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We recommend you hire freelancers on Toptal over Fiverr because Toptal vets their talent. However Fiverr has more freelance talent than Toptal.
You can read our individual reviews to help you make an informed decision:
Or if you continue reading, you will learn the pros and cons of hiring freelancers on Toptal and Fiverr.
Toptal’s claim to screen 3% of the talent may or may not be entirely accurate (I’ll discuss Toptal’s vetting process in a moment).
What matters is Toptal saves you time spending hours filtering through freelancers for their performance. After all, if Toptal didn’t have hoops for freelancers to jump through, then their available talent would dilute. As a result, their market differentiation would be… the same as almost any other freelance marketplace.
Many entrepreneurs hiring on Toptal note their support staff is very hands-on. Toptal also has a fantastic UI and billing process.
Toptal has a fast placement process. According to Toptal, “In a typical engagement, we’ll introduce you to candidates within 24 hours. And 90% of our clients hire the first candidate we introduce.”
Toptal sets high standards for freelancers. Freelancers must maintain high customer satisfaction ratings. Otherwise, Toptal will remove them from the platform.
A no-risk test project. The first time you work with your freelancer, you get a two-week test period with your new hire. If you’re not satisfied, Toptal will take the loss and won’t charge you for the freelancer’s work. (Please note: this is not a “free trial” in that if you accept the project, you will pay for the hours billed).
Toptal’s screening process 3% will weed out some quality workers. But it’s better to miss out on a potential A player than to waste precious time on a borderline freelancer who turns out to be a B or C player.
Fiverr began with a promise to find simple professional services at $5. As entrepreneurs had bigger projects and freelancers wanted bigger paychecks, the gigs began to expand.
Then in 2017, Fiverr launched Fiverr Pro.
To become a Fiverr Pro, each freelance applicant has to apply and go through three rounds of vetting.
During the first round, two Fiverr managers will make sure a freelancer has the level of professionalism and experience expected.
Next, the vetting varies on the category the person applies to become a Pro.
It’s common for Pros to submit a portfolio, a list of past clients, years of experience, and other typical resume info.
Freelancers who get Fiverr's approval receive a “Pro” icon in their profile page:
Toptal doesn’t have nearly the total number of freelancers for you compared to Upwork. But do you really need 12 million freelancers, or just a handful of freelancers to consider to get the job done? More than 100,000 people apply to join Toptal every year, but they accept only 3%. In simple numbers, that means they add roughly 3,000 freelancers every year.
That means rather than spending your time and energy vetting freelancers, Toptal does the heavy lifting for you.
Toptal is a good place to start if you’re serious about growing your business and are ready to invest in top talent at a reasonable rate.
As of this writing, Toptal has vetted developers, designers, and finance experts. If you want to hire a freelancer with a different skill set, you may want to consider a different freelance platform.
The difficulty of using Toptal to source freelancers is if you are looking for someone to help with a small, one-off project. Toptal asks for a $500 commitment for the first project, which is fully refundable if you’re freelancer is not a fit.
One of the biggest benefits of hiring on Fiverr is how fast you can hire someone to work at a reasonable price. Especially for a pre-defined project.
Let’s say you want to hire someone on Fiverr to improve your SEO:
You can filter workers by:
But this next example shows that Fiverr workers deliver promising results.
In 2016, AdEspresso tested three marketplaces: Fiverr, 99Designs, and Upwork. Their goal was to hire a few designers to A/B test their Facebook ads:
Of the three freelance marketplaces, Fiverr had the highest click-through rate (CTR) of 0.91% and lowest cost-per-click (CPC) of $0.37.
AdEspresso’s designer beat the Fiverr designer with a 1.5% CTR and $0.33 CPC, which may decrease as the ad quality score improves.
But that’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.
Fiverr costs only $5 for one graphic. For you to hire AdEspresso’s designer, it would take time to find, hire, train, and pay for ongoing costs. The value of hiring a quality freelancer is you don’t need to keep paying them until you’re ready for them to go full-time.
In 2017, Fiverr launched Fiverr Pro. Since then, Fiverr has had a stronger focus on B2B services. Big brands from Paypal to Payoneer have used Fiverr Pro to get quality work done and off their plate.
