Hi, I’m Ali Elzeiny, a former Principal Engineer at TikTok and 3x founder. RocketDevs is basically what I wish I had when I started my founder journey.

You’d think being a technical guy I’d get hiring right from day one. Nope.

When I was building my first startup (Creatorfy.com), I spent months solo-coding myself into burnout. Then came my worst business decision ever: I hired my cousin. I figured, “He’s smart. I’ll teach him!” And I did. In two months, he learned the basics… and promptly took a job somewhere else. Didn't even say "thanks bro".

So yeah. My first dev hire was basically a fully-paid bootcamp. For him.

But there was one unexpected upside. While I was in Egypt training him, I gave a guest lecture about GraphQL at a university in Cairo. The students’ questions blew me away. Up to that point, I’d bought into the myth that Western devs were just better. That moment shattered it. I realized great talent is everywhere... and if I could find and vet the best global developers, I’d get way more bang for my buck.

That lesson is baked into RocketDevs: a lean, founder-first way to build with proven talent I’d stake my own company on.

Here are some clear, objective reasons why RocketDevs crushes other options, both in daily execution and on your budget. Perfect for early-stage or bootstrapped founders building an MVP.

Agencies

rocketdevs
Agencies are really great at promising things before they get your money. But behind the scenes? There’s little transparency on who, when, or how your project is getting done.

Only 56% of clients report being satisfied with their current agency relationship: a major red flag highlighting widespread delivery and transparency problems.
Refunds are rare. Fewer than 5% of agencies offer any real guarantee if things go south.

The underlying problem is there’s zero transparency behind the scenes about who’s actually doing your work or how qualified they are.

This can easily lead to inconsistent quality, wasted time, and frustration. Not saying all agencies are bad, but if something goes wrong, you can pretty much forget about getting your money back.

Upwork

rocketdevs vs upwork
Upwork is a huge global marketplace, which means anyone can sign up and claim they’re a developer. You might get lucky… or you might waste weeks testing, hiring, and firing until you find the real deal.

No guarantee they’re full-time for you. In fact, according to Upwork’s own data, more than 50% of freelancers work for multiple clients at the same time.
No real accountability for time spent. A Forbes study found that 35% of businesses reported challenges verifying freelancer work hours on marketplaces like Upwork.
No real recourse if they ghost you. A 2021 Payoneer survey found that one of the top three pain points for clients on freelance marketplaces is sudden contractor drop-off.

Toptal

Toptal boasts a strong vetting process. They famously claim to accept only 3% of applicants. The talent quality is solid, but you’re paying premium rates for it.

The average cost for a Toptal developer ranges from $6,000 to $12,000 per month, depending on skills and seniority.
Toptal themselves say they primarily serve funded startups and enterprise clients.
While Toptal does offer a trial period, refunds after the initial trial are not guaranteed: instead, they offer to match you with another freelancer.

Example: Hiring just one Toptal developer for 6 months can easily cost $60,000–$70,000: the same as hiring a mid-level full-time engineer in-house, but with less permanence.

RocketDevs

RocketDevs fixes all of this. It’s my way of giving other founders the one thing I wish I’d had sooner: total transparency and peace of mind when building with a remote team.

When you’re bootstrapping, every dollar and every hour counts: I learned that the hard way. So we built RocketDevs on one simple promise: radical transparency.

Transparency into the work: You see real-time screenshots, daily logs, and clear deliverables: so you always know what’s happening behind the scenes.

candidate report vetting

Transparency in who you hire: You can review actual assessment results, watch interview recordings, and see exactly how each dev performs before you say yes: no hidden surprises.

time tracking details

Transparency in hours: You see exactly how every hour is logged, when it’s worked, and where the time goes: so your budget goes further, with no “mystery hours.”

And because I know what it’s like to worry about wasting precious runway, we back it up with a full 14-day refund guarantee. If you’re not thrilled, you get your money back: no awkward fights, no excuses.

RocketDevs is the developer partner I wish I’d had: a simple, founder-first way to build fast, stay in control, and never wonder where your time and money went. Consider it my small gift to every founder who’s tired of learning the hard way.

Get Started

📚 References

[1] Hello Bonsai. Client–Agency Relationship Stats and Benchmarks. Link
[2] Husam Jandal. Why Most Agency “Guarantees” Are Just a Marketing Gimmick. Link
[3] Upwork. Freelance Forward 2022. Link
[4] Forbes. The Upwork Problem: Five Things Businesses Should Know. Link
[5] Toptal. About Toptal — Only the Top 3%. Link
[6] CloudDevs. Toptal Review & Pricing Breakdown. Link
[7] Toptal. Client Stories & Case Studies. Link
[8] Toptal. FAQs — How does Toptal’s guarantee work? Link