Hire Xamarin Developers: Keep Apps Running, Move to MAUI

Microsoft ended support for Xamarin on May 1, 2024, so if you need to hire Xamarin developers today, you are hiring for one of two jobs: keeping a legacy app alive, or moving it to .NET MAUI. The app does not break on its own. It hits a wall at the next store update.

If your Xamarin app still earns revenue, the real question is who you hire to keep shipping, and how you tell a migration engineer from a C# generalist. That turns on the store rules, the state of your app, the skills a migration takes, and the cost.

Should you still hire Xamarin developers after end of support?

Yes, for two jobs: keeping a Xamarin app stable while you plan its exit, or moving it to .NET MAUI. Microsoft ended support on May 1, 2024, but your app did not stop working that day. The pressure arrives at the next store update, which is why you hire for the migration, not the framework.

Here the framework matters a great deal, because it is out of support. The skill you pay for is moving off it, measured in custom renderers and abandoned libraries, not C# fluency.

What did end of support stop?

Per Microsoft's Xamarin support policy, support ended for all Xamarin SDKs, Xamarin.Forms included. Since then there are:

• No fixes: bugs in Xamarin itself stay unfixed.
• No updates: no new features or platform support.
• No online technical assistance: no Microsoft help with Xamarin cases.
• No security updates: framework vulnerabilities stay open.

The final targets are Android API 34 and Xcode 15 SDKs (iOS and iPadOS 17, macOS 14), with no new APIs planned. Those two numbers collide with the store rules.

What keeps working?

End of support is a support policy, not a kill switch. Builds already on your users' phones keep running. What you lose is a vendor behind the stack: every new OS release, store rule or security finding becomes your team's problem.

Is Xamarin end of life for new projects?

Microsoft's term is "end of support", and for new work the answer is plain: do not start a Xamarin project. Start in .NET MAUI, or in .NET for Android and iOS for native projects.

As of November 2026. Sources: Microsoft Xamarin and .NET MAUI support policies, Microsoft Learn, Android developer documentation, Apple developer news. .NET MAUI dates follow MAUI's own policy, not the .NET runtime's.

If the Xamarin work sits inside a wider engineering plan, read How to Hire Software Developers in the Age of AI Agents before you write the job description.

The last two rows are where end of support turns into a deadline.

Can a Xamarin app still ship updates to the App Store and Google Play?

Google Play requires app updates to target Android 16 (API 36) since August 31, 2026. Apple requires uploads built with Xcode 26 and the iOS 26 SDK since April 28, 2026. Xamarin stops at API 34 and Xcode 15. In our reading, that means a Xamarin app cannot ship an update on a supported toolchain.

What is Google Play's target API rule?

Your target API level is the Android version your app declares it was built and tested for. Per Google's target API requirements:

• New apps and updates: must target API 36 since August 31, 2026, apart from Wear OS, Automotive, TV and XR apps, which have lower floors. The optional extension to November 1, 2026 has also passed.
• Existing apps: an app targeting below API 35 stops being available to new users on newer Android versions. People who already installed it keep it.
• Private apps: permanently private apps, restricted to users in one organization and meant for internal distribution only, are exempt.

Some teams raise the manifest value by hand past what Xamarin supports. That is an unsupported workaround, and the app may behave differently on newer Android.

If you are weighing an outside team for interim update work, compare options in Offshore Software Development Services: The 2026 Guide first.

Apple's rule leaves less room than Google's.

What does Apple require?

Per Apple's upcoming requirements, apps uploaded to App Store Connect must be built with Xcode 26 or later using the iOS 26 SDK, since April 28, 2026.

The rule covers the build tools, not a setting inside the app, and Xamarin.iOS tops out at Xcode 15.

What do your existing users see?

Nothing changes on their phones; the installed app runs as it did. What they stop getting is change: no fix, feature or OS compatibility update reaches them until you ship from a supported toolchain.

For help picking who does that work, read How to Choose a Software Development Partner in 2026 before you sign anyone.

That leaves the hiring decision, which depends on the state of your app.

Do you need a Xamarin developer, a .NET MAUI developer, or a rewrite?

