Toptal has been one of the most well-known names in the freelance industry since 2010. Initially focused on connecting businesses with top-notch developers, it has since built a large network of experts in all marketing niches.
But like every industry veteran, Toptal no longer stands alone in the field. Numerous competitors have sprung up, offering tailored on-demand solutions that might better fit your specific talent needs.
From platforms specializing in hiring freelance marketers to more general marketplaces, we’ve scoured the market and selected the ten best Toptal alternatives to help you assemble your dream marketing team!
What Should You Look For in a Toptal Alternative?
When choosing a Toptal alternative for sourcing marketers, look for a platform that, unlike Toptal, focuses exclusively on hiring marketing talent. Ideally, it should have an extensive network of top-tier marketing professionals carefully vetted by other marketers so you can be more confident in their skills and expertise.
Your Toptal alternative also has to be able to quickly connect you with experts from its network based on the specific requirements of your project and organization, using a blend of AI and human insight.
While effective matching is a must-have, a platform that can take over the entire hiring process should be the one on top. Having marketing experts handle the hiring of marketers from start to finish reduces the risk of bad hires and lets you dedicate more time to growing your business.
Here are some additional qualities and factors to keep an eye on when exploring Toptal alternatives:
- Quality assurance: Look for a platform that offers quality guarantees, refunds, or free rematching in case you’re not satisfied with the freelancer’s work
- Diverse roles and skill sets: Your alternative to Toptal should be able to connect you with professionals in various niches like growth, SEO, and content marketing
- Flexibility and scalability: Your platform of choice should be able to accommodate your growing business needs with flexible working arrangements. Look for a solution that offers easily scalable, low-commitment contracts
- Pricing: Since Toptal has a non-transparent pricing structure with an initial deposit of $500, make sure to choose an alternative that has simple and transparent pricing without hidden or upfront fees
- Continuous support: The platform should offer personalized assistance throughout the hiring process and conduct regular check-ins to ensure your satisfaction with the freelancer’s performance
Based on the criteria listed above and taking into account user reviews, we’ve put together a list of the best Toptal alternatives for sourcing cream-of-the-crop marketing talent.
1. MarketerHire
Since its inception in 2018, MarketerHire has made over 25,000 successful matches between household brands like Netflix and eBay and “the best and the brightest” professionals in a variety of marketing roles. Unlike some other Toptal alternatives (and Toptal itself), MarketerHire was created by marketers with the sole purpose of hiring top marketing talent across all verticals and industries.
MarketerHire offers a white-glove service designed to make the process of hiring expert marketers fast, effortless, and risk-free. The platform’s experienced growth marketers and CMOs are there to support you every step of the way—from advising you on the kind of marketing talent you need to ensuring your match is living up to your expectations.
How does the platform make its matchmaking magic happen? For starters, by maintaining a network of only the finest expert marketers in their respective niches. Besides actively sourcing top talent from around the world, MarketerHire employs a rigorous vetting and screening process led by marketing experts themselves.
By the end of the application process, less than 3% of the hundreds of marketers who apply to MarketerHire each month are accepted into the network.
MarketerHire’s commitment to quality doesn’t stop at matching you with the perfect candidate according to your needs—the platform’s representatives will check in every two weeks to ensure you’re satisfied with the new addition to your team. If the marketer isn’t quite what you hoped for, MarketerHire will cancel the collaboration and find a new match at no extra cost.
MarketerHire Pricing
- Lite: 10 hours/week; $3,000–$6,000/month
- Part-time: 20 hours/week; $5,500–$11,000/month
- Full-time: 40 hours/week; $9,000–$20,000/month
MarketerHire Pros & Cons
2. Mayple
Mayple is another popular matchmaking platform that has helped over 1,000 businesses connect with marketing professionals in various niches like Amazon marketing, Instagram growth, and Facebook ads management.
The platform employs a data-based vetting process that uses over 140 criteria across 10+ categories, with a particular emphasis on past work.
To match businesses with freelance marketers, Mayple uses a proprietary AI algorithm that considers multiple data sources and more than 25 factors like the target audience, business stage, budget, and the expert’s personality.
