Join the AI-native talent pool. Founders book you for weekly engagements through Cadence. Set your rate, pick your hours, ship the work, no recruitment BS.
$500–2K
Weekly rate, your choice
10%
Recurring on referrals
<48 hrs
From apply to first call
Your engineer profile
Live
AM
Aarav Mehta
Senior Full-Stack · Bengaluru, IST
Relevance score
94+3
This month
$6,000
4 wks · 1 client
Active opportunities
Northwind
React + Postgres
$1500/wk
Call Mon 10:30
Aether AI
Next.js + LangChain
$1500/wk
Call Mon 11:00
Your week on Cadence
One profile, opportunities pushed to you, weekly payouts.
01
Apply & get evaluated
Voice interview · 50% threshold to join. Verdict in 48 hours.
02
Opt into matches
We push opportunities by stack & timezone. You confirm intro calls.
03
Show up. Ship.
30-min intro. If picked, you start the 48-hr free trial Monday.
04
Earn weekly
Friday payouts. Maintain rating to climb tiers and rate cards.
Relevance score
One score. It opens better gigs.
Your score climbs with positive ratings, on-time KT, and high call-to-hire conversion. It drops when you ghost calls or get replaced. Better score → first-look access to higher-rate clients.
Climb to 90+ to unlock the $1500–$2000 tier
First-look access to YC and funded startup clients
Featured in client shortlists before others
Top relevance unlocks priority partner-program perks
How your score is calculated
Client ratings (last 30 days)
92 · 40%
Call-to-hire conversion
78 · 20%
On-time delivery
96 · 20%
Response time to opportunities
88 · 10%
Referral activity
74 · 10%
Your relevance score
89
Earn while you sleep
Refer founders or fellow engineers. Earn forever.
Share your unique link. Every founder you refer earns you 10% of their weekly bookings · every engineer you refer earns you 5% of theirs, for as long as they're on Cadence. Both stack.
Your weekly referral income, projected
$100
1 clients
$300
3 clients
$500
5 clients
$1000
10 clients
$2500
25 clients
Your referral link
cadence.work/r/your-handle
System auto-generates LinkedIn posts every week, just copy & share.
Frequently asked
Common questions.
How is this different from Upwork or Toptal?
Upwork: you bid for gigs, race to the bottom, freelancer-grade pay. Toptal: 4-week recruitment loop, 50%+ take-rate, you compete with 1000s for each placement.
Cadence: the system pushes pre-qualified opportunities to you. You confirm or decline. No bidding, no "sales calls." Take rate is 20% (you keep 80%). Weekly payouts every Friday.
What's the AI-native voice interview?
Three prompts, you answer in one voice recording (1–3 min):
1. Walk me through a recent feature you built using AI tools.
2. How would you tackle a vague spec like 'build a Stripe-like dashboard'?
3. A time AI gave you the wrong answer and how you caught it.
Claude grades on AI-native fluency (35), communication (30), technical depth (25), and culture fit (10). 50/100 unlocks the platform. You can retake in 7 days if you don't pass.
How does matching work?
Founder posts a request → our algorithm picks the top 4 engineers based on skill, rate, timezone, ratings, and current utilization. Those 4 get an opportunity offer (24h to respond). Accept it and you're scheduled into a 30-min intro call. Founder picks who they want for the 48-hour trial.
What's the relevance score?
Composite of: client ratings (40%), call-to-hire conversion (20%), on-time delivery (20%), response time to opportunities (10%), referral activity (10%). Stays at your interview score until you have real engagement data.
Relevance ≥ 90 = first-look access to YC/funded startup briefs and the $1500-$2000 rate tier. Below 70 = fewer opportunities.
How am I paid?
Weekly. Founders pay every Monday, you receive 80% of the gross every Friday (subject to a 1-week hold on first booking). Stripe Connect to your bank, Wise to 50+ countries, or PayPal. Minimum payout $50.
If you brought the founder via your referral link, you also earn 10% recurring of their weekly bookings, for as long as they stay on the platform.
What if a founder rates me negatively?
One negative rating: nothing happens, life is messy. Three negative ratings in a 5-day window: the founder gets a polite suggestion to request a replacement. They're under no obligation; many founders push through and the rating recovers.
If they do replace you, you wrap up at the end of the current week (paid in full) and the engagement closes. Your relevance score takes a small hit but recovers in 2-4 weeks of positive ratings on other engagements.
Can I work multiple engagements at once?
Yes, but the system tracks utilization. If you're on two full-time bookings (40 + 40), you'll get fewer opportunity pushes because the algorithm sees you as at-capacity. Quarter-time (10 hrs) or part-time (20 hrs) bookings stack better.
Do I have to accept every opportunity?
No. Decline as many as you want, we ask for a quick reason (rate, stack, capacity, etc.) so we can send better-fit opportunities next time. Declining doesn't hurt your relevance score; ghosting (no response in 24h) does.
What stack / vertical specialization is hot?
Currently most demand: Next.js + TypeScript fullstack, RAG/LLM apps (LangChain, Pinecone, OpenAI APIs), and Go services. Verticals: AI-native, fintech, SaaS B2B, health-tech.
If your stack is niche (Solidity, embedded, Unity), opportunities are lumpier, set a higher bar on what you accept.
What about IP, NDA, contracts?
All work-for-hire, IP belongs to the founder's company. NDA is enforced through Cadence platform terms (no separate signing). You operate as an independent contractor via Cadence. We provide a 1099 (US) or equivalent annual statement for taxes.