Index.dev vs deepsense.ai: full comparison for 2026
Quick verdict
Index.dev (4.5/5) edges ahead of deepsense.ai (4.4/5) overall. Index.dev is the better choice for startups that want their money back if the first month doesn't work. deepsense.ai is the stronger option for long monthly contracts with employed senior ML engineers. The right choice depends on your project size, budget, and required tech stack.
Index.dev vs deepsense.ai: head-to-head summary
| Criterion | Index.dev | deepsense.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2019 | 2014 |
| HQ | London, United Kingdom | Warsaw, Poland |
| Team size | 30,000+ network | 100–200 |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Primary differentiator | A refundable 30-day trial on every placement, plus direct hire | Monthly access to about 120 employed AI specialists with production experience |
| Pricing model | Monthly rate per engineer; direct-hire fee; 30-day refundable trial; rates on request | Team extension billed monthly per engineer; projects quoted separately; rates on request |
| Min. engagement | Not published | Not published |
| Primary tech stack | Python, PyTorch, LangChain | Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow |
| Industries served | SaaS, Fintech, E-commerce, AI labs, Healthcare | Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, Financial services, Technology |
Index.dev vs deepsense.ai: overview
Index.dev
Index.dev, legally Index Soft Limited, is a London talent platform that its job ads date to 2019. Its buying terms are the clearest of any network here: every placement carries a 30-day trial with a full refund if the match fails. You can contract one engineer, build a dedicated offshore team or hire someone directly. The main pool of more than 30,000 engineers sits in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe, and a separate AI unit supplies Master's and PhD-level people for fine-tuning and retrieval work. Vetting runs through five stages with human reviewers.
deepsense.ai
deepsense.ai has worked on AI from Warsaw since 2014 and employs about 120 AI specialists, according to its job listings. You buy its engineers as monthly team extension, alongside or instead of a consulting project, and most of them are employees rather than contractors, which keeps the same person on your work for longer. Its strengths are computer vision, MLOps and LLM systems that have to run in production. There is no public rate card, and staffing gets less marketing attention than its project work.
Services and capabilities: Index.dev vs deepsense.ai
| Capability | Index.dev | deepsense.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time dedicated engineers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Part-time / fractional experts | ✗ | ✗ |
| Dedicated team | ✓ | ✓ |
| Trial before commitment | ✓ | ✗ |
| Published rates | ✗ | ✗ |
| Direct hire option | ✓ | ✗ |
| Subscription or output-based pricing | ✗ | ✗ |
| Nearshore time-zone overlap | ✓ | ✗ |
| LLM / GenAI engineers | ✓ | ✓ |
| MLOps | ✗ | ✓ |
| Computer vision | ✗ | ✓ |
| Data engineering | ✗ | ✗ |
Tech stack comparison: Index.dev vs deepsense.ai
| Framework / platform | Index.dev | deepsense.ai |
|---|---|---|
| PyTorch | ✓ | ✓ |
| TensorFlow | N/A | ✓ |
| LangChain | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hugging Face | ✓ | N/A |
| OpenAI | ✓ | N/A |
| AWS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Azure | N/A | ✓ |
| Google Cloud | ✓ | ✓ |
| Databricks | N/A | N/A |
| Kubernetes | N/A | ✓ |
Pricing comparison: Index.dev vs deepsense.ai
| Criterion | Index.dev | deepsense.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum engagement | Not published | Not published |
| Engagement models | Full-time dedicated, Dedicated team, Direct hire, Trial period | Full-time dedicated, Dedicated team, Project delivery |
| Rate transparency | Not public | Not public |
| Price tier | Mid-market | Mid-market |
Target audience comparison: Index.dev vs deepsense.ai
| Dimension | Index.dev | deepsense.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Best company size | Startup to mid-market | Startup to mid-market |
| Best industries | SaaS, Fintech, E-commerce | Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare |
| Best use cases | Trialling a Latin American LLM engineer for a month, Hiring a PhD-level specialist to fine-tune a model | Extending a platform team with an MLOps engineer for a year, Adding a computer vision engineer to a quality-inspection product |
| Typical project type | Full-time dedicated | Full-time dedicated |
Index.dev vs deepsense.ai: pros and cons
| Index.dev | |
|---|---|
| + | A full refund in the first 30 days lowers the cost of a bad match |
| + | Contract and direct-hire routes from one provider |
| + | Talent in both U.S.-friendly and European time zones |
| - | Engineers are network members, not employees |
| - | Acceptance-rate figures are the company's own |
| - | No published monthly rates |
| deepsense.ai | |
|---|---|
| + | Mostly employed engineers, so continuity is good |
| + | Can switch between staffing and a delivered project |
| + | Strong computer vision and MLOps depth |
| - | No part-time or trial option published |
| - | No public rates |
| - | About 120 people, so large requests take time |
Who should choose Index.dev?