As of this writing, Fiverr Pro offers the following B2B services:
What’s Toptal’s vetting process to make sure you work with world-class talent?
Toptal uses a 5-step screening process to source the top 3% of freelancers:
Even with this level of screening, Toptal has a wide pool filled with a specific talent set. Instead of hiring any DevOps engineer, Toptal can help you find an “AWS DevOps engineer who understands Docker, Jenkins, RDS...” and any other needs you may have.
The dollar per hour will often increase when you need a specific skill set. But you’ll also know the freelancer better fits your needs than finding a freelancer for yourself on Fiverr.
For the regular Fiverr services, Fiverr does not screen any workers. However, they will remove freelancers from their platform if their feedback is too low.
Fiverr launched Fiverr Pro in 2017.
To become a Fiverr Pro, each freelance applicant has to apply and go through three rounds of vetting.
Fiverr starts with an application process. Here, they ask about your professional background, your higher education, previous work experience, past clientele, certifications, samples of work, and other achievements the freelancer deems relevant.
Here are the exact questions Fiverr Pros are asked for their application:
During the first interview round, two Fiverr managers will make sure a freelancer has the level of professionalism and experience expected. Next, the vetting varies on the category the person applies to become a Pro.
In the interview process, the Fiverr Pro team thoroughly checks for the following:
Hiring normally takes a long time, as anything worth doing should take time. But because Toptal screens their candidates, they can place you with a candidate in 48 hours:
If there are no candidates available in Toptal’s network, it typically takes 1-3 weeks for Toptal to locate, screen, and work with every expert.
With Fiverr, you set the pace of the hiring process. Because Fiverr structures the scope of each freelancer’s offer, it’s easier to make a decision the day you hire.
That said, finding the right candidate may involve:
Again, there’s a degree where you set the speed in which you hire. But hiring too fast will cause more damage to your business and brand in the long run.
Toptal does not charge a fee above their regular pricing. Instead, they add a profit margin above the freelancer’s rates.
Most rates you’ll pay are what you’d expect to pay outside their platform.
Toptal offers this pricing chart:
What you pay your freelancer depends on:
As the name implies, most Fiverr gigs will cost you $5.
Fiverr also released Fiverr Pro, a high-end freelance service. According to Fiverr, only 1% of applicants receive pro status. These hand-selected freelancers often offer services between $500 and $10,000.
When you buy a Fiverr Gig, Fiverr charges you $2 for all gigs that cost up to $40. All gigs above $40 have a 5% fee. Fiverr Pro uses the same fee structure, charging 5% as well.
Although you may view this fee as annoying, these costs are typical for most freelance platforms. This fee covers all processing fees, project disputes, and customer service.
Toptal requires a $500 deposit which applies to your first bill. If you get a freelancer you are not satisfied with, you are not required to make any payment. You can choose to either part ways with Toptal or restart the hiring process.
The first time you work with your freelancer, you get a two-week test period with your new hire. If you’re not satisfied, Toptal will take the loss and won’t charge you for the freelancer’s work. (Please note: this is not a “free trial” in that if you accept the project, you will pay for the hours billed).
Toptal does not mention any information on their website how they handle disputes. However, every Toptal client receives an account manager who can help resolve your issues.
If you have an issue with an order, you can use Fiverr’s Resolution Center to assist you. Fiverr recommends using the Resolution Center to work things out with your buyer before contacting their customer support.
Fiverr and Toptal are both beneficial for different hiring needs.
Toptal is an excellent freelance platform for hiring quality talent. Because of the time they invest in curating the best talent, you’ll spend less time to find the right freelancer.
If you’re looking to hire vetted developers, designers, or finance experts for a project with a budget of $2,000 or more, go with Toptal.
Fiverr is a fantastic place to hire virtual assistants to do simple tasks like data entry, finding lead names and email addresses, and simple task management.
Fiverr Pro is becoming a go-to hub for quality freelancers who have a wide range of skills to help you grow your business. Fiverr Pro has more categories than Toptal, they have fewer freelancers in each category.
If you want to work with developers, designers or financial experts, check out Toptal first.
Otherwise, you should check out what Fiverr Pro freelancers offer.