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Bubble is changing the face of software development. The NoCode/Visual Development platform that was founded in 2012 recently announced they have over 2,000,000 users. It allows non-technical founders and entrepreneurs to launch apps in a relatively short period of time. Demand for bubble.io developers has surged as more and more people look to benefit from the speed and flexibility of the platform.
While the learning curve with bubble.io isn't as steep as with traditional software development, it's still not easy. It takes time for people to become comfortable with concepts like repeating groups, API integrations and responsive layouts. More advanced bubble developers should also have an understanding of things like efficient database structures, scheduled workflows and SEO optimisation.
Thats why a lot of founders/entrepreneurs look to freelancers and agencies to help them with their app. There are several places you can find bubble.io developers.
There are pros and cons to each of these platforms. I'll give an overview of what to look for when hiring a bubble.io developer using any of these routes.
The Jobs / Freelance section of the bubble forum is specifically designed for people looking to hire bubble.io developers. The forum is very active and most posts requesting a developer tend to get multiple responses.
However, the high volume of responses is a double-edged sword.
Anyone can sign up for a forum account and reply to posts. This means you can get a lot of responses from low-quality / beginner bubble.io developers. I recommend following some basic steps to assess the quality of the developer (see section below).
There are currently over 200 agencies listed on the bubble.io agency page. It's important to know that being listed on this page "does not constitute an official endorsement by Bubble or partnership with Bubble". In order to get featured on the agency page, you simply need to be subscribed to an agency plan and verify some basic details bubble.
Which isn't exactly the highest bar for low-quality agencies.
That said, there are some fantastic agencies listed on the agency page. Each bubble agency will have contact details and you can also submit a request for proposal. This allows you to provide details on your project and receive proposals from interested agencies.
You can find bubble developers on freelancing platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. It is possible to find high quality developers on these platforms, but it usually takes at least a few attempts to find someone you can work with.
A word of warning: you'll probably find a number of seemingly inexpensive bubble developers on these freelancing sites.
Unfortunately, it's a case of getting what you pay for. Starting rates for high quality bubble.io developers are $100/hour. So if you see someone quoting their services for $20/hour, that developer may not have the experience or skills necessary for your project.
There are a large number of YouTube channels that have tutorials on building products/features with bubble.io (like mine!). If you come across a channel you like, check out the description of their videos or the channels about page. Many prominent bubble YouTubers will be open to doing freelancing/consulting work.
Watching their videos also gives you a sense of what kind of personality they have - an important consideration if you're going to be working with someone on a project.
One thing to note when watching bubble tutorials on YouTube is that the production quality of a video doesn't necessarily signal the quality of a bubble developer. There are quite a few most useful bubble tutorial videos don't have the highest view count or best production quality.
Bubble twitter is a hive of activity. You'll often find bubble developers posting screenshots/videos of their most recent work, debating the latest bubble update or sharing helpful tips on making a workflow more efficient.
There are several twitter lists of bubble.io developers. Follow a few of these and see if anything catches your eye. Feel free to send a DM to developers you think you'd like to work with. Many will be open to requests for work.
A search for "bubble.io developers" on Linkedin currently throws up 360+ results. This number is growing every day as the bubble ecosystem expands. The nice thing about hiring bubble.io developers from Linkedin is that you can see their professional history - an important part in doing due diligence on anyone you're going to work with (see below).
Now that you have an idea on where to find a bubble developer, the next step is figuring out if they're any good. It's obviously quite difficult to assess a developer before actually working with them, but there are a number of things you can do to improve your odds:
Most professional bubble developers will have worked on a number of client projects. Ask for the names of these apps and do a bit of investigating. When doing this, it's important to establish what exactly the developer worked on. Many apps will have been worked on by a number of different people, so find out whether it was the UI/UX, API integrations, database structuring or something else that your prospective bubble developer was responsible for.
Client references are an excellent way to discover any potential red flags. Even a quick email just to confirm that the developer did indeed work on the project they claimed is useful.
If your developer claims to have worked on client projects but it is unwilling to provide any references, this may be a sign that they're being less-than-honest.
Bubble is a relatively new platform. While it was founded in 2012, most developers have really only started using the platform in the past 2-3 users. So it's not a deal-breaker if the bubble developer you're considering hiring doesn't have 10 years of experience.
But they should probably have more than 6 months of building with bubble.
Exceptions can be made. If the developer was previously a software engineer or a UI/UX Designer then you may be more comfortable hiring them, even if they don't have as much experience as you'd otherwise like.
How quickly do they respond to emails? Do they answer the questions you've asked or are they being indirect in their responses?
I've both hired freelancers and been hired by companies as a bubble freelancer over the years. Communication is easily one of the most important aspects in making a client-developer relationship run smoothly. Your bubble developer will likely encounter problems and roadblocks when building your app. You should expect this.
But you should not expect weeks of silence, with no indication of what they're working on. This does happen and can be incredibly frustrating for the client.
Hopefully this guide has been helpful! If you're looking to hire a bubble developer/freelancer/consultant feel free to contact me. Even if I'm not available to work on your project, I may be able to point you in the direction of another bubble developer who can.