It depends on whether the app needs another store update. If it never will, a Xamarin maintainer on a short contract is enough. If it will, hire MAUI developers who have shipped a Xamarin app, or a .NET for Android and iOS engineer for native projects. A rewrite comes after an audit.

As of November 2026. Upgrade paths per Microsoft Learn; Play exemption per Android developer documentation.

When is a Xamarin maintainer enough?

Only when the app will never need another store update. An internal tool on its way out, or a product with a firm sunset date, fits that test.

For that job, a short staff augmentation contract is the right shape. Anything with a roadmap is a migration hire, even if nobody has called it one yet.

When should you hire for the MAUI migration?

When the app has users who expect updates. Hire a .NET MAUI developer who has shipped a Xamarin app, not one who has only built new MAUI apps. The first knows what the old code did quietly. The second will find out in production.

When is a rewrite on the table?

When an audit shows the custom renderers and libraries you would have to rebuild come close to the cost of starting fresh. At that point React Native, Flutter or a web-based cross-platform framework like Ionic belong in the comparison.

A rewrite resets the hiring brief, since you no longer need .NET depth. Decide the route first, then write the role.

If you would rather hand a rewrite to a vendor, Software Development Outsourcing: A 2026 Guide for US Companies sets out the delivery options.

That choice also decides how the work is staffed.

Still deciding between an embedded hire and a handed-off project? Read Staff Augmentation vs Outsourcing: Which Is Right for You? before you post the role.

If the answer is a migration, the next step is knowing what skills it takes.

What skills does a Xamarin to MAUI migration need?

.NET and MAUI depth, plus proof of having shipped a Xamarin app. Converting the project is the easy part. The skill you pay for is knowing what old custom renderers and plugins did without anyone noticing, and rebuilding that behavior in MAUI before it surfaces as a crash in a release build.

Here are the six areas where that shows up.

Project upgrade

Projects must move to the SDK-style format, the shorter, modern .NET project file. Per Microsoft's migration guide, "Projects don't need to be rewritten."

The same guide says the .NET Upgrade Assistant helps with multi-project Xamarin.Forms apps, but "in most cases the app will require additional effort to complete the upgrade." Your hire should be able to say where that effort goes.

Custom renderers to handlers

A custom renderer is Xamarin.Forms code that changes how a control looks or behaves on one platform. MAUI replaces it with handlers, lighter classes that map a control to its native view.

Three things go wrong in this step:

• Global mappers: a handler mapper change applies to every control of that type, so restyling one text box restyles them all.
• Leaks and duplicate events: old renderer setup code merged badly into a handler can leak memory or fire the same event twice.
• One-platform crashes: a wrong cast of the native view works on Android and crashes on iOS, or the reverse.

Navigation and Shell

Shell is MAUI's app-level container for tabs, flyout menus and routes. It does not host TabbedPage or FlyoutPage, so an app built on those needs its navigation redesigned, not just recompiled.

Libraries and plugins that changed behavior

Some Xamarin libraries are no longer maintained and need a replacement or a rebuild. The harder cases are plugins that did things nobody wrote down: older ones sometimes requested permissions silently, or rotated and compressed images. Their MAUI replacements may not, and the result is a feature that "works" while uploading sideways photos.

Release builds: trimming and AOT

Trimming strips code the app seems not to use. AOT, ahead-of-time compilation, turns the app into native code before it ships. Both can break code that ran fine in debug, so your hire should test release builds from the first one.

Mac tooling now that Visual Studio for Mac is retired

Microsoft retired Visual Studio for Mac on August 31, 2024. MAUI work on a Mac now runs in VS Code with the .NET MAUI extension, and iOS builds still need a Mac with Xcode.

For a remote engineer, settle who owns the Mac build machine and signing certificates on day one.

Before the first sprint, agree the working rules set out in Remote Team Management: 12 Best Practices for 2026.

Staffing .NET work at a distance has its own trade-offs, and Offshore .NET development: rates, models, compliance walks through them.

Those six areas are exactly what to screen for.

How do you vet a developer for a Xamarin migration?

Screen on what breaks in a migration, not on C# syntax. Ask candidates which renderers they ported, what failed in their first release build, and which libraries they replaced. Strong candidates answer with specifics from a real app. Then confirm it with a short paid trial on one renderer.