A typical fit: trialling a Latin American LLM engineer for a month.
A refundable 30-day trial on every placement, plus direct hire. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed. Works best with clients in SaaS, Fintech, E-commerce, AI labs, Healthcare.
Who should choose deepsense.ai?
A typical fit: extending a platform team with an MLOps engineer for a year.
Monthly access to about 120 employed AI specialists with production experience. Minimum engagement is not publicly disclosed. Works best with clients in Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, Financial services, Technology.
Decision matrix: Index.dev vs deepsense.ai
| Your situation | Recommended choice |
|---|---|
| You want one engineer full-time on a monthly contract | Both; Index.dev rates higher overall |
| You only need a specialist a few days a week | Neither advertises part-time experts; ask about reduced hours |
| You want to test an engineer before committing | Index.dev |
| You need a rate before the first call | Neither publishes rates; ask both for a written rate card |
| Your budget is at the lower end | Compare: Index.dev (Not published) vs deepsense.ai (Not published) |
| You may want to hire the engineer permanently later | Index.dev |
| You want several engineers working as one team | deepsense.ai |
Use case fit: Index.dev vs deepsense.ai
| Use case | Index.dev fit | deepsense.ai fit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trialling a Latin American LLM engineer for a month | Strong | Limited | Index.dev |
| Hiring a PhD-level specialist to fine-tune a model | Strong | Limited | Index.dev |
| Extending a platform team with an MLOps engineer for a year | Limited | Strong | deepsense.ai |
| Adding a computer vision engineer to a quality-inspection product | Limited | Strong | deepsense.ai |
Verdict: Index.dev vs deepsense.ai
Index.dev (4.5/5) is the stronger overall choice for most AI Staff Augmentation projects. A refundable 30-day trial on every placement, plus direct hire.
deepsense.ai (4.4/5) is worth a look if you need adding a computer vision engineer to a quality-inspection product. If your situation matches that, deepsense.ai is a competitive option.
Related comparisons
Index.dev vs deepsense.ai FAQ
Is Index.dev better than deepsense.ai?
Index.dev (4.5/5) scores higher overall, but "better" depends on your use case. Index.dev's strongest advantage: a full refund in the first 30 days lowers the cost of a bad match. deepsense.ai's strongest advantage: mostly employed engineers, so continuity is good.
How do Index.dev and deepsense.ai differ in pricing?
Index.dev uses monthly rate per engineer; direct-hire fee; 30-day refundable trial; rates on request pricing. deepsense.ai uses team extension billed monthly per engineer; projects quoted separately; rates on request pricing. Neither firm publishes a full rate card; a discovery call is required for project-specific quotes.
Which is better for enterprise: Index.dev or deepsense.ai?
deepsense.ai is the larger team and typically the better enterprise-scale choice. For very large programmes, verify team size and compliance coverage directly with each provider before shortlisting.
What are the main differences between Index.dev and deepsense.ai?
Index.dev's primary differentiator is: a refundable 30-day trial on every placement, plus direct hire. deepsense.ai's primary differentiator is: monthly access to about 120 employed AI specialists with production experience. They also differ in team size (30,000+ network vs 100–200), minimum engagement (Not published vs Not published), and primary industries served (SaaS, Fintech vs Manufacturing, Retail).
Verify all details directly with each provider before making a decision.