Head-to-head
Hayaiti vs. Lemon.io
Lemon.io is a marketplace of 1,500+ manually vetted contract developers with a 24-hour average match time, 2.3M hours billed since 2015, and a ~1-year average partnership length. Their funnel rejects ~99% of applicants (resume → soft skills 10.6% pass → technical 3.1% → listing 1.2%) and they lean hard into 'no AI bulls%$t — we vet 100% manually'. You're hiring a contractor, not buying a deliverable — scope, code review, and delivery stay on you.
Quick verdict
If you're choosing between us and Lemon.io…
Pick Hayaiti if
You know what you need (landing page, MVP, internal tool, audit), you want to see numbers before you talk to anyone, and you want it shipped in days not quarters.
Pick Lemon.io if
You need to scale beyond 1–2 contractors with vetted senior devs for open-ended engagements (3–12+ months), you have someone in-house to manage them, and you prefer a marketplace where you pick and run the developer yourself.
Side by side
Capability
Hayaiti
usLemon.io
What Lemon.io does well
- Genuine 1.2% acceptance funnel — 100% manual vetting, explicitly no AI screening
- ~24 hour average match time from a pool of 1,500+ developers
- Devs with past employers like Airbnb, Microsoft, Samsung, Nokia, Farfetch, Boeing, Volvo
- Strong third-party trust signals (Trustpilot, G2, Clutch badges prominent on site)
- Month-to-month terms with 'switch hires at no cost' — low commitment risk
- 1-year average partnership duration suggests real stickiness once matched
- Best fit when you need to scale a team beyond 1–2 contractors quickly
Where Lemon.io struggles
- It's a marketplace — YOU manage the developer, scope, code review, and delivery
- Pricing is opaque on the homepage; you have to use the footer rate calculator
- Hourly billing means budget drifts with scope and velocity
- No fixed timeline, no fixed price, no refund tied to a shipped outcome
- Quality is per-developer — even with a 1.2% funnel, some matches won't fit
- You inherit single-contractor risk on each hire (illness, vacation, churn)
Honest take
When Lemon.io is the better choice
You need to scale beyond 1–2 contractors with vetted senior devs for open-ended engagements (3–12+ months), you have someone in-house to manage them, and you prefer a marketplace where you pick and run the developer yourself.
We're not the right answer for everything. If your situation fits the line above, Lemon.iowill likely give you a better outcome than we will. We'd rather you know that now.
Our take
When Hayaiti is the better choice
You know what you need (landing page, MVP, internal tool, audit), you want to see numbers before you talk to anyone, and you want it shipped in days not quarters.
You're also not paying for slack. Every SKU is fixed price, fixed timeline, source code in your repo from day one. If we miss the deadline, we refund 25% — that risk lives with us, not you.
Pricing breakdown
Hayaiti
$2,495
Fixed-price SKUs · optional monthly subscription
Published on the pricing page. No proposal cycle.
Lemon.io
Contact for rate
Hourly contractor (rate calculator in footer, no homepage pricing)
Verify at lemon.io
Worked example
If you needed a 6-week web app built
Through Lemon.io: you'd post a brief, get matched with a vetted contractor in days, and pay an hourly rate. You'd own scope, project management, and code review. Total cost depends on hours logged — could be cheaper or pricier than a fixed bid, but you carry the variance.
Through Hayaiti: you'd pick the matching SKU on our pricing page, see the price and timeline before any call, pay 50% to start, and have working code in your repo on day one. We refund 25% if we miss the published deadline.
Both approaches work. Pick based on which trade-offs match how you want to operate.
Still weighing the options?
See our published pricing — or grab a free 15-minute audit and we'll tell you straight up if we're the right fit.