When hiring developers beats ordering a project
A fixed-price project makes sense when the scope is clear and the product has a launch date. Hiring developers makes sense when:
- you already have a product team and need Telegram-specific skills for months, not weeks;
- the roadmap changes weekly and you want to set priorities yourself;
- you are building a platform (marketplace, game with live-ops, trading app) where releases never stop;
- you tried hiring locally and found that Telegram Mini App experience is rare and expensive.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, a senior full-stack developer with Mini App experience costs $150,000–$220,000 per year plus recruiting time. A dedicated developer from our team costs $66,000–$114,000 per year, starts in days and can be scaled up or down with two weeks’ notice.
Roles and rates
| Role | What they do | Monthly (full-time) |
|---|---|---|
| Frontend developer (React/Vue + Telegram SDK) | Screens, SDK integration, performance, theming | $5,500–$8,000 |
| Backend developer (Node.js / Python) | APIs, payments, initData validation, admin panels | $6,000–$8,500 |
| Full-stack Mini App developer | End-to-end features, bot + app + backend | $6,500–$9,000 |
| Game developer (Phaser / Unity WebGL) | Game loop, economy, performance on WebView | $6,500–$9,500 |
| TON smart contract engineer (FunC / Tact) | Jettons, NFT, escrow, TON Connect, audits | $7,500–$9,500 |
| QA engineer | Test plans, device matrix, automation | $4,000–$5,500 |
| Project manager (part-time) | Sprints, reporting, stakeholder communication | $1,500–$3,000 |
Hourly engagements are billed at $50–$85 per hour with weekly reports. Minimum engagement is 40 hours.
How the engagement works
- Brief (day 0). You describe the stack, the product and the working hours. A 30-minute call is enough.
- Profiles (48 hours). We send two or three matched developers with Telegram project summaries and availability.
- Interview (days 2–4). Your technical interview, optionally a paid trial task.
- Start (day 5). Access to your repositories, task tracker and chat. Daily standups in your time zone.
- Reporting. Weekly written summary and time log; monthly invoice in USD, GBP, EUR or AED.
What our developers know that generic developers learn the hard way
- Validating
initDataserver-side with the bot token HMAC, and what happens to sessions when the user switches devices. - The difference between Mini App launch modes (menu button, inline button, direct link, attachment menu) and how
startappparameters drive deep links and referrals. - Telegram Stars rules: which goods must use Stars, how refunds and subscriptions work, how to reconcile payments with
successful_paymentupdates. - TON Connect flows in the Telegram Wallet versus Tonkeeper, and how to keep gas and transaction confirmation from breaking the UX.
- Viewport behavior on iOS when the keyboard opens, safe areas in fullscreen mode, the back button and closing confirmations.
- What gets a bot restricted: unsolicited broadcasts, deceptive referral mechanics, misuse of Stars.
Engagement models
- Dedicated developer. Full-time, your tools, your priorities. Best for long-running products.
- Part-time. 20 hours per week for maintenance or a secondary roadmap.
- Dedicated team. Two to six engineers with a project manager and QA, managed by us, reporting to you.
- Project-based. If you prefer a fixed scope and price, see full-cycle development.
Send the brief through the estimate form or on Telegram; profiles arrive within two business days.
* All prices and ranges on this page are indicative. The final cost is calculated for each project individually and depends on the complexity of the task, the number of developers and specialists required, and the delivery timeline you set. Use the ranges to understand the typical bracket, not as a fixed offer; the fixed price is confirmed in writing after scoping. Read our pricing terms.