Toptal alternative for hiring full-time developers
The best Toptal alternative for a company that wants its own engineers is a platform that finds and tests developers you then hire directly. DeveloperHiring sources candidates, runs a coding test and an AI interview, and hands you a ranked top five. You pay a flat plan from $99 a month billed yearly, with no hourly markup and no placement fee.
Edit the role, then see the skill matrix, screening questions and a sample coding task in about a minute.
#1 Candidate 8334
React, Node.js, PostgreSQL · code, interview and integrity done
#2 Candidate 7082
React, Node.js, PostgreSQL · code, interview and integrity done
#3 Candidate 1942
React, Node.js, PostgreSQL · code, interview and integrity done
#4 Candidate 1621
React, Node.js, PostgreSQL · code, interview and integrity done
#5 Candidate 3851
React, Node.js, PostgreSQL · code, interview and integrity done
Why do companies look for a Toptal alternative?
Toptal is a curated freelance network. You describe the work, Toptal matches you with a vetted contractor, and you pay Toptal a blended rate that covers the developer and Toptal's margin. That model is fast and works well for a project with an end date.
It gets expensive when the work never ends. A startup that needs a backend engineer for the next three years keeps paying the network rate every week, the engineer stays a contractor, and the team never owns the relationship. Most people searching for sites like Toptal are in that spot: they want vetted developers, but as their own employees.
DeveloperHiring keeps the part of Toptal that buyers value, which is proof of skill before anyone talks to the candidate, and drops the part that costs the most, which is the margin on every hour worked.
You hire the developer directly
The engineer joins your payroll or signs your contractor agreement. No one sits between you and them after the hire.
Flat plan, not a rate per hour
Startup is $99 a month billed yearly for 2 new roles a month. Team and Scale add more roles, seats and an API.
Same proof of skill for everyone
Every candidate of a role gets the same coding task with hidden tests and the same AI interview rubric.
A ranked top five, not a single match
You compare five verified candidates side by side, with a scorecard and a written reason for every score.
How does DeveloperHiring compare with Toptal and other options?
An honest side by side of the main ways US companies hire developers. Toptal does not publish hourly rates, so rate figures below are third-party estimates and will vary by role.
| What matters | Toptal | Open freelance marketplace | Recruiting agency | DeveloperHiring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who you end up with | A freelance contractor from the network | A freelancer you vet yourself | A full-time employee | A full-time employee or your own contractor |
| How you pay | $79 a month platform fee plus a weekly or hourly rate for the developer | The freelancer rate plus marketplace fees | Often 20 to 25 percent of first-year salary per hire | Flat plan from $99 a month billed yearly, salary paid by you |
| Typical hourly cost | Third-party estimates put most roles around $60 to $150 an hour, senior specialists higher | Wide range, set by each freelancer | Not hourly | Not hourly |
| Proof of skill | Network screening before you see the developer | Profile, reviews and your own tests | Recruiter screen, varies by firm | Coding task with hidden tests, AI interview, integrity checks |
| Candidates you compare | Usually one match at a time, trial with up to three | As many as you can review | A handful of CVs | A ranked top five per role |
| Trial period | Up to two weeks, not billed if you stop | Depends on the contract | Guarantee period, varies | You meet the top five before any offer |
| Best for | Short projects that need a vetted contractor this week | Small, well-defined tasks on a budget | Hard senior roles when cost matters less | Hiring your own engineers repeatedly at a fixed cost |
Toptal terms from its public FAQ and pricing pages. Agency range is the common US contingency range. Check each vendor for current terms before you budget.
When is Toptal still the better choice?
We would rather you pick the right tool than the wrong one from us. Toptal wins in a few clear cases.
- You need someone working this week. A network of developers who already passed screening can start faster than any hiring process.
- The work has an end date. A three month integration or a migration does not need a permanent hire.
- You do not want to employ anyone. Toptal handles the contractor side, and you get one invoice.
- Nobody on your team can run final interviews. DeveloperHiring does the sourcing, testing and first interview, but your team still meets the top five and makes the offer.
If the role is ongoing and you want the engineer on your team, the math changes fast. Our breakdown of Toptal pricing walks through a full year of costs.
Blind review on
Name and photo hidden until shortlist
92
overall
Code
92
Interview
94
Integrity
Clean
What does a year of one developer cost each way?
A worked example for one senior full-time engineer in the US. Rates are illustrations, not quotes. Put in your own numbers.
Through a freelance network
$208,000
At an assumed $100 an hour for 40 hours a week over 52 weeks, plus the platform fee. The developer stays a contractor and the rate keeps running.
Through a recruiting agency
$30,000
A one-time fee at 20 percent of a $150,000 salary, on top of the salary itself. Every new hire costs another fee.
With DeveloperHiring
$1,188
The Startup plan for a year, billed yearly, on top of the salary. It covers up to 2 new roles a month, so the second and third hire cost nothing extra.
Salary is the same in the agency and DeveloperHiring cases, so the difference is the fee. Against a freelance network the comparison is total cost, because the network rate includes the developer's pay. See all plans and limits.
How does hiring work without a talent network?
Four steps from a role description to an offer. The first three run without anyone on your team.
-
Step 1
Paste the role
Describe the developer you need. We turn it into a skill matrix with weights you can change, plus screening questions.
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Step 2
We source and screen
Candidates come from public developer profiles, your hosted role page, CSV imports and referrals, and every CV and public repo is scored per skill.
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Step 3
Test and interview
Candidates take a coding task in the browser, then an AI interviewer asks follow-up questions about their own solution.
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Step 4
Meet the top five
You get a ranked shortlist with scorecards and integrity signals. Your team runs the final interview and hires directly.
export async function reserve(id: string, qty: number) {
const item = await repo.lock(id);
if (item.stock < qty) throw new OutOfStock(id);
return repo.save({ ...item, stock: item.stock - qty });
}Running hidden tests
passed 9 of 11
failed handles_empty_input, handles_large_inputWhat the coding test checks
Tasks look like real work in your stack: an API with validation, a component with state, a data job with messy input. Hidden tests run in a sandbox, so a candidate cannot pass by guessing. Read more about the coding assessment and the AI technical interview.
Who switches from Toptal to DeveloperHiring?
Teams that moved past the first contractor and now want engineers of their own.
Seed and Series A startups
A CTO who used contractors to ship the first version and now needs two or three permanent engineers without paying an agency fee for each.
Product teams converting contractors
A team that likes its current contractor model but wants to test a wider pool for the next permanent seat, on the same rubric.
Recruiters with many open roles
An in-house recruiter running eight or more developer roles who needs a technical screen that does not eat engineering time.
Questions about Toptal alternatives
Related pages
Hire your next developer directly
Paste a role and see the skill matrix, screening questions and a sample coding task in about a minute. Plans start at $99 per month billed yearly, with no hourly markup and no placement fee.