# HookStep

> HookStep (hookstep.in) is a hiring platform and public job board for tech roles, based in Mumbai, India. Employers publish roles and manage applications in one workspace, and candidates browse listings and apply with one profile. For employers HookStep also supplies India-based engineers on contract, contract-to-hire or permanent placement, remote from India or on-site in India; engineer rates are quoted per role and there is no public rate card for engineers.

Key facts:
- What it is: a hiring platform and public job board for tech roles, and a supplier of India-based engineers to employers.
- Based in: Ghatkopar, Mumbai, India.
- Engineers supplied: AI and GenAI (LLM applications, RAG, agentic workflows, evals, MLOps), data engineering, full stack, backend, frontend and mobile, cloud and DevOps, QA, Salesforce and ServiceNow.
- Engagement: contract, contract-to-hire, or permanent placement in India. Remote from India or on-site in India.
- Engineer rates: quoted per role against the client's brief; there is no public rate card for engineers.
- Fees: Permanent placement in India: 6% of the hire's annual CTC, invoiced only after the person joins. Nothing is charged before that. Contract and contract-to-hire: we take roles budgeted at ₹2 lakh a month or more. The rate is agreed per role, against your brief.
- Virtual assistants: AI-skilled, based in India, dedicated to one team. Prices per assistant, in US dollars: Half-day (4 hours a day): $700 for 15 days or $1,300 a month; Full-day (8 hours a day): $1,200 for 15 days or $2,400 a month. The 15-day plan works as a trial. https://hookstep.in/virtual-assistants
- Candidates: no fee. The product has no payment step for candidates.
- Employer contact: https://hookstep.in/recruiter (a form that offers a 30-minute call), or support@hookstep.in. Every way to reach us: https://hookstep.in/contact.
- Other products from the same team, separate from HookStep: Hookpost (https://hookpost.hookstep.in), a social media scheduler; Tablamigo (https://tablamigo.hookstep.in/), a solo-travel app for meeting other travelers nearby; Bird on Perch (https://birdonperch.hookstep.in/), a cozy focus timer with a bird for company.
- HookStep is not related to the HookStep dance app, hookstep.net, or the "hook step" dance term.

## Hiring
- [Hire India-based engineers](https://hookstep.in/hire): every role we supply
- [Hire AI engineers in India](https://hookstep.in/hire/ai-engineers)
- [Hire full stack developers in India](https://hookstep.in/hire/full-stack-developers)
- [Hire DevOps engineers in India](https://hookstep.in/hire/devops-engineers)
- [Hire forward deployed engineers from India](https://hookstep.in/hire/forward-deployed-engineers)
- [Hire data engineers in India](https://hookstep.in/hire/data-engineers)
- [Hire QA engineers in India](https://hookstep.in/hire/qa-engineers)
- [IT staff augmentation in India](https://hookstep.in/staff-augmentation-india)
- [IT staffing vendor for RMG and vendor-management teams](https://hookstep.in/staffing-vendor-india)
- [How HookStep works](https://hookstep.in/how-it-works)
- [Hiring guide for technical roles](https://hookstep.in/hiring-guide)
- [FAQ](https://hookstep.in/faq)
- [Share a requirement](https://hookstep.in/recruiter)

## Virtual assistants
- [AI-skilled virtual assistants, dedicated to your team](https://hookstep.in/virtual-assistants): what they do, prices and how to start

## Guides
- [IT staffing rates in India: what 29 contract roles were budgeted in 2026](https://hookstep.in/learn/it-staffing-rates-india): updated 2026-10-25
- [What it costs to hire an AI engineer in India](https://hookstep.in/learn/cost-to-hire-ai-engineer-india): updated 2026-10-25
- [Staff augmentation vs employer of record in India](https://hookstep.in/learn/staff-augmentation-vs-employer-of-record): updated 2026-10-16

## Comparisons
- [HookStep compared with other ways to hire engineers](https://hookstep.in/alternatives)
- [A Toptal alternative for hiring engineers from India](https://hookstep.in/alternatives/toptal)
- [A Turing alternative for hiring engineers from India](https://hookstep.in/alternatives/turing)
- [An Uplers alternative for hiring engineers from India](https://hookstep.in/alternatives/uplers)
- [A Supersourcing alternative for hiring engineers from India](https://hookstep.in/alternatives/supersourcing)

## For engineers
- [Open jobs](https://hookstep.in/jobs)
- [How applying works](https://hookstep.in/how-it-works)

## Company
- [About](https://hookstep.in/about): what we do, what we can staff, our terms, the team and our other products
- [Contact](https://hookstep.in/contact)
- [Privacy policy](https://hookstep.in/privacy)
- [Terms of service](https://hookstep.in/terms)

## Full text
- [Key pages in plain text](https://hookstep.in/llms-full.txt)