Parvessh Agarwal
Founder & CEO
An entrepreneur at heart. He links business analysis, strategy, clear goals and ROI to practical technology.
LinkedIn →Hire backend developers
who plan your data before they write to it.
A dedicated backend developer, or a small team, whose job is the part your users never see. That means the database structure and the API agreement. It also means what happens when two systems disagree about the same record. Each one is vetted on real live databases and APIs before they touch yours. They work inside your repo and your stand-ups, and you can scale up or down monthly without a hiring cycle. You interview the engineer who would design your database before anything is signed.
Interview before signing · Scale monthly
14-day trial
Try before you commit
Start Your 14-Day Risk-Free Trial
Work together on a real brief for up to 14 days, then decide whether to scale.
What you get
Hiring a backend developer through PixelCrayons gets you a vetted API and database engineer inside your codebase. They plan the database, the API agreement and the links to other systems before building. They work in Node, Python or PHP to match your stack. A named coordinator and escalation contact back them. You interview the engineer first and scale monthly.
- Vetted on live systemsEvery engineer has designed and shipped database and API work under our review standards before yours.
- A second engineer who knows your databaseA named coordinator, an escalation contact and a second engineer briefed on your systems from day one.
- Design choices made before the languageA well-designed database or API agreement works in any language, so this role starts there.
Our work
See what we've built
and the results it brought.
Real projects for real clients, with results we can show.
2004
Established
500+
Agencies served
4,500+
Projects delivered
340%
Revenue growth · 7 months
eCommerce
+127%
Organic traffic · 5 months
SaaS
85%
Faster delivery · backlog cleared
via agency partner
Technologies we work with
- Commerce and web
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- Magento
- WordPress
- Webflow
- Next.js
- Marketing
- Google Ads
- Meta Ads
- GA4
- Klaviyo
- Cloud
- AWS
- Microsoft Azure
- Google Cloud
- AI models
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Google Gemini
- Build and deploy
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
- GitHub Actions
- CRM and automation
- HubSpot
- Salesforce
- Zapier
- n8n
Product names and marks are trademarks of their owners. Naming a technology means our teams build with it. It does not mean a partnership, certification or endorsement.
Monthly rate for this hire
From $3,200per month, 160 hoursSenior specialists from $4,000, quoted per person.
Direct prices for brands and companies buying for themselves.
What they cover
Backend skills
that keep your data and systems reliable.
This is more than a developer who happens to write endpoints. Their job is the system underneath. That means what it stores, what it shares, and what breaks when two things change the same record at once.
Database and API design
- Database design in SQL and NoSQL: structure, indexes, tidy tables, and when to break the rules
- REST and GraphQL APIs that still work when a second app starts using them
- Login and permissions: sessions, tokens and role-based access done correctly
- Database changes that run on a live system without surprise downtime
- Data models for systems that will outlast the developer who built them
Connecting your systems
- Third-party APIs and webhooks, so payment, CRM, ERP and analytics tools talk reliably
- Caching and queues for the work that should run in the background
- Rate limits, safe retries and making sure a repeated request only counts once
- Working in Node.js, Python and PHP, matched to the language your systems already use
- Logging and monitoring that make a 3am outage easy to read, not a guess
Review, handover and planning
- Working inside your existing database without forcing a needless rewrite
- Code review done properly, not as a box ticked before merge
- Written notes on database and API choices, for the next engineer
- Suggesting a language specialist once the work needs deep expertise
- Honest estimates and scope talks, with no invented precision
In practice
What backend work
really involves.
How the job runs each week, how to test for it in an interview, and what to hand over first.
A week spent mostly on agreements
Much of a backend developer's week goes on agreements between systems, not new endpoints. They check a planned database change against every app that reads that table. They write or update the API agreement before the frontend starts building against it. They trace a mismatch between your records and a payment provider's. Then they decide which system holds the correct record. They look at slow queries in the logs. They add an index or a cache where the evidence supports it. Expect written decisions alongside the code, because the next engineer will need them.
What to ask in the interview
Give them a real case: two services update the same customer record at almost the same moment. Ask what happens, and how they would stop it going wrong. Strong candidates ask about volume and which system owns the record. They also ask what the business can live with. Ask how they would rename a column that live code depends on. Listen for a change made in safe stages, not one risky switch. Ask how they would version an API once a mobile app depends on it. Real stories from systems they ran beat textbook answers every time.
