Best performance marketing agencies for devtools in 2026

I tried finding performance marketing agencies that specialize in developer tools, and it was harder than I expected. Even AI search tools struggled to narrow things down. They kept recommending general B2B SaaS agencies, but finding ones with actual devtool clients, recent case studies, and numbers I could verify took some digging.

And I'm guessing that's partly why you're here.

Hiring a performance marketing agency involves serious money. You're paying someone to manage your campaigns, putting thousands of dollars into advertising, and trusting them to understand a product that your engineering team probably spent months building.

If you're selling an observability platform, your agency should understand distributed tracing, application performance monitoring, and why engineering teams might switch from Datadog or New Relic. That knowledge affects the keywords they target, how they position your product in ads, and whether the developers signing up go on to integrate the platform into their applications.

For this guide, I shortlisted five performance marketing agencies for devtools: Hackmamba, GrowthSpree, Promoted, Hey Digital, and Directive.

Each has worked with a named developer tool, API company, or infrastructure product and published campaign results. Finding recent work was a challenge. Some case studies date back to 2023, and others don't disclose when the work happened.

I've included the client results, pricing, and case study dates wherever they're available. I'll also compare the cost of hiring an agency, freelancer, or in-house marketer, along with five things I'd check before giving anyone access to an advertising budget.

How these performance marketing agencies were selected

I used five criteria to put this list together.

1. Named developer tool clients: I looked for agencies that have worked with APIs, SDKs, AI infrastructure, databases, or developer platforms. Each agency needed at least one identifiable technical client.

2. Dated client work: I checked when the campaigns ran or when their case studies were published. I've identified older and undated examples.

3. Measurable results: I looked for actual numbers, including advertising spend, cost per signup, qualified leads, activation, pipeline, and revenue.

4. Paid media execution: Each agency needed experience managing campaigns across platforms such as Google, LinkedIn, Reddit, or specialist developer advertising networks.

5. Evidence I could check: I used named client case studies and published campaign work. I excluded claims supported only by self-ranked lists, paid directories, or link partnerships.

I also looked at what each agency counted as a conversion. For a developer tool, I'd want to know how many signups went on to make their first API call, run a query, or deploy something.

Research last checked: October 14, 2026.

5 best performance marketing agencies for devtools in 2026

1. Hackmamba

Hackmamba is a performance marketing and developer marketing agency that helps API, AI infrastructure, database, and developer tool companies acquire qualified users through paid advertising. Founded in 2021, we manage Google, Reddit, LinkedIn, Meta, X, YouTube, and developer-native advertising. Our team handles technical targeting, campaign strategy, ad creative, conversion tracking, optimization, and weekly reporting.

Our paid media work follows the developer journey from discovery to signup and product activation. For self-serve products, we track actions such as first API calls, database queries, and successful integrations. For enterprise products, we connect campaigns to SQLs, opportunities, and revenue. You can read more about our approach.

For Lumana, an AI video security platform, we took over paid campaigns across Google, LinkedIn, Meta, and other channels. We connected advertising data to CRM outcomes, removed low-intent keywords, tightened audience targeting, and shifted budget toward campaigns producing qualified leads.

From Q2 2026 to Q3 2026, Lumana saw:

• 46% increase in lead-to-SQL submission rate, from 14.6% to 21.25%.
• 20% reduction in cost per accepted SQL.
• 40% increase in lead-to-SQL acceptance rate.
• 106% increase in ARR generated per lead.

For Actian VectorAI DB, we ran paid acquisition targeting developers working with vector databases, RAG, embeddings, and AI applications. By month four, a $10,000 monthly media budget generated 104 qualified developer signups at $96 per signup, with 61% of those developers reaching their first database query.

