Every entrepreneur seeks to get a high-quality product for a reasonable price. Today, augmented reality development services are offered both by specialized digital companies and freelancers, working independently. Many customers prefer collaboration with freelancers. This is not at all surprising, because they are attracted by the low cost of work. But do not be too superficial in such a judgment. If your project is simple or you need only certain specific services, then yes, it is more profitable for you to hire a freelance developer. But for large, complex projects that will need the services of more than one specialist, in the end, the costs will be rather high.

To find a suitable candidate, it is enough to visit specialized online platforms. Among freelancers you can meet both students and experienced professionals. And even if a freelancer has a large number of completed projects, this does not mean that he is a good worker, because the quality of these projects can be very doubtful, the code may be poorly written, and the overall work of such an application would be unsatisfactory. Even when you look for reviews about such platforms, you will find many negative ones — a large number of freelancers have a great deal of negative feedbacks and comments from dissatisfied customers.

Also, you should understand that there's a possibility that you will be communicating with representatives of the platform, instead of the person you have chosen to work on your project. So, your chances of finding out how professional a team or a person who works for you remotely are scanty, as well as the possibility of fruitful communication and successful discussion of your technical task. Developers may change on different stages of your project, and their qualification
will vary dramatically too.

That is, until you get to the final stage, your initial developer can be transferred to another task, and the junior developer will be completing his endeavors, which will affect the quality of a final product a lot.

And if you choose digital agency all contacts will be happening directly with the people who work on your project — develop the app and are involved in its launching. It will also help to establish professional contacts in the future. So, when deciding where to order AR development, it is important to evaluate this matter from all sides. When freelancers are considered, that is:

No contract. As a rule, less than 90% of freelancers agree to sign it. Ask yourself, in this case, will your contractor guarantee the quality of the final product if there is no written contract in which it is spelled out? The absence of this document leads to the fact that your order may not meet the specified requirements, and will fail to meet deadline. Thus, effective protection of your rights when working with a freelancer is limited;

The possibility that the performer will disappear. When ordering AR development from an unknown specialist and giving him/her a deposit, you should not forget that he/she can just go silent. When choosing a freelancer, you should pay attention to the portfolio, impeccable reputation and feedback on the completed tasks, though you still can never
be 100% sure about the reliability and authenticity of this information;

• Performance of many functions by one specialist. If you still decided to entrust the AR development to a freelancer, remember that he/she will simultaneously fulfill the role of a programmer, designer, and promotion specialist. Of course, then you should not hope for a high-quality work in such a situation — if the freelancer takes on more than he can handle, it can lead to a weakening of the final product. The code may not be of a good quality, and tasks may not always be understood correctly and performed according to customer requirements.

• Instability. The root of the word 'freelancer' is 'free', which means that today your developer responds promptly to requests to fix the bugs in the project he has developed and tomorrow he decides to change the profession — he is completely free, he is not constrained by contracts, investments in the creation and promotion of the company, employees who need to be very carefully selected. He quits the programming quickly and forever, and in order to fix your product you need to look for another specialist for whom it will not be an easy task to deal with someone else's project. This draws significant time loss, unforeseen additional money investments and stressful condition for everyone.

No matter how skilled a specialist may be, he can surely be called a professional only in a single field. It is difficult for a designer to cope with programming work, whereas a programmer does not have the insight of promotion. It'll be hard to avoid the occurrence of deficiencies in the project in this situation. That is why it is recommended to work with reputable companies when developing you AR app. Their competitive advantages are following:

• Guaranteed result, which is possible through the signing of the contract. You will receive your AR application in a strictly agreed period of time for the money you expected. Or an agency will give you back the money (and maybe even pay extra for the inconvenience). There is a possibility that some improvements may be needed, which you did not think about when drawing up the terms of reference, but you will definitely see the result. Your right to receive what you ordered is protected by law. The existence of a contract between the customer and the contractor ensures the first one to receive a quality finished project, and the second one to pay for the services provided, because an agency takes its responsibility for it;

