Toptal vs Upwork Comparison

Toptal (which stands for Top Talent) is a fairly unique freelancer website: while other sites welcome every newcomer with open arms, Toptal only works with the very best. They promise that all their freelancers speak fluent English, are exceptional in their field of expertise, and fit into any position or team. In order to achieve this, Toptal sorts out 97% of the applicants. In fact, if you wish to become a member of the “Top 3”, you must pass a rigorous series of screening interviews, mental exercises, portfolio reviews, and at least two personalized scenarios that take weeks to complete. This may be hard for the freelancers, but clients are provided extra benefits, like the 14-day risk-free trial. Aside from that, clients can take each creative worker to a “test spin” and they can be fully refunded should the selected person fail to live up to the expectations.

Upwork is the kind of freelancer business that shakes up the dusty old formula. First, the service is available free of charge for all users, whether they are sellers or buyers. Second, you can find all sorts of jobs available for home office work: software engineering, visual design, copywriting, translating and even customer support. The site is very strict about its policy: an hour worked is an hour paid, and all payments must be deposited beforehand. Then it’s up to the client to decide whether to release the whole payment at once, or gradually when certain milestones are met. Upwork’s biggest attraction is its desktop application, called Upwork Team App, which connects the worker and the client to share files, discuss the to-dos via the built-in messenger, and organize available projects with the management function. Furthermore, it also tracks the working time and creates snapshots to ensure that the freelancer is properly concentrating on finishing the project. In addition to the desktop program, Upwork also has a smartphone app which serves as the miniature version of the website, so it can be used for not just browsing, but project management as well.