The catch with Toptal
You pay for time for as long as the work runs, plus $79 a month. A move to your payroll is agreed case by case.
Compare
Toptal vs Upwork vs SuperHired
The short answer: Toptal and Upwork are for freelance and contract work. Toptal matches you with a freelancer and charges $79 a month plus their time. Upwork is a marketplace where you post a job, review proposals and pay a fee on each payment. SuperHired headhunts a salaried hire for a flat fee set by the role, from $7,500.
If the work is hours or a project, pick Toptal or Upwork. If the person should join your payroll, pick a search.
Three ways to get marketing help, side by side.
Toptal and Upwork lines come from their own public pages, checked November 2026. Each one links to its source.
| Compare | SuperHired | Toptal | Upwork |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A salaried hire for your team, headhunted for the role. | A freelancer, hourly, part-time or full-time (marketing page). | A freelancer or agency on an hourly or fixed-price contract (contracts help). |
| Who finds the person | We do. We approach people for the role. | Toptal matches you from its network (how it works). | You post a job and review proposals (how it works). |
| How you pay | One flat fee, set by the role. 30% at signing, 70% when an offer is accepted. | $79 a month once you go ahead with matching, plus the freelancer’s time (FAQ). | A marketplace fee on each payment: 5% on Basic per the pricing page, up to 7.99% per a help article. |
| Onto your payroll | That is the service. | “For the most part, yes.” No fee is published (FAQ). | A conversion fee within two years, at least $1,000 (help article). |
| Trial or guarantee | 120-day replacement guarantee, under the service terms. We explain them before you commit. | A trial of up to two weeks. Not billed if not satisfied (FAQ). | None on the pages we checked. Fixed-price funds release on approval or after 14 days (contracts help). |
Who each one suits.
Pick Toptal if
- You want a freelance expert matched to you.
- You want hours you can scale up or down.
- You want a trial before you pay for the time.
Pick Upwork if
- You want to post a job and choose from proposals.
- You need hourly work or a scoped project.
- You are ready to pay a fee on each payment.
Pick SuperHired if
- You want a salaried marketing or go-to-market hire.
- You want one flat fee, fixed before the search starts.
- You want a 120-day replacement guarantee.
The catch with Upwork
The fee repeats on every payment, and hiring a freelancer onto your payroll within two years costs a conversion fee of at least $1,000.
The catch with SuperHired
Salaried hires only, not freelance hours. You pay 30% at signing, before you meet candidates.
The details, with sources.
SuperHired
SuperHired headhunts marketing and go-to-market people for agencies and in-house teams. Agencies are our core. Each search runs in six stages: Discover, Define, Headhunt, Understand, Evaluate and Start Well. Our method explains each one.
The fee is set by the role, never by the salary. A standard search is $7,500. A specialist or technical search is $10,000 to $15,000, and an executive search is $15,000 to $25,000. You pay 30% at signing, which covers discovery and starts the agreed search, and 70% when an offer is accepted. Pricing has the details.
Each search includes a 120-day replacement guarantee under the service terms, and we explain those terms before you commit. Where a simulation can answer an important hiring question, finalists do a paid exercise built around the real work.
Toptal
Toptal matches you with freelance experts, including marketing experts, who work hourly, part-time or full-time (marketing page). Its FAQ lists a $79 monthly subscription once you go ahead with matching, a trial of up to two weeks, and “for the most part, yes” on bringing a worker into your company, with no fee published. The full notes are on the Toptal alternative page.
Upwork
Upwork’s pricing page lists a 5% marketplace fee on Basic and 10% on Business Plus, and a help article says Basic is up to 7.99%. A contract initiation fee of $0.99 to $14.99 applies to each new contract on the Basic plan. Hiring a freelancer onto your payroll within two years costs a conversion fee of 13.5% of a year of estimated earnings, with a $1,000 minimum. The full notes are on the Upwork alternatives page.
Where these facts come from.
Checked November 2026. Prices and terms change, so confirm them with each firm before you sign.
- Toptal, how it works. How Toptal matches a freelancer to your team.
- Toptal, marketing experts. Hourly, part-time or full-time marketing help.
- Toptal FAQ. The $79 subscription, the trial and hiring a worker into your company.
- Upwork, pricing for clients. Basic and Business Plus marketplace fees.
- Upwork, how it works for clients. Free job posts and proposals.
- Upwork, Client Marketplace Fee. Basic fee of up to 7.99%.
- Upwork, Contract Initiation Fee. $0.99 to $14.99 for each new contract.
- Upwork, conversion fee. The fee to hire a freelancer off Upwork within two years.
- Upwork, use contract-to-hire. The $1,000 minimum.
- Upwork, hourly and fixed-price contracts. How payments are billed and released.
- SuperHired pricing. Fees by role and the 120-day replacement guarantee.
- SuperHired, our method. The six stages, the 30% and 70% payments, and paid exercises.
Questions buyers ask.
Should a marketing agency use Toptal, Upwork or SuperHired?
Use Toptal or Upwork when you need freelance or contract help. Use SuperHired when you want a salaried marketing or go-to-market hire for a flat fee set by the role, from $7,500, with a 120-day replacement guarantee.
Which one charges a flat fee?
SuperHired does: $7,500 for a standard search, $10,000 to $15,000 for a specialist or technical search and $15,000 to $25,000 for an executive search, whatever the salary. Toptal charges $79 a month plus the freelancer’s time. Upwork charges a fee on each payment.
Can Toptal or Upwork put someone on my payroll?
Toptal’s FAQ says “for the most part, yes,” on terms agreed with you, and publishes no fee. Upwork charges a conversion fee, with a $1,000 minimum, to hire a freelancer off the platform within two years. A SuperHired search is for a salaried hire from the start.
Do Toptal or Upwork offer a replacement guarantee?
Neither lists one on the pages we checked. Toptal offers a trial of up to two weeks, and you are not billed if you are not satisfied. Upwork releases fixed-price funds when you approve the work, or after a 14-day review window. SuperHired includes a 120-day replacement guarantee under the service terms.
Your next hire
Bring one role.
We’ll tell you if a search fits.
We’ll talk through the role, how we would run the search and the fee. If freelance help or another firm suits you better, we’ll say so.