Every row asks the same thing: has this person shipped a Xamarin app and moved one?

A paid trial: port one custom renderer

Give the candidate one real custom renderer and ask for its handler version, tested on both platforms in a release build. One small task shows most of what the interview questions probe.

Sign IP and confidentiality terms before any production code changes hands. Write the trial up as a short statement of work (SOW) with scope, fee and ownership stated.

Before that work starts, check the clauses in Outsourcing contracts: types, clauses, risk & how to pick.

The trial also surfaces these warning signs.

Red flags

Watch for these in interviews and the trial:

• No shipped Xamarin app: MAUI-only experience misses what the old code did.
• Tool faith: expects the Upgrade Assistant to finish the job.
• Debug-only testing: never mentions trimming or AOT.
• One-platform habits: tests on Android or iOS, not both.
• Vague library answers: cannot name a replacement they chose.

A wrong hire here repeats the whole search and adds to your cost per hire.

Once the right person starts, Offshore Team Management: The US Leader's 2026 Playbook covers how to run the work across time zones.

With the right profile defined, the next question is budget.

How much does it cost to hire Xamarin developers?

A reliable published pay figure for Xamarin or .NET MAUI roles is not available yet, so budget from the drivers below. The bigger cost driver is your app: its renderers, its library debt and its platforms.

What drives the cost?

The total moves with what the app holds:

• Custom renderer count: each one is a handler to rebuild and test on two platforms.
• Library debt: every abandoned library needs a replacement or a rebuild.
• Platforms: Android, iOS and macOS each need testing, and a watchOS part needs rebuilding.
• Test coverage: thin tests mean more manual checking in release builds.
• Release pipeline: signing, build targets and store setup on new tooling.

To see how location and engagement model change the total, read Offshore Software Development Cost & Rates (2026).

The other half of cost is the hiring model.

Which hiring model fits a legacy app?

Match the model to the length of the job:

• Contractor for an audit: a short, scoped engagement to count renderers and libraries before you commit. The trade-offs are in contractors vs employees.
• Full-time employee for the migration and after: per Microsoft's .NET MAUI support policy, each major version is supported for at least six months after its successor ships, and MAUI 10 support ends May 11, 2027. That makes MAUI a yearly upgrade cycle, which suits an ongoing engineer better than a one-off project.
• Employer of Record for a hire abroad: when the right engineer lives where you have no entity, an EOR becomes their legal employer while you direct the work. How an Employer of Record works explains the mechanics.

Whichever you pick, the contract should state the IP assignment (who owns the code) and how code and data access is controlled. EOR data security covers the access side, and the EOR pricing guide sets out the fees.

If the audit contractor becomes the migration hire, converting contractors to employees and independent contractor vs EOR employee cover the switch.

Weighing an EOR against a development agency? Read EOR vs. Developer Agencies: Which to Choose (2026) before you commit to either.

To compare providers on engineering fit, turn to EOR for Tech Companies: 8 Best Providers Compared in 2026.

When an engineer who has shipped and moved a Xamarin app is hard to find close to home, widening the search across borders is the practical next step. For the cost and talent case behind that move, read Benefits of Outsourcing to India for US Businesses.

How can Wisemonk help you hire Xamarin and .NET MAUI developers?

Wisemonk is a leading Employer of Record (EOR) that helps global companies hire, pay, and manage employees, without setting up a local entity. We simplify complex HR operations so you can focus on strategy, not administration.

Here's how we help businesses manage legacy app hiring more effectively:

• Contracts with IP assignment: employment contracts that state who owns the code your developer writes.
• Payroll and benefits: salary, deductions and benefits run on time every month.
• Onboarding with equipment: laptop and setup arranged as part of the EOR service.
• Recruitment support: sourcing and hiring help when the right candidate has not surfaced yet.
• Transparent pricing: a published monthly fee, so you know the cost before you hire.

Currently we serve companies in India and are rapidly expanding to US and UK companies. With Wisemonk, you get a reliable partner for your India operations and your broader global hiring journey.

Clients have rated us 4.8/5 on G2.