Parvessh Agarwal
Founder & CEO
An entrepreneur at heart. He links business analysis, strategy, clear goals and ROI to practical technology.
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Next.jsHire Next.js developers
who choose how each page loads, on purpose.
A dedicated Next.js developer, or a small team, who makes a clear choice for each page. That covers server components, pages built ahead of time and code that runs at the edge, close to your visitors. Each one is vetted on real live Next.js apps before they touch yours. They work inside your repo and CI, and you can scale up or down monthly without a hiring cycle. You meet the engineer who would own these choices 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 Next.js developer through PixelCrayons gets you a vetted specialist in how pages load, working in your repo. For each page, they choose what runs on the server, what is static and what runs at the edge. They work in your CI, backed by a named coordinator and escalation contact. You interview the engineer first and scale monthly.
- Vetted on live Next.js appsEvery engineer has shipped work on live App Router codebases under our review standards before yours.
- A second engineer who knows your appA named coordinator, an escalation contact and a second Next.js engineer briefed on your app.
- Working inside your teamYour repo, your stand-ups, your CI and your Slack, following the rendering patterns already 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
Next.js skills
that make your pages fast and easy to find.
Their job is the rendering choice itself: what runs where, and what that costs in speed and effort. This is not a React developer who happens to have a Next.js project open.
How each page is rendered
- App Router structure: layouts, route groups, parallel and intercepting routes
- Server components or client components, chosen on purpose for each case
- Static pages, server-built pages and pages that refresh on a timer, matched to what each route needs
- Edge deployment for the routes that gain from it
- Streaming, so visitors see something useful before the whole page is ready
The rest of the app
- Route handlers and Next.js API routes for the backend logic a page needs
- Data fetching that is cached or refreshed to match how fresh the data must be
- Image and font optimisation built in from the start, not a quick pass before launch
- Middleware at the edge for login checks, redirects and A/B tests
- Connections to headless CMS, store and API backends
Speed, moves and handover
- Core Web Vitals (Google's page speed and stability scores) built into every rendering choice, not checked later
- Moves from the Pages Router or a browser-only React app, done in stages so nothing breaks
- Code review done properly, not as a box ticked before merge
- Handover notes written for the next engineer, not just this one
- Honest estimates and scope talks, with no invented precision
In practice
What a Next.js developer
decides on every page.
Next.js makes many choices easy to make by accident. The job is making them on purpose.
The choices behind a normal week
A normal week mixes features with choices most visitors never notice. Should this new page be static, or does it need fresh data on every visit? Does this component need to run in the browser, or can a smaller piece do that? How long should cached data last before it refreshes, and what triggers that? They also check build output and bundle sizes after merges. One careless import can pull a large library into every page. The visible feature is only half the pull request.
What to ask before you hire
Pick a real page from your product and ask how they would render it and why. Strong candidates ask questions back. They ask how often the data changes and whether it is personal to each user. They ask what happens if the API is slow. Ask them to explain a server component and a client component by what reaches the browser. Then ask about a caching bug they have fought. Anyone who has worked seriously with the App Router has one. How they found it shows you how they fix problems. Finally, ask what they would check first if a page got slower after a release.
Set things up first
Give them repo and CI access. Also give access to your hosting, because rendering and caching depend on the platform. Share error monitoring too, if you have it. Share the environment settings and which ones differ between preview and live. Point them to the CMS or API the pages read from, and to whoever runs it. Agree which Next.js version you use and whether an upgrade is in scope, since major versions change defaults. Have Core Web Vitals data from real users ready. Then their first changes are judged against a starting point, not a guess.
When Next.js is more than you need
Your site may be a few marketing pages that non-developers update. Then a well-run CMS may suit you better than a React framework your team must maintain. Your app may be a logged-in dashboard with no public pages and no need to show in search. Then a plain React setup may be simpler. If the real problem is slow APIs or a heavy database, faster rendering will not fix it. That is backend work. Hire for Next.js when public pages, speed and rendering choices matter to your business.
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 the app, how its pages need to load and the gap.
Once the brief is complete
Proposal and interview
We confirm when your proposal will arrive and put forward the engineer whose Next.js track record fits. You interview them before anything is signed.
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
They review your App Router structure and how data is fetched. Then they join your CI pipeline and stand-ups.
Every month
Scale up or down
Add a second engineer before a platform move or a launch, and step down once it ships. You can resize each month, 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 through a company that delivers this work every day adds cover around those skills. Your pages keep shipping when someone is ill, on leave or gone.
