Hire Django developers
A Django developer who reads the codebase before rewriting it.
Acasa Labs is a small software team in Surat, India. You can hire a Django developer from the team that built SigmaCPM, a construction platform that runs several products on one Django REST Framework backend. You get a senior reviewing every pull request, a trial week before you commit, and repositories that stay in your organization.
Trial week first. You own the code.
The problem
Your Django app works. Nobody wants to touch it.
Most Django hiring is not for a new project. It is for the app that already pays the bills: views that grew past a thousand lines, a Django version two releases behind, a cron job everyone is afraid of, and a request from the business to add AI to it. You need a developer who will make that app easier to change, not one who proposes a rewrite in week one.
The role
What your Django developer does
- 01
Ships features on the app you have
Models, migrations, and Django REST Framework endpoints, written to match the conventions already in the codebase, with tests around the parts they touch.
- 02
Untangles the risky parts
Splits the views nobody understands, moves permission checks into one place, and replaces fragile cron jobs with a queue that survives a crashed worker.
- 03
Plans and runs the upgrade
Tests first, then one supported Django and Python release at a time, fixing deprecations along the way, with the app deployable after every step.
- 04
Adds AI as a module, not a rewrite
Document extraction, summaries, or search over your records, running as background jobs with cost tracked on every model call.
From production
The Django work behind the people you would hire.
Several products on one DRF backend
SigmaCPMSigmaCPM's Django REST Framework backend is multi-tenant, with organizations, seats, and per-module entitlements. A sibling password-sharing product and its Chrome extension share the same accounts and billing.
A job queue without another broker
SigmaCPMTender extraction and OCR run on a Postgres-backed job queue with leases, orphan reclaim, and skip-locked selection. One less service to run, and a crashed worker does not lose a tender.
AI inside Django that cites its source
SigmaCPMEvery value the model extracts from a tender must come with a quote that is found on the cited page, or it is dropped. Bond terms get a second, adversarial pass, and token cost is recorded on every call.
Who you get
One developer, and a senior behind them.
We are a small team, not a bench of hundreds. You get a developer who worked on the systems above, and a senior engineer who reviews every pull request before it reaches you. You talk to the developer before you sign, and the trial week shows you how they work in your codebase.
Django skills you can expect
- Django, Django REST Framework
- Django admin customization
- Postgres, query tuning
- Celery or a Postgres job queue
- pytest-django
- drf-spectacular, OpenAPI
- Django and Python upgrades
How it starts
A trial week, then your rhythm.
Before day one
A call about the app: what it does, what hurts, and what the business is asking for next. You meet the developer before anything is signed.
Trial week
A local setup from your README (and a better README if it needs one), one real ticket, and a reviewed pull request by Friday.
Weeks 2 to 4
Features from your backlog, plus a written map of the codebase: the risky parts, the missing tests, and the upgrade path, in the order we would fix them.
Every month
A review of what shipped against that map, so the cleanup happens alongside features instead of never.
Risk-free first week: one developer on one defined task. Continue and the week is billed at the normal rate. Stop within the week and you pay nothing.
Engagement models
Three ways to work with a Django developer.
Dedicated developer
Full time on your product, about 160 hours a month
An ongoing roadmap and a backlog that will not run out
$1,500–2,000 a month
Part-time developer
Half time, about 80 hours a month, on fixed days
A product that is live and needs steady work, not a sprint
$750–1,000 a month
Fixed scope
A defined piece of work, priced before we start
A feature, a migration, or an MVP with a clear finish line
From $1,500, priced per scope
Time zones
How your day overlaps with ours.
We set our working day around yours, with at least 4 hours of overlap every working day, including a daily call for US clients in their morning. India is on UTC+5:30 with no daylight saving. Here is what that means from where you are.
UAE
Dubai
Your 08:30–17:30 is our 10:00–19:00
IST is 1 h 30 min ahead
Your whole working day
Work like a team in the next building. Calls any time in your day.
UK
London
Your 09:00–13:00 is our 14:30–18:30 (13:30–17:30 in summer), longer on request
IST is 5 h 30 min ahead (4 h 30 min in British Summer Time)
At least 4 hours
Standup at the start of your day, pairing until your lunch, a written update before you log off.
Australia
Sydney
Your 13:00–17:00 is our 08:30–12:30 (07:30–11:30 in summer)
IST is 4 h 30 min behind (5 h 30 min in Australian summer)
At least 4 hours
We start early so your afternoon is shared. The work lands before your next morning.
US East
New York
Your 08:00–12:00 is our 18:30–22:30 (17:30–21:30 in summer)
IST is 10 h 30 min ahead (9 h 30 min in US summer)
At least 4 hours, with a call every working day
A call at the start of your day, and a pull request waiting each morning that was built while you slept.
US West
San Francisco
Your 08:00–12:00 is our 21:30–01:30 (20:30–00:30 in summer)
IST is 13 h 30 min ahead (12 h 30 min in US summer)
At least 4 hours, with a call every working day
We shift late for your morning: a daily call, then the work continues through your afternoon.
Ownership
You own the code.
- Repositories sit in your GitHub or GitLab organization from the first commit.
- Cloud accounts and credentials are yours; we work with access you grant and can revoke.
- If you stop, nothing is held back: the code, the docs, and the deploy steps stay with you.
Honest trade-offs
When you should not hire a Django developer from us
If you need a large team on site, or someone to keep a codebase exactly as it is without tests, we are not a good fit. If your new product is mainly a thin API for mobile apps or a streaming AI service, a FastAPI developer will move faster, and we can put one next to your Django app. And if the job is a single upgrade with a clear end, ask for a fixed scope instead of a monthly hire.
Proof
Read the case studies before you hire.
Questions
Before you hire a Django developer.
Can your Django developer take over an app someone else built?
Yes, that is most of the work. The first week goes into getting it running, reading it, and writing down what they find. Fixes outside the agreed ticket wait until you have seen that list.
Do you work with Django templates or only Django REST Framework?
Both. Many apps we see mix server-rendered pages, the admin, and a DRF API for a newer frontend or mobile app. The developer works with what you have and does not move pages to React unless there is a reason.
Can they upgrade our old Django version?
Yes. Tests go around the critical paths first, then the upgrade moves through each supported release in turn, so the app can be deployed at every step and nothing is a big-bang switch.
We want AI in our Django app. Where does it go?
In its own module with background jobs, so a slow model call never blocks a page. SigmaCPM's tender extraction runs this way inside a Django REST Framework backend.
How do we stay in control of the work?
Everything happens in your repository, your tracker, and your standup. A senior from our team reviews each pull request, and you approve every merge.
Hire Django developers
Tell us about the Django app.
What it runs, what nobody wants to touch, and how many hours you need. Trial week first. You own the code.