Mayple also implements a system of continuous third-party monitoring to ensure you’re matched with the most fitting experts at any stage of your project’s or company’s lifecycle.
Bonus read: Check out our top Mayple alternatives picks.
Mayple Pricing
- Various pricing packages based on roles and skill sets
Mayple Pros & Cons
3. GrowthAssistant
What makes GrowthAssistant stand out as a Toptal alternative is its focus on offshore growth marketing assistants and its “embed” model. In addition to matching you with pre-vetted talent, the platform promises to integrate (“embed”) a fully operational marketing assistant into your company within days.
These recruits, aptly named Growth Assistants, function as regular full-time members of your team from day one. They take on routine marketing tasks so that you can focus on high-impact activities.
To partner with GrowthAssistant, you’ll first need to complete a survey describing your needs and expectations. Based on your input, the GrowthAssistant team will find and place an appropriate assistant within two weeks.
All Growth Assistants on the platform are Philippines-based professionals with a college degree, vetted for their English proficiency, relevant work experience, and work ethic.
Bonus read: Take a look at our GrowthAssistant alternatives list and explore other platforms for recruiting marketing assistants. We recommend MarketerHire’s Expert Assistants service for hiring the best pre-vetted offshore talent.
GrowthAssistant Pricing
- $3,000/month for a full-time Growth Assistant
* Particular roles with specific skill sets might cost more
GrowthAssistant Pros & Cons
4. Growth Collective
Growth Collective is a freelance marketplace with an extensive network of marketers handpicked for their expertise in specific marketing channels, tools, and verticals.
The platform uses a simple matchmaking process that starts by creating a “role” you’re hiring for. Next, Growth Collective’s marketing experts will tap into their talent pool and suggest 2–3 best matches. Once you zero in on the marketer you like, you can schedule an introductory call and start working together in a few days.
The platform provides access to a client portal where you can see all your matches, send and accept project proposals, and manage your freelancers’ timesheets and invoices.
In case you’re not happy with the marketer you’ve been matched with for any reason, Growth Collective offers to rematch you with another expert from its network.
Bonus read: Explore the top 10 alternatives to Growth Collective.
Growth Collective Pricing
- Mid-Level: $50–$100/hour
- Senior: $100–$150/hour
- Executive: $150+/hour
Growth Collective Pros & Cons
5. Right Side Up
Right Side Up helps both startups and established enterprises connect with freelance marketers or entire agency teams.
The process begins with scheduling a meeting with Right Side Up’s in-house marketers. They can help you determine your staffing needs and tailor custom solutions, including a provisional organizational design and a growth strategy. Next, Right Side Up’s team will suggest a pre-vetted individual marketer or an entire team that matches your requirements.
If you’re satisfied with your match, Right Side Up’s team will handle all contracting matters and check in with you regularly to see if the collaboration is mutually beneficial. If the match doesn’t meet your expectations, Right Side Up will once again tap into its network of over 10,000 marketing experts to recommend a worthy replacement.
Right Side Up Pricing
- Available upon request
Right Side Up Pros & Cons
6. GrowTal
GrowTal is an up-and-coming platform for hiring top marketing talent on demand. It lets you skip the traditional hiring steps by matching you with reliable, pre-vetted marketers whom you can engage with on an hourly, part-time, or full-time basis.
Hiring an expert from GrowTal’s network starts with filling out a short questionnaire where you’ll describe your company and outline your business goals. Based on this info, GrowTal’s team will review thousands of candidates and handpick a marketer that matches your needs.
GrowTal also features a risk-free period during which you can determine if the match is what you were looking for. If not, you’ll be connected with another expert free of charge.
GrowTal Pricing
- $500 refundable deposit
GrowTal Pros & Cons
7. Upwork
One of the most popular freelance marketplaces in the world, Upwork gives you access to a deep and diverse pool of marketing talent spanning various experience levels and niches, including SEO specialists, social media managers, and email marketers.