• Headquarters: Delaware, USA
• Founded: 2021
• Pricing: 15% of monthly ad spend, with a cap. Engagements run month to month, with no lock-in.
• Clientele: Lumana, Actian
• Website: hackmamba.io
• Case studies: Lumana and Actian VectorAI DB

2. GrowthSpree

GrowthSpree is a B2B SaaS performance marketing agency managing Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Meta Ads, and CRM-based attribution. For DataHub, a metadata platform for data and AI, GrowthSpree rebuilt Google Ads around leads rated by the sales team. The share of high-intent leads increased from 1.6% to 5.3%, cost per high-quality lead fell 50%, and deals attributed to the rebuilt campaigns increased 79%. Its other technical clients include Hatica, an engineering analytics platform.

• Headquarters: New York, USA, with a delivery office in Noida, India
• Pricing: Flat monthly retainer starting at $3,000
• Clientele: DataHub, Hatica
• Website: GrowthSpree
• Case study: How GrowthSpree improved DataHub's Google Ads lead quality

3. Promoted

Promoted is a media buying agency that helps technology companies advertise through developer publications, newsletters, podcasts, Reddit, and specialist advertising networks. For AppSignal, an application performance monitoring platform, Promoted prepared a $50,000+ developer media plan covering more than 30 placements. The campaign generated over 7 million impressions, with reported CPMs between $5 and $7.50. Placements included Carbon Ads, MDN, EthicalAds, Reddit, and technical podcasts.

• Headquarters: Not publicly disclosed
• Founded: 2025
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Clientele: AppSignal, Bolt.new
• Website: Promoted
• Case study: AppSignal's developer media campaign

4. Hey Digital

Hey Digital is a performance marketing agency that manages paid search, paid social, ad creative, landing pages, and conversion tracking. For PostHog, the product analytics platform, Hey Digital ran campaigns across Google, LinkedIn, Reddit, and other advertising channels. The engagement increased cloud conversions by 18.5% and reduced cost per acquisition by 17.05%. For Mailgun, an email API platform, the agency reported a 10% reduction in cost per signup.

• Headquarters: Tallinn, Estonia
• Founded: 2018
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Clientele: PostHog, Mailgun,
• Website: Hey Digital
• Case study: How Hey Digital increased PostHog's cloud conversions

5. Directive

Directive is a B2B technology performance marketing agency working on paid search, paid social, conversion optimization, and revenue attribution. For dbt Labs, Directive ran a paid campaign promoting the Coalesce conference through Google, LinkedIn, Reddit, display, and video advertising. The campaign generated 124% more event registrations than projected, with cost per registration 55% below the original target.

• Headquarters: Irvine, California, USA
• Founded: 2014
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Clientele: dbt Labs, PingCAP,
• Website: Directive
• Case study: Directive's dbt paid media campaign

Best performance marketing agencies for devtools compared

Agency	Headquarters	Pricing	Selected clients	Published results
Hackmamba	Delaware, USA	15% of monthly ad spend, capped	Lumana, Actian	Lumana: 46% higher lead-to-SQL submission rate. Actian: 104 qualified developer signups per month at $96, with 61% reaching a first query.
GrowthSpree	New York, USA; Noida, India	From $3,000/month	DataHub, Hatica	DataHub: 50% lower cost per high-quality lead
Promoted	Not publicly disclosed	Custom pricing	AppSignal, Bolt.new	AppSignal: 7M+ impressions across 30+ placements
Hey Digital	Tallinn, Estonia	Custom pricing	PostHog, Mailgun	PostHog: 18.5% more cloud conversions
Directive	Irvine, California, USA	Custom pricing	dbt Labs, PingCAP	dbt: 124% above projected event registrations

Last updated: October 14, 2026. All prices are in USD.

How much does it cost to hire a performance marketing agency for devtools?

Your paid acquisition budget has two parts: the fee you pay someone to manage campaigns and the advertising spend going to Google, LinkedIn, Reddit, or another platform.

Agencies usually charge a monthly retainer or a percentage of spend. Freelancers charge hourly or project rates, while an in-house marketer comes with a salary and ongoing employment costs.

