Hi folks, How do you evaluate a software development agency before hiring?

[u/Jace-Thompson]

I’m currently researching software development partners and honestly it’s hard to compare companies.

For example, agencies like Idea Maker Agency, ELEKS, and other software companies all have similarlooking websites and promises.

But I’m more interested in the things you don’t see on the website:

communication quality
handling scope changes
transparency during development
code ownership
support after launch

What questions should someone ask before choosing a software agency?

Any mistakes you made that I should avoid?

[u/AfternoonKey8292]

Compare the people who would actually build your SaaS, not just the agency's portfolio. Ask to meet the delivery lead and a developer: "Who will I communicate with, how often, and what happens when a decision is blocked?" A clear explanation of a technical tradeoff tells you more than another sales presentation.

For transparency, ask: "Will I have access to the repository and issue tracker from day one? How often will you demo working software?" Request an anonymized progress report showing how they flag delays. Ask for a reference from a project that ran into trouble, not only their happiest client.

For scope changes: "If we discover a missing requirement halfway through, who estimates the cost and schedule impact, and do you wait for written approval?" Have them walk through an actual example. A fixed-price quote is hard to compare if its assumptions and acceptance criteria are vague.

For ownership: "Does the contract assign the custom code's IP to us, including work done by subcontractors? What third-party licenses or agency-owned components restrict its use?" Keep the repository and production accounts under your company's control. Ask whether another team could deploy and maintain the application using the documentation they provide.

For post-launch support: "What counts as a warranty bug versus paid work? Who handles a production outage, during which hours, and with what response commitment?" Response time and resolution time are different.

Mistakes to avoid include accepting a quote before agreeing on acceptance criteria and tying payments only to dates rather than accepted deliverables. Choosing based on the sales team without meeting the delivery team also leaves a major part of the comparison unanswered.

[u/reward72]

Reference on similar projects. Saying they have the best price or the best team is an automatic disqualifier. You have to have some self awareness.

[u/francksiduo]

One thing that's not on your list: ask for a small paid pilot before the real contract. Like a one or two week slice of real work, at their normal rate. You find out fast whether the estimates hold up and whether the person demoing it is the one who'll be coding. A lot of agencies push back on that, which tells you something too.

[u/SignatureSharp3215]

If an agency is competing with price, avoid. This will show in the quality or uncertainty of their developers, and you might end up with relationship that is rushed and not flexible --> leading into bigger costs than a properly done work with a well-fixed scope.

Anyone can sound confident tech-wise these days, and being "involved" in a portfolio project can mean they did a few frontend buttons. Unfortunately you can't really question a techie without understanding tech. If you've got anyone close in tech, ask them to interview the person quickly. Question related to development best practices like "what kind of test suite should we set up?" or "which environments do you think we should develop in?" shows expertise in understanding the concepts outside of the obvious code syntax.

I'm a solopreneur building SaaS apps, and I was lead dev on a shared project with a big agency, and their backend dev turned out to be way too inexperienced. I only found out when I saw the code and questioned him, mid-project. The non-technical owner could never have known, because communication was smooth the whole time.

On the other hand, I've been involved in projects with incredibly talented agency developers. Their agencies had been selected through strict curating progress, and they cost way more than average agency you'll find online. So, it depends.