Lemon.io: A Transparent, No-Nonsense Review (By Us)

Lemon.io goes against the rules and reviews its own services. Lay hands on some inside info about Lemon.io. Do your best to convict us of lies.

We get it—reading a company’s own review of its service might feel like watching someone press “like” on their own selfie. But finding trustworthy tech talent can be opaque, and we believe in making things clear, not just convenient. Instead of another glossy pitch, we’re laying out how Lemon.io works—the good, the rough edges, and everything in between—using real stories and candid quotes directly from our own team.

We’ve interviewed our Talent Acquisition leads, developers, and technical experts and included their unvarnished comments throughout this review. Our goal isn’t to convince you we’re flawless, but to give you the context and specifics you need to decide if Lemon.io’s approach fits your needs.

So, how do we really operate? What happens when things don’t go perfectly? What’s the reasoning behind how we vet developers, set prices, and handle mistakes? If you’re here for a marketing spin, look elsewhere. If you want an honest look inside Lemon.io—as told by the people who build it—keep reading.

What Does Lemon.io Offer—And How Does it Stack Up?

Let’s start with what Lemon.io is, and isn’t.

If you’ve ever tried to hire a developer on one of the massive freelance job boards, you probably know the feeling: post a job, get fifty bids in five hours, and then spend your evening sorting through resumes and hoping you’re not about to pay for someone else’s learning curve (or, worse, a scammer). On those platforms, “choice” comes with a lot of risk and legwork.

Lemon.io takes a different tack.

Head of Talent Acquisition Yevgeniya Kruglova puts it this way: “Our job isn’t to be the biggest. It’s to know our developers better than anyone else, so we match the right project every time—or tell the client honestly if we can’t.”

That means we focus on a smaller, tightly vetted pool of developers—mostly senior engineers from Eastern Europe—whose skills, working style, and even quirks we know firsthand. So when you submit a project need, we match you with the best fit, fast, or we simply say it’s not a fit and recommend another platform. (No solution is perfect for every client, and we’re not afraid to admit it.)

Does it always work? Not every time. We’re a 71-person company, not a tech giant. Sometimes, no one with the exact skillset you need is available. Sometimes, our approach won’t be the ideal fit for a client who wants an ultra-specialist at a cut-rate price, or prefers to interview dozens of candidates themselves. When that happens, we say so upfront.

Transparency, not overpromising, is baked into how we work: “If we can’t help, we’ll point you somewhere that can. And if we mess up, we own it,” says COO Vasyl Dzesa.

Bottom line: Lemon.io is not for everyone. But if you want a human-driven match with a senior developer—without sifting through endless bids or worrying about who’s on the other end—you’ll get a quick, honest answer here. Sometimes, that answer is even “we’re not the right fit.”

Why We Vet (and What That Means—for Better and Worse)

Anyone can say they “vet” their developers. The real question is what that means—and why it matters.

For most clients, the cost of a bad hire isn’t just measured in money, but in lost time, project stress, or having to dig out from someone else’s rushed code. We built our process not to be “elite” for the sake of it, but because we’ve seen firsthand what happens when platforms rush to fill seats or trust résumés at face value.

CTO Anvar Azizov shares: “You learn more from seeing how someone thinks about their failures than from a perfect project list. We want to see what’s behind the résumé.”

But thorough vetting also means we’re not the fastest or the flashiest. Sometimes, a great developer with talent but limited English or communication skills doesn’t make it in, and sometimes a niche client request doesn’t get filled because we won’t lower our standards just to say yes.

The Vetting Process, Step by Step

Here’s what happens before a developer joins our talent pool—and why each step exists:

1. Background & Reputation Check

We take verification seriously: after combing through LinkedIn histories, Github activity, and Stack Overflow answers, we double-check claims and look for any discrepancies, no matter how small. If employment dates are fuzzy or portfolio projects seem suspicious, we ask for context.

There was a time, Talent Acquisition Specialist Daria Ampilohova recalls, when she almost brought a candidate onboard whose credentials didn’t add up: “If something feels off in the background, we check twice. Once, I almost onboarded a developer whose identity didn’t match his credentials—the conversation quickly ended there.”

2. English Language & Communication

Every candidate takes both a written and live English assessment. We don’t just want textbook grammar; we’re after clarity, nuance, and the ability to explain thinking under mild pressure.

Daria also remembers a developer who, halfway through an interview, admitted his English “wasn’t up to the mark yet.” He appreciated our honesty in telling him to come back when ready—and he did.

For us, good communication is as valuable as technical prowess.

3. Technical Assignment

We use open-ended, real-world coding tasks that mirror the kinds of problems developers actually face: debugging thorny issues, writing clean APIs, or optimizing sluggish code. We pay close attention to structure, code clarity, and error handling—not just “does it work.”

Some candidates can ace every question on their resume but freeze when faced with an open-ended challenge. That’s exactly why, according to CTO Anvar Azizov, the process is built on real-world scenarios—not textbook quizzes.

4. Face-to-Face Interview

This is where we dig into mindset and how a candidate collaborates, not just how they code. We ask about challenging moments—how they work across time zones, handle disagreement, or adapt to remote.

According to Anvar, “We’ve learned that pet projects—like someone automating their house or building games in their spare time—can say a lot about their real passion for tech.” Passion and adaptability can carry as much weight as pure technical skill.

5. Only a Few Make the Cut

From 100 applicants, on average, only one to two move forward. That means our team knows each developer’s strengths, quirks, and preferred style of work. When you ask for a specific skill set, there’s a decent chance we’ll know just who fits—or be upfront if we don’t.

But What’s the Trade-Off?

This process means you’ll get matched with someone real, whose work and communication we stand behind. It also means we might not always have immediate availability for every niche technology or requirement, and we won’t promise what we can’t deliver.