What makes Upwork a viable Toptal alternative is its Enterprise Suite, which promises access to a pre-vetted network of freelancers, as well as dedicated support throughout the hiring process. Besides matchmaking services, the suite includes a customized, full-service platform with various project management and productivity tools to keep all your project work in one place.
Upwork has a well-developed review and rating system that provides insight into the reliability and expertise of each freelancer in the marketplace. Freelance profiles also feature Talent Badges like Top Rated and Expert-Vetted, helping you pick reliable and qualified marketers for your projects.
Bonus read: Check our top 10 Upwork alternatives for partnering with exceptional marketers.
Upwork Pricing
- Client Marketplace Fee: 3%–5% of all payments to freelancers
- One-time contract initiation fee: $9.95 for each new contract on Talent Marketplace and Project Catalog
- Enterprise Suite: Custom pricing
Upwork Pros & Cons
8. PeoplePerHour
PeoplePerHour claims to have helped over one million businesses connect with expert freelancers—including marketing experts— since its inception more than 15 years ago.
When you post a project on the platform and provide details about it, an AI-powered system will identify the most suitable marketers for the job and reach out to them on your behalf. Each contacted freelancer will respond with a proposal so you can review the offers and select the best one to start your collaboration.
Once the project is finished and the collaboration concludes, you can use PeoplePerHour’s protected payments system to pay your marketers.
Bonus read: Best PeoplePerHour alternatives to attract top freelance marketers.
PeoplePerHour Pricing
- For buyers (businesses): 10% + £0.60 of the total paid amount
PeoplePerHour Pros & Cons
9. Pangea
Pangea connects you with a global pool of over 60,000 professionals spanning various industries, with a focus on marketing and growth. Many freelancers on this platform are college students seeking their first professional experience.
To engage with freelancers on Pangea, you can post job listings to actively attract talent or use its user-friendly interface to sift through candidates based on their skills, experience, or track records.
Pangea lets you find freelance marketers more easily by having its team of experts match you with the right candidate according to your requirements. The platform’s AI-powered Instant Match technology promises to set you up with top marketing talent in ten seconds.
Pangea facilitates contract-to-hire engagements with flexible part-time and short-term contracts, which let you evaluate the freelancer’s performance before agreeing to a longer-term collaboration.
Pangea Pricing
- Pay-as-you-go: 13% of the hire’s annual salary
- Cosmic: Coming soon
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
Pangea Pros & Cons
10. Creative Circle
Creative Circle is a well-established staffing agency that helps companies of all sizes find qualified creative talent for temporary, freelance, and full-time employment.
One of the platform’s key strengths is its extensive network of graphic designers, copywriters, art directors, and other professionals vital to any marketing team.
To connect with this talent pool, you’ll need to meet with Creative Circle’s recruitment experts and explain your specific staffing needs and challenges. The recruiters will then choose individual experts or entire teams to help you meet your business goals.
Creative Circle Pricing
- Available upon request
Creative Circle Pros & Cons
Choose the Leading Alternative to Toptal: MarketerHire
If you’re looking for the ultimate Toptal alternative with a premium network of top marketing professionals, a stringent vetting procedure, and a fast and straightforward matching process with free rematching—MarketerHire will check all your boxes.
Unlike Toptal, MarketerHire specializes exclusively in hiring marketers and has a simple and transparent pricing structure suitable for most budgets.
How MarketerHire Works
The process of finding your perfect marketer with MarketerHire consists of three simple steps:
- Describe your project: Schedule a 20-minute call with a dedicated marketing manager to tell them about your organization, project, and the specifics of the role you’re hiring for
- Meet your perfect marketer: Considering your requirements and using a combination of AI and hand-matching, the MarketerHire team will come up with an excellent match from its pre-vetted network within 48 hours
- Project kick-off: If the suggested marketer meets your requirements, they’ll be ready to start working alongside your team in as little as three days
If you feel like your marketing, sales, and design teams are bogged down by mundane tasks, MarketerHire’s Expert Assistants are also there to lend a hand. By taking over manual, repetitive work, these highly experienced and fully vetted professionals let your teams focus on more impactful activities.
Let MarketerHire take the reins and do what it does best—help you hire the best marketers quickly and efficiently!
