💡 TL;DR
- DevRel is the practice of building and supporting developer communities so they adopt a company’s tools and keep using them.
- It runs on three pillars: Marketing for awareness, Engineering for docs and SDKs, and Community for connection and advocacy.
- Strong programs deliver four outcomes: product adoption, product improvement, brand loyalty, and talent recruitment.
- Measure DevRel across four stages: Awareness, Activation, Engagement, and Retention.
- Around 84% of developers now use or plan to use AI tools. In 2026, many ask an AI assistant before they search, so your docs and community are competing to be the source of that first answer.
The term Developer Relations (DevRel) was first coined in the 1980s. Apple launched one of the first programs to engage external developers, and executive Mike Murray coined the term “software evangelist” to describe the role of persuading developers to create applications for the Macintosh.
Today, DevRel has evolved into a critical practice for tech companies worldwide, fostering developer communities, driving product adoption, and spurring innovation. In 2026, that role is sharper than before. 51% of professional developers now use AI tools daily, and many start product research by asking ChatGPT or Claude rather than searching. Your documentation and community now compete with an AI assistant for a developer’s first question.
What is Developer Relations?
Developer Relations (DevRel) is the practice of building, supporting, and engaging with developer communities to drive mutual growth and success. At its core, DevRel is the bridge between the developers and the company, creating an ecosystem where developers can succeed with a company’s tools, products, or platforms.
DevRel programs typically combine a mix of in-person and online initiatives, such as conferences, hackathons, bounty programs, and accelerators. These activities equip developers with essential resources, build networking and a strong sense of community. In addition, DevRel prioritizes hands-on support by providing comprehensive documentation, well-maintained SDKs, and personalized technical assistance to developers.
Why Developer Relations Matters
Developer Relations (DevRel) is crucial for tech companies because:
It drives product adoption
DevRel helps developers easily understand and use products through great documentation and support, and boosts awareness through trusted community recommendations.
It fuels product improvement and innovation
Developers offer real-world insights and contribute new ideas and solutions, leading to continuous product improvement, faster development, and creative problem-solving.
It builds brand visibility and loyalty
A strong DevRel program positions companies as developer-focused, increasing brand visibility and building loyalty among developers.
It helps with talent recruitment
DevRel provides opportunities to identify and attract talented developers who are a good fit for the company’s culture and technology.
The emphasis on DevRel differs by business model. Developer-First companies rely on developers as primary users, so DevRel is central to product growth. Developer-Plus companies treat developers as contributors who extend the product, so DevRel grows the surrounding ecosystem. Regardless of the model, the core goal remains the same: to empower developers and drive mutual success.
| Model | Examples | Role of developers | DevRel focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Developer-First | Twilio, GitHub, Stripe | Primary users; the product exists for them | Best possible tools and support to drive adoption |
| Developer-Plus | Apple, Microsoft, Google | Extend the product with apps and integrations | Grow the ecosystem and tooling around the platform |
The Three Pillars of Developer Relations Strategy
A strong DevRel strategy is built on three essential pillars: Marketing, Engineering, and Community. These three pillars work together to provide comprehensive support for developers while amplifying the company’s reach and impact.
Marketing
Marketing serves as the initial point of contact, raising awareness and showcasing the product’s value. Through multiple channels like websites, social media or events, it demonstrates product offerings and developer benefits, inspiring them to explore and adopt it. In terms of tactics, content marketing and events (including public speaking and organization) have proven to be the most effective.
Engineering
Engineering provides the technical backbone, developing and maintaining product SDKs, APIs, and comprehensive documentation. It ensures developers can quickly understand and cleanly integrate the technology into their projects or resolve business challenges, enhancing their developer experience (DX).
Community
Community builds knowledge-sharing and collaboration among developers. Through mediums like forums or social media, and events like hackathons or meetups, community creates a space for developers to connect and innovate together. Recognizing and rewarding community contributions helps strengthen developer and company relationships, turning developers into loyal advocates for the product.
Dos and Don’ts in Developer Relations
Drawing on our own DevRel trials and triumphs, we’ve compiled a list of essential practices to help you navigate the industry complexities and build a thriving community.
