NeuronHire vs Howdy
Both place LATAM engineers on your team with no long-term contract. Howdy is a full employer model, with its own offices, coaches and a published 15% fee. NeuronHire is built for the hard-to-find hire: 2 to 3 engineers per shortlist, each one vetted in a technical interview run by an engineer.
At a glance
Full breakdown ↓Pick NeuronHire if you're filling a hard engineering role and want an engineer to run the technical interview before you see a profile, with most hires closed in less than 15 days. Pick Howdy if you want a fee you can calculate upfront and engineers with access to a Howdy office with a dedicated performance coach. Both source in Latin America, and neither asks for a long-term contract.
Why NeuronHire
What changes when engineers run the vetting, and how we keep your commitment low.
As of October 2026, 80% of the NeuronHire team has engineering backgrounds, and every technical interview is run by an engineer. Candidates work through technical challenges and real-world scenarios before their profile ever reaches you.[9]
We send 2 to 3 engineers per shortlist, not a long list to sort through. Each search is built around one role, and much of our work today is in specialized AI roles: full-stack AI engineers, agentic systems engineers, backend AI engineers. Every profile comes with our notes from the technical interview.
Our in-house platform handles sourcing, pipeline management and AI matchmaking. Every evaluative and technical interview, and every hiring recommendation, is done by people.[9]
Month-to-month billing, no long-term contract and a 7-day trial: if it's not working, we replace or refund. If the engineer works out, you can hire them full-time with a conversion fee agreed upfront.[6]
Side by side
Every row shows where each platform stands, including the rows where Howdy comes out ahead.
Model & pricing
Talent & vetting
Technical interview run by an engineer[9][1]
Speed
Risk & contract
After the hire
Howdy details come from Howdy's public website, checked Oct 7, 2026. Numbers in brackets link to each source.
Deep dive 1 of 4
It's the first thing I'd ask any hiring partner, because it decides what lands on your calendar. At NeuronHire, an engineer runs every technical interview. Howdy takes a different route: instead of recruiters, it hires psychologists trained in recruitment, and its process includes a technical assessment and interviews, but its site doesn't say who runs them.[9][8][1][3]
Deep dive 2 of 4
Howdy wins on transparency, and I'd rather say it plainly. It publishes how the money splits: 85% of the total cost goes to the professional and 15% is Howdy's fee, with no startup, recruiting or sourcing fees. We share pricing on the first call, with no hidden fees.[2][1][6][9]
Deep dive 3 of 4
Howdy is faster to the first look. Time to hire is harder to pin down, because Howdy's own pages give two different numbers: its FAQ says the full recruitment cycle typically takes 4 to 6 weeks, and its blog says it typically reaches a hire within 1 to 2 weeks. We take up to 7 days to send 2 to 3 engineers who have already been through a technical interview, and most clients hire in less than 15 days.[7][6][8][2][5]
Deep dive 4 of 4
This is where Howdy's model is strongest. As the employer, it handles payroll, taxes and benefits, gives engineers office space and equipment in its Howdy Houses, and pairs each one with a performance coach. It also publishes a 98% retention rate across 12,500+ placements; ours is 88% for engineers placed since 2025. We support payroll and compliance through EOR partners where needed, and put our effort into the match itself.[9][8][10][1][2][3]
clients backed by
We'd rather you pick the right partner than the wrong one with us. In a few situations Howdy is the better call, and it's worth being straight about them.
The Process
From first call to signed developer in as little as two weeks.
A 30-minute discovery call where we understand your stack, team size, seniority needs, and timeline.
Within 7 days we deliver 2–3 hand-picked developer profiles from our vetted LATAM talent network.
You run your own technical interviews. We coordinate scheduling and give you our vetting notes to guide the conversation.
Select your developer, sign a flexible engagement agreement, and fast onboard
Transparency
Last reviewed
Disclosure: Tercio Lima works at NeuronHire, and this page is written by NeuronHire. Every claim about Howdy comes from Howdy's own public website, checked on Oct 7, 2026. Where Howdy's pages disagree with each other, we show the range or the conservative number.
We didn't hire through Howdy and we didn't test its claims. When something isn't published, we say so instead of guessing. NeuronHire's numbers come from our own published pages and internal placement records; where a number is internal, we say how it was measured.
Howdy homepage
From Howdy's public website · checked
Howdy FAQ
From Howdy's public website · checked
About Howdy
From Howdy's public website · checked
Howdy Terms & Conditions (last updated January 20, 2021)
From Howdy's public website · checked
Howdy blog: Best LatAm Staffing Firms in 2026
From Howdy's public website · checked
neuronhire.com · checked
neuronhire.com/about-us · checked
neuronhire.com/for-companies · checked
neuronhire.com/blog/best-platforms-hire-latin-american-developers · checked
NeuronHire internal placement records
NeuronHire internal data · checked
FAQ
What engineering leaders ask when comparing NeuronHire and Howdy.
How 10 platforms compare on vetting, trials and speed to shortlist.
Engineer-led vetting against a 48 to 72 hour shortlist.
Cost, speed and vetting against a traditional headhunter.
Why generalist HR agencies struggle with engineering roles.
