If you have a great idea and need to hire a freelancer to bring this app idea to life, there are ways to protect that idea from being copied or beaten to market by the freelancer you hire. Two legal documents should protect you from having your idea stolen and used by the freelancer you hire. A non-disclosure agreement and a non-compete agreement. Both of these may be available on the platform you use while you can always get boilerplate agreements drawn up by a lawyer. A non-disclosure agreement ties the freelancer into never talking about the work they do for you and to not disclose the specifics in any way. A non-compete agreements bars the freelancer from taking that idea and releasing it themselves by competing with you in the same marketplace. Many established companies regularly use these two agreements when dealing with freelancers. We certainly have!