• Strict deadlines on the order delivery, specified at the conclusion of the contract. Due to this, you will get a result in a timely manner without delays caused by plausible and not very reasons, typical when cooperating with freelancers. The level of experience directly depends on the number of completed projects, and here it is difficult for a freelancer to compete with a digital agency. Working alone, a freelancer is unlikely to ever take more than 2-3 projects at a time, and it takes much more time for him to complete them than for a digital agency;

• Support after the completion of the rendered services. Working with the professionals from the digital agency, you can be sure that first of all they are interested in achieving their goals and are responsible for the finished product quality in order to maintain their brand reputation at a high level. So, if after the delivery of the project you need help, they will readily answer all questions and resolve any problems. Working with a digital agency on one project can be the beginning of close cooperation in the future, because such firms always value their reputation and customer reviews. For them, you are not just one of the customers — your project is appreciated, and your feedback is something that is highly valued;

• The presence of a large staff of specialists. Unlike a freelancer who 'works solo', a digital agency has a staff of multi-faceted specialists who guarantee an integrated approach to your idea. Team focus on shared goals provides better communication between process participants. This results in smoother, more coordinated work. In addition, when you have a group of people working together, you can come up with more creative ideas. And each of them is engaged exclusively in the performance of the work they specialize in the best, which ensures the best possible outcome.

Thus, cooperation with a digital agency becomes the best solution for entrepreneurs. Its specialists have been working together for a long time, which means they know the requirements of their colleagues and are able to easily discuss emerging issues and deal with difficulties quickly. Trusting digital agency with the AR development, an entrepreneur with a probability of 100% can achieve serious success and bring the company to a new level.

If you expect fast and high-quality results for free — this is from the realm of fantasy. The optimal combination of quality and price makes it possible for you to calculate the budget and negotiate all possibilities with the digital agency. Therefore, before you get involved in a high-speed adventure — evaluate your capabilities and answer the question: Will I have enough time and money to redo everything if something goes wrong?

So, summing up, you'll need to answer a couple of questions in our check box in order to understand what model fits your business the best:

• What kind of a project do you have?

If you have a small, simple project you need to quickly implement that even a junior developer can handle, if you're ready for delays and the possibility of redoing the whole thing from the scratch in case your freelance developer quit the project in the middle, then working with a freelancer will not be a problem for you. If you have a large, complex project that will need the services of more than one specialist, the exceptional quality of the final product with structured code and a strict deadline then a digital agency is the best decision.

• What is your budget? Are you ready to pay twice or lose your money?

Keep in mind that when dealing with digital agency you pay only once and the sum that is specified in your contract agreement. When working with a freelancer there's a possibility of carrying extra expenses if you are not satisfied with the final result or even lose your money if the person you've found for the project turn out to be a scum.

• Do you want to ensure your right to get quality final product in time by signing a contract?

Choose digital agency where your rights will be protected by law and all specifications will be written down and if you are not satisfied with the product you get in the output your money will be returned or you may even have an additional money compensation for the inconveniences.

• Do you want an exceptional quality application with professionally written code and guaranteed technical support after its implementation?

Choose digital agency where team is more professional, more coordinated and treats your project like their own. Making creative and outstanding product is their №1 priority as your satisfaction with a final product is what really matters to them because their brand reputation and your further cooperation depend on it. In case of freelancer once he has done his work — he's free to go — unlikely he'll be supporting your app after its launching, as he'll be busy with new orders and will not spend time on answering all the questions that may arise.

• Do you want a quick response communication that allows to monitor your project at different stages of development cycle?

Choose digital agency where a team of professionals will provide you with a thorough feedback on any matter you're interested in as fast as possible. In case of freelancer everything is different — either he/she may not respond for a long time and keep you in the dark or you'll be communicating with people who have nothing to do with your project and will not be able to give you information you're interested in.

So, if you want a successfully completed project with no delays, that will take your business to a qualitatively new level, then better make a note of these advices.

If you are ready to turn you concept into a marketable AR product, we invite you to partner with us. We bring innovative solutions to companies around the world, and we specialize in AR technology. Our world-class developers are experts in AR platforms, mobile app development, and in creating feature-rich solutions that are also scalable and robust.

Why not contact us today for a no-cost consultation?