What to have ready on day one
Give them read access to live data or a realistic copy with personal details removed. A database only makes sense against the data inside it. List every system that reads from or writes to your database. Include the ones everyone forgets: the reporting export, the nightly sync, the partner connection. Share test logins for outside tools, such as payments or CRM. Add any API notes and data guides, even old ones. Decide who approves database changes. Without that, the developer either waits for permission or changes things nobody agreed to. Neither ends well.
When a backend hire misses
Hiring a backend developer to fix a slow page fails when the delay is in the browser, not the server. So check where the time goes before you brief. A brief with a list of endpoints and no business rules gives you an API that suits today's screen. It then fails the next app that uses it. If nobody owns the data, every argument about connections lands on the developer. Do you need a finished product more than better backend work? Then a project team fits better than one developer in your team.
How it works
How hiring works,
from brief to first day.
Start
Brief and a call
We sign an NDA and you tell us about your systems, your data and the gap.
Once the brief is complete
Proposal and interview
We put forward the engineer whose track record on system design fits. You interview them before anything is signed. If the fit is wrong, we propose someone else.
Your decision
You sign off
You confirm the scope, the payment and the access we need. Nothing starts before this.
Typically 2 to 3 business days later
The engineer starts
You grant repo, database and system access. They review your database structure and API agreements, then join your CI and stand-ups.
Every month
Scale up or down
Add a second engineer when the backlog of system connections grows, and step down when it shrinks. You can resize monthly, with no hiring decision.
You make requests, give approvals and see the weekly review in your Prism workspace. Each decision is written down with the result it was meant to bring. See how Prism runs the work →
Get a Proposal
Meet the people who will do the work before you sign
Why through us
Why hire through us:
the engineer and the cover behind them.
Hiring an engineer gets you their skills. Hiring dedicated backend developers through a company that delivers this work every day adds cover around those skills. The work keeps going when life happens.
Vetted on live systems
Every engineer in our team has designed and shipped database and API work before yours. That work met our own review standards before they joined a client. Pull requests are reviewed weekly, held to the same standard you will see. A whiteboard test shows how someone talks about database design. We would rather see a database they designed. Then we ask how it held up when a second app started using it.
A second engineer who knows your database
You get a named coordinator, an escalation contact and a second engineer named for your systems. The second engineer is briefed from day one. They follow the database notes and API agreements the first engineer keeps. If the first engineer is on leave or leaves, they step in without a slow start. A lone freelancer cannot offer this, and an in-house hire needs a whole team behind them to get it. You get the engineer and the cover that keeps your backend work moving.
Design choices made before the language
A database or API agreement designed well works in any language. One designed badly fails as soon as a second app uses it, whatever language it is written in. This role starts with the choice that decides whether your system holds up.
Quality checks you can see
You get a weekly written review in Prism, tied to what shipped. Pull requests are reviewed against a written standard. Choices about system connections and database changes are logged before they run. Wondering what a month of backend work bought you? The review notes and the change log answer before we do.
Side by side
Hiring on your own,
compared with hiring through us.
Your backend may be large and central enough to keep one engineer fully busy. Then an in-house hire is worth the cost, and we will say so plainly. Most backlogs of system connections start smaller than that.
| Hiring it yourself | Through PixelCrayons | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to a productive engineer | A full recruiting cycle: sourcing, technical tests, notice periods, then learning your data | Eligible engagements can typically start two to three business days after scope, payment and required access are confirmed |
| Vetting | A system-design interview and a take-home API; real database choices only show months later | A track record of system and API work on real systems, under our own review standards, checked weekly |
| Management work | All yours: recruiting, then checking every database choice against your data model | A named PM and escalation path are included; you set the system priorities, not the admin around them |
| Scaling | A new hiring cycle either way: months to grow, severance and notice periods to shrink | Resize monthly: add an engineer when connection work grows, step down when it does not |
| Risk when it doesn't work | A bad database choice sits under your live data until someone dares to touch it | If the fit is wrong, we propose someone else; leaving takes a handover call with the database notes |
Related reading
All articlesWho is accountable
The people responsible
for your work.
Saundaraya Gupta
Technical Manager
Brings technical work, client updates and project management together, so work moves smoothly from brief to launch.
LinkedIn →Every engagement
A named coordinator and escalation contact
Know who coordinates your engagement, who owns the work and how to escalate an issue.
All engagements. Roles may be combined and vary with your engagement.
Before you sign
Our commitments
Each one says where it applies and links to its full terms.
14-Day Risk-Free Trial
For eligible managed specialists. Up to 14 calendar days or 80 logged working hours, whichever comes first. End within the trial and pay nothing for eligible trial hours. Continue beyond it and those hours are billed at the agreed rate. Unpaid trial work remains ours if you stop.
