Toptal
Depends
Confidence: High
Buy if you're a funded team that needs vetted senior freelancers fast and accepts premium, deposit-first pricing.
Comparison
Toptal vs Upwork
Toptal and Upwork both land on Depends.
Upwork
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Good fit if you occasionally need freelance help and can stomach the fee stack; poor fit for full-time hires or freelancers who can find work elsewhere.
| Compare | Toptal | Upwork |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Funded startups building MVPs fast | Occasional freelance hires |
| Who it's not for | Bootstrapped founders on tight budgets | Full-time, long-term hires |
| Privacy | Compromised: July 2025 supply-chain attack hijacked Toptal's GitHub org and pushed malware-laced npm packages.12 | Runs a HackerOne bug bounty and enterprise security program; one alleged, unconfirmed recruiter/freelancer database leak circulated. |
| Support quality | Clients report reliable delivery across review sites | PissedConsumer and Trustpilot complaint volume; dispute stories |
| Public sentiment | Clients praise vetted talent and delivery; freelancers complain about heavy platform margins and strict screening.³ | Sentiment splits: clients still find talent easily, but many freelancers and some clients say fees, Connects, and support have eroded the value. |
| Biggest gotcha | $500 deposit and ~$79 fee charged before you see any candidate⁵ | Freelancers buy Connects per bid; spend adds up before earning anything |
Pick Toptal when
- Funded startups building MVPs fast
- Fortune 500 flexible project staffing
- Teams needing vetted senior developers
- Part-time finance and consulting hires
When Toptal is not a fit
- Bootstrapped founders on tight budgets
- One-off small gigs . use Upwork
- Buyers needing pay-per-task pricing
- Guess: teams hiring full-time permanent employees
Pick Upwork when
- Occasional freelance hires
- One-off projects without payroll
- Solo founders needing specialists fast
- Enterprises with managed freelance programs
When Upwork is not a fit
- Full-time, long-term hires
- Freelancers unwilling to pay for every bid
- Micro-budget jobs . fees swallow the project
- Buyers expecting hands-on dispute help
Sources
- Toptal official sitetoptal.comofficial
- Toptal Reviews . SmartCustomersmartcustomer.comreview
- Toptal Reviews . Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- Toptal Reviews . G2g2.comreview
- How Much Does Toptal Cost . HireInSouthhireinsouth.comnews
- Toptal Pricing: Real Rates, Hidden Fees . TFCthefrontendcompany.comnews
review
- Toptal GitHub Breach . The Hacker Newsthehackernews.comsecurity
- Hackers breach Toptal GitHub . BleepingComputerbleepingcomputer.comsecurity
- Toptal GitHub Org Hijacked . Socketsocket.devsecurity
- Toptal Alternatives . Lemon.iolemon.ionews
- Toptal . Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgnews
review
review