Vetted on live Next.js apps
Every engineer in our team has shipped work on live App Router codebases before yours. That work met our own review standards, with pull requests reviewed weekly. Each rendering choice was checked against the score it was meant to improve. A track record tells us more than a whiteboard test. It shows what a rendering choice really did to a Core Web Vitals score. A whiteboard only shows how someone talks about it.
A second engineer who knows your app
Your app has a named coordinator, an escalation contact and a second Next.js engineer you know by name. The second engineer is briefed from day one. They follow the rendering choices and open pull requests the first engineer writes down. If the first engineer is on leave or moves on, the second steps in without a slow start. A lone freelancer cannot offer that. An in-house hire has nobody to hand a half-finished platform move to.
Working inside your team
Your repo, your stand-ups, your CI, your Slack. Dedicated means working in your team the way you already build. They read your existing rendering patterns and follow them. Tickets never vanish into someone else's queue.
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. Core Web Vitals are tracked against every rendering change. Want to know what a month bought you? The merged pull requests and before-and-after scores answer first.
Side by side
Hiring on your own,
compared with hiring through us.
An in-house hire is still right when the role is permanent, full-time and central to your product plans. We will say so when it is. This is for every other case.
| Hiring it yourself | Through PixelCrayons | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to a productive engineer | A full recruiting cycle: sourcing, technical tests, notice periods, then learning how your pages render | Eligible engagements can typically start within two to three business days after scope, payment and required access are confirmed |
| Vetting | A take-home App Router task: real judgement on rendering only shows months later | Pull-request history on real Next.js apps under our own review standards, checked weekly |
| Management work | All yours: sprint planning, pull request review, rendering choices, leave cover | A named PM handles the admin; you set direction instead of filling rota gaps |
| Scaling | A new hiring cycle either way: months to grow, severance and notice periods to shrink | Resize monthly: add an engineer before a platform move, step down once it ships |
| Risk when it doesn't work | Every page ends up rendered in the browser because nobody chose on purpose | If the fit is wrong, we propose someone else; the next engineer gets the written rendering choices |
Who 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 Next.js developer
and what to ask them.
Real judgement on rendering shows up months after a take-home App Router task. Our vetting looks at choices they have shipped, and at how they fix caching problems.
- 01Shortlist on pull-request historyWe put forward the engineer whose pull-request history on real Next.js apps fits your app, needs and gap. That work met our own review standards and was checked weekly. No generic CVs.
- 02Interview on a real pagePick a page from your product and ask how they would render it and why. Strong candidates ask how often the data changes, whether it is personal and what happens if the API is slow. Ask how a server component and a client component differ in what reaches the browser.
- 03Ask about a caching bug they foughtAnyone who has worked seriously with the App Router has one. How they found it shows you how they fix problems. Then ask what they would check first if a page got slower after a release.
- 04The trial: measured from a starting pointIf you take the trial, it runs on a scope agreed before it starts. Expect your App Router structure and rendering choices to be reviewed and written up first. Have Core Web Vitals data from real users ready. Then their first changes are judged against a starting point, not a guess.
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 app's rendering choices before changing them.
Yes. A React developer covers components, hooks and state: the part that runs in the browser. A Next.js developer covers what the framework adds. That means where pages are built, what is static and what runs at the edge. If your app is browser-only React without Next.js, our React developers page is the better match.
It starts with an NDA, then repo and CI access. Next comes a review of your App Router structure and rendering choices, written up so you see what they found. The first sprint's priorities are agreed before anything changes. From week one they join your stand-ups and pull request reviews. So onboarding follows your own way of working.
Yes, one is the normal start: a single Next.js developer handles most feature and platform-move backlogs comfortably. A second engineer joins only when the backlog needs it. The monthly resize can shrink the team as easily as grow it. One engineer on your app is better than a team paid for before the work exists.
It depends on the work. An ongoing backlog of features or platform moves suits one engineer, or a small team. They work in your repo, CI and stand-ups and resize monthly. A fixed-scope platform move may suit a project instead. We will say so on the first call rather than staff around it.
Tell us early and we will put forward another engineer; that is a normal step. The new engineer gets the rendering choices, platform-move notes and open pull requests. So a switch costs days, not a restart. The proposal names the backup Next.js engineer and says whether their cover is in the monthly rate.
Interview your Next.js developer
before you sign anything.
Tell us about the app and the gap, and interview the engineer who would own the rendering choices. 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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