Agency vs. freelancer vs. in-house marketer

Hiring model	Cost	Pros	Cons	When to hire
Performance marketing agency	GrowthSpree starts at $3,000/month. Hackmamba charges 15% of monthly ad spend, capped.	Access to campaign managers, technical copywriters, creative support, and tracking expertise.	Requires coordination with an external team and access to product data.	You need paid acquisition across several channels, creative testing, and ongoing optimization.
Freelance PPC specialist	$15 to $40/hour is the median hourly rate range for Google Ads experts on Upwork.	Flexible engagement and direct access to the person managing campaigns.	Capacity and technical specialization vary.	You already have a strategy and need help with campaign execution or a specific project.
In-house performance marketer	Around $108,000 in median annual total compensation in the US, according to Glassdoor.	Works directly with marketing, product, and sales teams and builds company-specific knowledge.	Requires recruiting, onboarding, management, and an ongoing salary budget.	Paid acquisition is an established channel with enough work for a permanent employee.

Before agreeing to an agency retainer, ask what the management fee includes. Some agencies handle campaign management alone. Others also provide landing pages, ad creative, technical copy, conversion tracking, and reporting such as Hackmamba.

You'll also want to understand how the fee changes if your advertising spend increases.

If your interested in learning how to forcast campaign budgets using benchmarks or what to decide which PPC channel you should be investing in, read our PPC for developer tools guide.

What to check before hiring a performance marketing agency for devtools

If you're spending thousands of dollars on ads every month, these are five things I'd check before signing.

1. Have they worked on a technical product like yours?

Ask for campaigns involving a developer product with a similar audience or buying journey. If you're selling a vector database, ask how the agency would reach developers evaluating RAG, semantic search, and self-hosted infrastructure.

I'd also ask someone on the team to explain your product after reading the documentation. They should understand what developers can build with it, the problems it solves, and what a successful integration looks like.

2. Can they track what happens after signup?

For self-serve developer products, find out whether the agency can track activation and usage.

A developer might click an ad, create an account, and leave before using the product. You need to understand how many developers complete onboarding and start building.

Ask which events the agency can measure, such as:

• First successful API call.
• First database query.
• SDK installation and usage.
• Completed integration.
• First deployment.

For enterprise devtool products, ask whether the agency can connect campaigns to accepted SQLs, opportunities, and closed business.

3. Can they show recent campaign results?

Ask for named client work from the past 12 months, including spend, channels, conversion definitions, and results.

I'd also want to know what the team changed during the engagement. For example, when we worked with Lumana, we identified keywords attracting low-intent leads, refined campaign targeting, and connected advertising data to CRM outcomes. From Q2 to Q3 2026, the lead-to-SQL submission rate increased 46%, while cost per accepted SQL fell 20%.

A useful case study should explain what the team changed, why they changed it, and what happened afterward.

4. Who will manage your campaigns?

Ask who will handle targeting, ad creative, landing pages, technical copy, and conversion tracking.

You might speak with the founder or a senior strategist during the sales call. Find out who will manage the account every week and how involved the senior team will be.

I'd also check who works with engineering when attribution breaks between the marketing website, signup flow, and product dashboard.

5. How will they decide where to spend your budget?

Google Search, Reddit, LinkedIn, and developer advertising networks reach different audiences.

Ask how the agency would divide the initial budget and what would make it increase or reduce spend on a channel. For example, one campaign might bring in cheaper developer signups, while another brings in more developers who complete their first integration.

You need reporting that captures those differences and helps determine where the next dollar should go.

Need help running paid media for your developer tool?

At Hackmamba, we manage paid acquisition for APIs, AI infrastructure, databases, and developer tools across Google, Reddit, LinkedIn, Meta, X, YouTube, and developer-native advertising networks.

We've worked on both sides of developer acquisition. For Actian, we tracked qualified signups through their first database query. For Lumana, we connected paid campaigns to accepted SQLs, pipeline, and revenue.

Our management fee is 15% of monthly ad spend, with a cap. Engagements run month to month, and we report on performance every week.

If you're looking for help with paid acquisition, see how we run paid media for developer tools.