outcome
Current team members’ skills and gaps
Whether you are looking to hire full-time, part-time, or freelance JavaScript developers
Whether the position is remote, partly remote, or fully on-site
For remote positions, the time zone the developer must work in, if applicable
Companies looking to hire JavaScript developers may also want to approach the job description as one for:
What Are the Most Important JavaScript Developer Interview Questions?
Interviews are more likely to yield a more balanced assessment if they include a mix of contextual questions—higher-level discussions about a project’s technical decisions or issues encountered—and more technical questions like these:
What is the difference between the concepts of null and undefined in JavaScript? And how do you handle them?
Null represents an intentional absence of any object value, while undefined represents a variable that has been declared but has not been assigned a value.
If a developer doesn’t need to know whether the variable is null or undefined, they can use a standard equality check against null; if they do, they’ll need a strict equality check. A good follow-up question: Ask the candidate to explain a time when they faced a situation needing a null check and the reasoning behind whether it needed to be strict or not.
What is the difference between the equality (==) and strict equality (===) operator? When should you use which?
The equality operator performs type coercion, which means it attempts to convert the operands to a common type before making the comparison. The strict equality operator never converts before comparing.
The equality operator is quite dangerous to use and is generally frowned upon since it can yield unexpected results, like the fact that an empty string is considered equal to the number zero when the two are coerced to the same type.
What are the differences between let, const, and var in JavaScript?
var is function-scoped and can be redeclared and reassigned. let and const are block-scoped, and let allows reassignment, while const does not.
It can also be fruitful to discuss a candidate’s choice of various tools and libraries for your upcoming JavaScript use cases.
Lastly, as with the job description, it’s worth including questions about more specific technologies, e.g. Node.js, that are pertinent to your project.
Why Do Companies Hire JavaScript Developers?
Businesses can leverage just about any programming language to meet their goals. But what benefits does JavaScript provide over other languages? How does it help companies improve their bottom lines?
One of the language’s key benefits is its versatility. Increasingly, projects can be written from start to finish using only JavaScript; it can carry out front-end, back-end, authentication, data processing, and other operations. This quality of JavaScript enables developers to work much more seamlessly when every component in a project’s stack uses the same language. Such uniformity promotes efficient resource sharing and simplifies development processes. For example, data validation is often done on both the front end (for a performant user experience) and the back end (for security). JavaScript allows both implementations to use the same file, rather than requiring a pair of files that can easily end up being an out-of-sync source of security holes and user-repelling bugs, both of which can negatively impact financial performance.
Additionally, JavaScript’s extensive scope has led to numerous areas of specialization within the language, each with its own frameworks, libraries, and conventions. Hiring managers who understand this nuance are a great asset. For example, they’ll recognize that a React programmer has a better chance than an Express.js specialist at short-term effectiveness on a React Native project—which is good to know because anyone looking to hire JavaScript developers will see résumés with varying combinations of the three.
If you find yourself in the early stages of the hiring or architectural processes, you may still be considering the merits of JavaScript versus Java, TypeScript, Python, and/or PHP. So how do you know which programming language is best for your next project?
All these languages rival JavaScript for web development, and each one has its pros and cons:
JavaScript versus Java – Java is one of the most common general-purpose software development languages. Java has been a back-end option longer than JavaScript, and remains a significant back-end competitor. But to hire a Java developer over a JavaScript developer would negate the aforementioned uniformity benefits—which is equally true for Python and PHP.
JavaScript versus Python – Python is also very popular as a general-purpose language, particularly for data science and machine learning applications. For larger teams and projects, a Python specialist can leverage these benefits separately from a JavaScript or TypeScript back-end developer.
JavaScript versus PHP – PHP is an immensely popular language for back-end web development, its primary purpose. WordPress and Laravel’s popularity keep it well ahead of any challengers. Nonetheless, JavaScript is more desired and more admired by developers than PHP.
JavaScript versus TypeScript – TypeScript is one of the fastest-growing programming languages. TypeScript is a safer version of JavaScript, which should be the preference for any new projects whenever possible. TypeScript can import JavaScript; therefore, a project can mix the two languages, making for a smooth transition and likely explaining its impressive popularity growth. TypeScript is the only language to share the benefits of uniformity with JavaScript. Many high-performing JavaScript developers will know TypeScript or be able to pick it up quickly.
But among these, only TypeScript—since its code gets converted to browser-native JavaScript—offers any serious front-end competition so far; Java, PHP, and Python are back-end languages in a web context. This may change, though, as Python can now be executed in the browser through PyScript.
In this guide, we covered several key aspects of JavaScript development and how to use knowledge of them to your advantage when vetting the candidates in your talent pool. We described the difference between the front-end, back-end, and full-stack roles of a JavaScript developer. We also mentioned the key skills and traits to look for when hiring a JavaScript developer and how to gauge the relevance of a candidate’s experience within the vast ecosystem of frameworks and libraries. Finally, we briefly discussed what to include in a job description and interview to maximize each element’s effectiveness.
Whether you’re looking specifically for a TypeScript programmer, a Node.js engineer, an Angular expert, a full-stack developer, or some other JavaScript specialist, you’re now well equipped to find the right match for your project within an impressively broad subfield of software engineering.