“Sometimes, the quickest thing you can do for a client is to say no—and help them find a solution somewhere else,” Yevgeniya points out.

That’s a trade-off we’re comfortable making.

If you’re after the fastest, cheapest hire, we may not be for you. But if you care who’s behind the screen—and want a candid answer about whether we can help—you’ll know before you ever sign a contract.

What This Looks Like in Practice—For Clients and Developers

The real benefit of our process—when it works—is being able to respond quickly, and personally, when something unexpected happens.

Take the example from Yevgeniya Kruglova, Head of Talent Acquisition:

“We had a case when one of our React devs was finishing a project, and got booked by another customer. Suddenly, the first project our dev was working on got prolonged, and we had no suitable substitute for the second customer. This was completely out of the blue.

A real emergency, with alarm sirens and all that. We had to launch our secret referral program to fix the situation. Basically, we asked our devs to recommend other good devs to us. We found a developer, and within half a day, we tested and interviewed them twice. The next day we introduced this dev to our new client. They have been working together ever since, the project is still in progress.”

This isn’t a claim about “flawless” matching, but about being able to move fast when things break, because we know our pool so well. It also means that, sometimes, we can’t solve the problem immediately—but if there’s a chance, we’ll try every channel we have.

For developers, the process is equally direct. We’ve had candidates who didn’t pass English or technical screens the first time, but who were told precisely why, and came back stronger.

Daria, from our talent team, recalls, “I had a call with a developer once. At first, he sweated to answer my questions, but after like 5 minutes of torture, he apologized and confessed that he overestimated his skills. We agreed he’d contact us again when he’d improved.”

These stories don’t guarantee perfection, but they do show that when the process works, it’s less about faceless systems and more about honest conversations, quick pivots, and a willingness to try again.

Where Lemon.io Isn’t the Right Fit—And Why We’ll Tell You

Not every platform is right for every project or person. Lemon.io serves a specific type of client and developer—those who value quality, responsiveness, and candor over endless options or rock-bottom prices.

Here’s where our approach has natural boundaries.

When We Don’t Have the Right Developer

For all the strengths of our vetting and matching process, Lemon.io isn’t for everyone. We’re transparent about where our platform’s limits lie, and what we can—and can’t—promise.

If you need a developer with a very rare or brand-new technology stack, there are times we simply won’t have the right person available.

Sometimes, there might be no developer available to work on your project. Or no master with a required skill set in our talent pool. In such cases, we’ll honestly inform you about it. If it’s the only way we can help you, we’ll direct you to other platforms that may have the candidates you need.

That’s the truth of being a small, focused team.

If Budget Is the Top Priority

Budget is another point of limitation. We don’t compete with the lowest-cost bidding marketplaces. Average rates for developers through Lemon.io are typically $45–$80 per hour, depending on expertise and demand. For clients looking for ultra-low rates, or those who want to negotiate hard on price above all else, there are other platforms better suited to that model.

For Clients Who Want Full Control

Some clients also want to do all the interviewing and technical screening themselves, or prefer to browse through dozens of profiles and “pick” from a list. Our process is built for people who value curation and trust recommendations based on our experience.

As we like to say, “Even if you have zero experience in hiring and managing remote developers, engineers registered at Lemon.io got you covered. They work proactively and don’t need to be instructed on every little detail.”

That makes Lemon.io a great fit for teams who want speed, support, and a hands-off approach—but not for those who want to shape every step in the recruitment process.

We’re Still Human

Finally, we’re not immune to mistakes. In one of our own referenced “bad” reviews, a customer was dissatisfied with support and the matching process. We included the complaint in our own review and responded by restructuring our sales process (see below).

Honest Boundaries Help Everyone

In short, Lemon.io won’t suit every budget, every niche need, or every approach to hiring. But we believe that being honest about those boundaries is better for everyone—so you can make an informed choice, and we don’t overpromise what we can’t deliver.

No Filter: The Real Outcomes (Good, Bad & Everything Else)

We think showing you actual customer feedback is more meaningful than citing a percentage alone. That’s why we share unfiltered reviews—positive and negative—directly from Trustpilot and G2.

Many returning customers and clients have been working with us for years.

Customers often commend us for the fast matching, good rates, and qualified developers that we provide, like here:

And here:

And here:

The bad

Yet, to achieve true perfection, we’ll probably have to meditate for 20 years high in the mountains (not now, though, we’ve got tons of work to do). Two of our customers had a poor experience with us, at least, poor enough to leave negative reviews.

For example, this person on ProductHunt thought we were a scam because we failed to get back to them.

We really messed up there, but only because we had too many clients at that moment. We’re a small team, and our sales system couldn’t handle the unexpected flood of orders we received. Since launching Lemon.io, we’ve experienced rapid and constant growth, which sometimes highlights our weak spots. We’ve learned from our mistakes and restructured the whole sales process.

Another person complained about the quality of our services:

We believe the problem occurred due to miscommunication and have worked hard to avoid it in the future.

Is Lemon.io Right for You?

If you want a vetted, senior developer match rather than sorting through hundreds of profiles yourself, Lemon.io might be the right partner. Our approach works best for teams who value personalized curation, fast support, and direct answers, especially when urgency or transparency matter most.

But we’re not the best fit for everyone. If you need ultra-niche skills, want the lowest rates, or prefer to be involved in every step of the recruitment process, there are better options out there—and we’ll tell you so.

We encourage you to check out real client feedback (the good and the bad), talk to our team, and compare us to others before you decide. No hard sell: just honest information so you can choose what works for you.

If you’re ready to find out if Lemon.io fits your needs—or want to talk through the details—reach out. We’ll always give you a straight answer, even if it’s “try someone else.”

FAQ: What People Ask Us Most