✅ The Dos
Partner with DevRel experts and agencies
Developers are a unique demographic, and building strong relationships with them requires specialized expertise. Working with experienced professionals ensures effective strategy and execution from the very start. In terms of agencies, renowned names like Hoopy, DevRel.Agency, SlashData, and of course, AngelHack bring the expertise needed to design tailored programs, foster developer engagement, and deliver measurable results.
⭐ Explore AngelHack’s Developer Relations solutions →
Provide hands-on resources
Sandbox environments, free accounts, and open-source versions allow developers to freely explore your product, leading to deeper understanding and engagement.
Invest in documentation and support
API and SDK documents are the documentation source of choice for 90% of developers. Ensure your materials are easy to navigate and regularly updated. Establish direct support channels and feedback loops to gather developer input and make continuous improvements. Documentation now serves a second audience: the AI assistants developers ask first. Tools like Cursor, Copilot, and Claude read your docs as training data, so a gap in your documentation becomes a gap in AI-assisted adoption before a human ever arrives.
Engage consistently
Is the key to maintaining visibility and building trust within the developer community. You can participate in industry events, sponsor conferences, or host workshops to create a lasting presence and keep your brand top-of-mind.
Leverage influencers
Partner with industry leaders, tech experts, and influential developers to extend your reach and credibility. Their endorsement can significantly impact how your product is perceived in the community. For example, Google Cloud collaborates with Kelsey Hightower, a prominent Kubernetes advocate, to engage developers and share best practices, while Microsoft Azure works with Scott Hanselman, a well-known software engineer and developer advocate, to deliver guides and insights that resonate deeply with the developer audience.
Foster word-of-mouth (WOM)
Encourage organic advocacy through referral programs and testimonials. Positive recommendations from trusted peers make up 73% of developer adoption decisions – much higher than any other marketing tactic.
Adopt a multichannel approach
The platforms that developers often interact are different from the typical users. Meet them where they are to maximize your outreach and ensure consistent communication. According to the State of DevRel 2024 survey, LinkedIn is the most effective channel for reaching developers at 39.8%, followed by a branded developer portal (28.5%), the company website (26%), and YouTube (26%). Increasingly, the first channel is now an LLM. Developers now begin research on ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, which is why structuring content for AI discovery, known as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), has become part of the channel mix.
🎯 Plan smarter for 2026 – learn how to budget effectively for your developer marketing strategy
❌ The Don’ts
Treat DevRel as a short-term initiative
The impact of DevRel can’t be fully realized with just a two-month program. It requires a strategic series of events and a long-term commitment to build meaningful relationships and sustainable growth.
Focus solely on product promotion
DevRel is about building genuine connections rather than simply pushing products. Placing too much emphasis on sales will quickly drive developers away. Instead, focus on creating value by understanding and addressing their needs, building trust and engagement.
Prioritize quantity over quality
A large but disengaged community offers little benefit. Focus on building meaningful interactions and building a core group of active, committed developers.
Neglect internal alignment
DevRel cannot succeed as an isolated team or department. Ensure close collaboration between your DevRel, product, marketing, and sales teams to deliver a unified message. The same State of DevRel report found that 85% of respondents collaborate with Product, Marketing, and Engineering departments at least once a month.
Rely solely on online interactions
While digital engagement is crucial, don’t underestimate the power of face-to-face connections. In-person events like meetups and hackathons can build stronger, more personal relationships. For example, AngelHack’s hackglobal hackathon series brings together thousands of developers and tech enthusiasts through offline hackathons across multiple regions. These events provide hands-on experiences, real-time collaboration, and networking opportunities that digital channels alone cannot replicate.
Forget to localize efforts
A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work globally. Tailor your DevRel initiatives to meet the unique needs and cultural preferences of different regions for maximum impact. For instance, Google Developer Groups (GDGs) host localized meetups and workshops, addressing region-specific developer interests while fostering local community growth.
Ignore competitor activity
Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing in the DevRel space. Staying informed helps you remain competitive and identify opportunities for differentiation.
Measure your developer relations success
To measure the success of a DevRel program, metrics should align with developer objectives across four stages: Awareness, Activation, Engagement, and Retention.
Awareness tracks discovery through content engagement, site visits, social activity, and newsletter signups.
Activation measures how developers evaluate and begin using your tools, including “Time to First Hello World,” the time to set up and run a first project.
Engagement tracks sustained activity as developers integrate your product, measured through active users, API calls, DevRel leads, and revenue.
