If you're in search of a freelance programmer, you're not alone. It's becoming very common to hire programmers by project instead of full-time.

This is great for one-off projects because you only pay for results. It's also great for freelance programmers since they can work on projects that interest them. In general, you'll spend less on hiring costs, get better results, and you can hire a freelancer for long-term and short-term projects.

Finding coders for hire is easy, but how do you uncover the most qualified freelancers? Try these sites to rent a coder perfect for your project.

1. Toptal

The freelance market has a poor reputation for being a race to the bottom. Everyone undercuts everyone else, resulting in some workers who will take on a job for unlivable wages. It can be difficult to find competent coders.

Toptal came up with a solution to that dilemma. Instead of allowing anybody to create a profile, Toptal prides itself on its intensive screening process. The site only accepts the top 3% of all applicants. Only freelancers serious enough about their brand as businesses will make the cut.

The screening process includes a language and personality interview, an in-depth skill review, followed by live screening, and test projects through which applicants demonstrate their professionalism and work ethic.

Toptal features freelance developers, designers, project managers, product managers, and finance experts. You can find freelance coders for Java, PHP, C#, iOS, Python, WordPress, and more.

Many companies trust Toptal, like DuoLingo, Shopify, Motorola, Udemy, and Zendesk.

2. Guru

Guru is a global network of over 3 million freelancers, with the majority of them listed in the fields of programming and software development. If you want to find a programmer to hire you can look through an extensive database of available coders.

Guru's platform handles everything. You can seek out specific workers, or you can put out a listing and have workers apply to you. The site handles all communication, agreements, milestones, tasks, and document sharing itself. Guru holds payments in escrow so that you don't have to risk losing money for unfinished or unsatisfactory work.

Guru does not charge to post jobs, although there is a small percentage taken from the invoice as a handling fee.

3. Upwork

Remember Elance and oDesk? In 2015, they both joined forces to become Upwork, which is one the largest online freelancing platform on the web. The sheer volume of freelancers available means you can find quality work at a competitive price which makes Upwork one of the best websites to hire people online.

Much like other freelance apps, you can post a job or search through a database of freelancers.

Upwork's escrow system handles payments, so you never pay for an incomplete job. If a problem does present itself, there is a program to resolve disputes through Upwork. You can handle communications, milestones, and time-tracking all through the Upwork platform.

However, due to the sheer volume of freelancers and Upwork's lax acceptance process, the platform needs a little more screening if you're looking for top talent. You may get a lot of applications so be sure to vet your freelancers properly for the best results. Upwork touts clients like Microsoft, Airbnb, Bissell, and G&E.

4. Freelancer

Freelancer boasts over 50 million freelancers on-demand for you to screen and hire. Although there are many categories of jobs available to fill, Freelancer caters to programming more than others. You can find web developers, software developers, mobile app developers, website designers, and more.

Just post a job listing and wait for freelancers to make bids. Once you hire the programmer you need, you can use the platform's built-in chat system, support system, time tracker, and mobile apps to stay on top of the bid. The service holds payments in escrow until work is complete.

Freelancer gives you more specific job categories to narrow down available programmers. Instead of searching for web developers, you can specify HTML5. You can search for a specific language like Python or Java instead of just programmers.

5. Remote.co

Remote.co is a website that promotes a remote-working lifestyle. Some of the top companies in the world promote remote working lifestyles, so sites like these gain traction very quickly. So far we've covered sites with impressive databases of coders for hire, Remote.co focuses more on listing jobs.

You find freelancers on Remote.co by posting a job to their platform, and an audience of freelancers will apply accordingly. There isn't an interface to manage payments like a traditional freelancer platform. For this reason, you should feel comfortable taking hiring into your own hands once you find the programmer you're looking for.

There are remote job boards for developers, designers, project managers, quality assurance, and IT.

There is a fee to post a job on their site, so be aware of the expense and weigh it against your business need.

6. PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour lets you post projects absolutely free and attract freelance coders. Their moderation team vets freelancers who sign up, to ensure higher quality freelancers to choose from.

Some of the services you can hire for include programming, database programming, data science, software testing, mobile app development, and web development.

PeoplePerHour has a neat feature called "offers". Freelancers can post fixed-price services that are smaller in scope. You can give freelance coders a trial run before hiring them for full projects.

Hire Better Freelance Programmers

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for with freelance coders. If you want top-notch work you're going to have to pay healthy wages. In return, you get real programming talent worth its weight in gold.

Thinking like a freelancer can help you find the right places to single out talent. Post your job in as many places as possible to boost your chances of discovery by the freelance programmer you're looking for.