The dynamics of your development team depend on the technologies used in building your app. Here's what to expect with Node.js:
The first thing to consider is the time scale of your project. In the long run, Node.js offers a relatively low cost of development. Your initial budget will be bigger in comparison to Ruby on Rails, for instance, but with the app’s expansion, scale, new features, and further maintenance, the costs will drop, and the development time will be shorter. That’s why it’s more efficient to build a demo or an MVP and prototype your application with Ruby on Rails. That said, the costs will grow more rapidly with time with RoR.
Secondly, since many popular front-end frameworks are based on JavaScript (e.g., React, Ember, and Angular), it will be much easier to communicate within the team between backend and front-end developers. Both sides of your development team will write in the same language, so they will be able to understand the code with ease, working more efficiently as a result.
Node.js is an unopinionated environment, which means that it comes with few guidelines. Developers need to pick and write solutions on their own. Therefore, at the start of a project, their experience and knowledge about different frameworks should be more extensive than in the case of RoR projects, where many things will be predefined from the get-go.
JavaScript is one of the most popular development languages, which makes it easier to find full-stack programmers with Node.js experience. It is also easier for someone who already knows Node.js to learn front-end and vice-versa. Quite often, you can find developers that can both write the server- and client-side of the application. You are likely to have a smaller development team that will be easier to manage.
Finally, you should consider that with the growing popularity of Node.js, there is a rising demand for skilled and experienced developers, which will make finding members of your team more difficult. This is a more significant factor if you are planning to scale your application in the near future. If you want to hire more developers for your team, specify your recruitment needs, and plan it in advance to avoid a lack of coders hampering your work. Alternatively, you can avoid recruitment issues altogether by using the services of an experienced development company.