Retention measures long-term satisfaction and advocacy through NPS, churn, customer satisfaction, and code contributions.
Executives now expect that line to be drawn to activation, retention, or revenue, not blog views or attendance. The benchmarks in the following table come from the 450+ programs we’ve run.
| Stage | What it tracks | Benchmarks |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Content engagement, site visits, social activity, signups | 5%+ engagement; 8–12% quarterly social growth |
| Activation | Downloads, new members, Time to First Hello World | Under 60 min to first Hello World; 10–15% quarterly download growth |
| Engagement | Active users, API calls, DevRel leads, revenue | 40–45% active user growth; 10–15% API volume growth over six months |
| Retention | NPS, churn, satisfaction, code contributions | NPS 50+; 4–7% annual churn reduction; steady contribution growth |
DevRel campaigns to learn from
BrainHack 2026 by DSTA Singapore
TIL-AI is the AI competition track inside DSTA’s annual BrainHack festival, now in its third year. Its four tasks each mirror a real defence problem, from speech recognition and computer vision to language models and autonomous agents. The 2026 edition drew 774 participants across 68 teams, sent 40 to the in-person finals at Marina Bay Sands, and crowned 11 winners, giving DSTA a shortlist of AI talent to recruit from.
Hackathon: Databricks’ Generative AI World Cup
Databricks hosted a global hackathon challenging developers to build innovative generative AI solutions using their Mosaic AI platform. The program drew 1,500+ participants and awarded $57K+ in prizes, producing working prototypes across several industries. The submissions gave Databricks a direct read on how developers build with Mosaic AI, which a product roadmap rarely surfaces on its own.
Canton Core Academy
Canton is the institutional blockchain where banks move more than $6 trillion in real-world assets, but it runs on Daml, a language most developers have never used. Canton Core Academy closed that gap with a three-phase pathway: Canton Core for guided Daml lessons, Canton Construct for a build-and-pitch ideathon across five finance themes, and Canton Catalyst for four weeks of mentorship toward launch-ready apps. It onboarded 25,861 developers, with 1,613 completing the full path and 6 teams selected to keep building with Canton Network.
Final words
As developers increasingly influence technology adoption and business success, the role of Developer Relations keeps growing. Developers now shape adoption. They are advocates, reviewers, and the first line of product feedback. By establishing strong, meaningful relationships with your developer community, you gain co-creators who provide valuable feedback and champion your product.
If you’re ready to take your DevRel strategy to the next level, AngelHack is here to help. With 15+ years of experience building successful developer programs, we’ll work with you to ideate, design and implement a winning strategy. From community engagement to technical enablement, our global developer network and developer engagement services are built to support your success.
Design a DevRel Program That Drives Real Adoption
AngelHack have designed and run developer relations programs for 200+ organizations across Web2 and Web3, including Microsoft, AWS, Databricks, and Circle. If you’re rethinking your DevRel approach for 2026, tell us the outcomes you need. We’ll design the end-to-end program that gets you there.
Talk to UsFrequently asked questions
What does a DevRel team do?
A DevRel team builds the relationship between a company and its developers. That covers documentation and technical support, community programs like hackathons and forums, and marketing that reaches developers on the channels they use. The goal is adoption that lasts.
What’s the difference between DevRel and developer marketing?
Developer marketing focuses on awareness and acquisition, getting developers to discover and try a product. DevRel is broader. It covers the full path from first exposure to long-term advocacy, and includes the engineering support and community work that marketing alone does not. Developer marketing is one pillar inside a DevRel strategy.
Is DevRel the same as developer advocacy?
No. Developer advocacy is a role inside DevRel. Advocates represent developers to the company and the company to developers, often through talks, content, and community presence. DevRel is the wider practice that advocacy sits within.
How do you measure DevRel success?
Track it across four stages: Awareness, Activation, Engagement, and Retention. Useful metrics include content engagement, Time to First Hello World, active users and API calls, and Net Promoter Score. The right mix depends on whether the goal is adoption, community growth, or talent recruitment.
How long before a DevRel program shows results?
Early signals like content engagement and event turnout show within a quarter. Adoption and retention outcomes take longer, usually two to four quarters of consistent programming. Short bursts rarely hold, which is why DevRel works best as an ongoing commitment.