Eligible managed-specialist roles only, one trial per customer. Not offered for AI, chatbot, prompt, automation, API-integration or QA work. Brand and graphic designers, brand strategists, video editors, content writers, copywriters and content marketers start with a paid pilot.
Full termsTime-zone overlap
At least four hours a day inside your core working hours. Two hours plus a daily written handover for the US West Coast.
Managed specialists only; not a staffing promise for project teams.
Full termsClear IP & Ownership Terms
Your materials remain yours. Bespoke deliverable rights, licences and handover are agreed before work starts.
All engagements.
Full termsClear Delivery & Escalation Ownership
Know who coordinates your engagement, who owns the work and how to escalate an issue.
All engagements. Roles may be combined and vary with your engagement.
Full termsWhy not just hire a freelancer?
A freelancer can be the right choice for a single, well-defined task. We are set up for work that needs an accountable team: a named coordinator, delivery reviewed by QA and a senior lead before release, and continuity arrangements written into the engagement. Confidentiality, ownership and escalation terms are agreed in writing before work starts.
How does time-zone overlap work?
Your engineers work at least four hours a day inside your core working hours. We set the window with you before the engagement starts and hold it for as long as the engagement runs. For the US West Coast the live overlap is two hours each morning, with a written handover at the end of every Indian day. We do not run night shifts: engineers who work nights leave quickly, and keeping the same people on your team matters more to us than a longer overlap.
Can we try you before we commit?
For eligible managed specialists, yes: up to 14 calendar days or 80 logged working hours, whichever comes first. Stop within it and eligible trial hours are free; continue and they're billed at the agreed rate. Unpaid trial work stays ours. Project work and other roles get a paid pilot with scope, acceptance criteria, duration and fee agreed first.
What if we want to stop?
Cancellation, notice and any renewal terms are written into your proposal or statement of work before you accept it. If an engagement ends early, we hand over completed, paid-for work and list any unfinished work separately. For an eligible specialist trial, you can stop within the trial window and pay nothing for eligible trial hours.
How we handle claims, credentials and your data: group credentials, dated ratings, how case figures are signed off, client permissions and data handling.
How we vet
How we vet a backend developer
and what to ask them.
Real database choices show up months after a system-design interview. So our vetting looks at their system design record first. Then it checks how they think about data that other systems depend on.
- 01Shortlist on system design historyWe put forward the engineer whose record of system and API work fits your systems, data and gap. That work met our own review standards and was checked weekly. The engineer is fluent in the language your systems already use.
- 02Ask about two updates at onceTwo services update the same customer record at almost the same moment. Ask what happens and how they would stop it going wrong. Strong candidates ask about volume, which system owns the record and what the business can live with.
- 03Ask about safe changes and API versionsAsk how they would rename a column live code depends on. Listen for a change made in safe stages, not one risky switch. Ask how they would version an API once a mobile app depends on it. Real stories beat textbook answers.
- 04The trial: read before writingIf you take the trial, it runs on a scope agreed before it starts. Expect your database structure and API agreements to be reviewed and written up first. Then come changes, with written decisions alongside the code.
Questions
Frequently
asked.
Eligible engagements can typically start two to three business days after scope, payment and required access are confirmed. Once we have a complete brief, we confirm when your proposal will arrive. You interview the engineer before anything is signed. Expect the first week to go on reading your data model before changing it.
Whichever one your systems already run: Node.js, Python or PHP. This page covers backend design in general. The engineer we put forward is fluent in your language. Choosing a language from scratch, or need deep skill in one? Our language pages (Node.js, Python, PHP, Laravel, Django) are the more direct route.
It starts with an NDA, then repo and system access. They review your database structure and API agreements and write up what they found. Once you agree the first sprint's priorities, they join your stand-ups. Changes then happen inside your process, not alongside it.
Yes, one is fine: a single backend developer handles most API and connection backlogs alone. A second joins when the scope needs it, and the monthly resize works both ways. We would rather start with one engineer than sell you a team you do not need yet.
Tell us early and we will put forward a different backend engineer. The new engineer gets the database notes, API decisions and open pull requests the first engineer kept. So a switch costs days, not a restart. Your proposal names the second engineer who covers your database and API work. It also says whether that cover is in the monthly rate.
Interview your backend developer
before you sign anything.
Tell us about your systems and the gap, get a shortlist, and meet the actual engineer before anything is signed. If you really need a project rather than a person, we will say so on the first call.
Interview before signing · Scale monthly
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