Best Alternatives to Toptal 2024

Toptal is a popular freelancing site that connects freelancers to clients. While it’s a reliable tool, there are some features that Toptal has that might not meet your business needs. That’s why we’re here to discuss the top two toptal alternatives that are available.

Crew

Crew is a company that helps clients who need extra hands on their projects. It works by connecting them to qualified freelancers who are willing to act as those extra hands. The site specializes in hiring developers, designers, and web and mobile specialists.

Unlike companies that automatically match developers to the projects, Crew allows the developers to sign up for the projects that interest them and is equal to their skill level.

Features

• Project Management: You can manage the project with your developer or designer via the Crew platform.
• Interviewing Process: Crew is mainly a design-oriented platform. That’s why the seek design-oriented profiles and users who specialize in branding, mobile, or website work. If you’re a developer, here are the following requirements you’ll need to pass the interviewing process:
  • Speak Fluent English
  • Provide 3 references to clients that you’ve previously worked with
  • Give links to 3 apps/websites that you’ve developed or designed.
• Available Talent: Crew has software developers, designers, and small design and development studios.

You Should Use Crew If:

You have a creative project that needs designers or developers to help complete it. And, if you want to manage the project within a platform, Crew has an easy to use interface to help your developers stay on task.

X-Team

Ever since 2006, X-Team has connected developers to companies who are seeking to expand their teams. This makes X-Team the longest freelancing platform on this list. Unlike their competitors, X-Team isn’t your average project-freelancing matching service.

It’s a community of high-quality developers, selected not only for their technical skill, but also because of their communication skills and passion for developing applications that help enhance the world.

X-Team values personal and professional growth. They have teams that are dedicated to helping the developers find their obvious and hidden talents. With such an advanced company structure, X-Team is one of the best toptal alternatives for people wanting to complete complex projects.

Features

• Project Management: There are no project managers available, so you’re able to speak directly to the developers.
• Available Talent: X-Team focuses on creating developers who use their skills to adapt to today’s modern technologies.  
• Interview Process: X-Team hires experienced developers who are committed to learning and developing new applications often. X-Team’s interview process goes through 4 different steps
  • Initial Screening: X-Team gives the developers the chance to showcase their interpersonal skills through a series of video interviews. X-Team takes effort in hiring developers who can show a humble attitude and a spirit of generosity
  • Portfolio Review: Second, they dive into the developer’s portfolio to check their recent abilities and their ability to solve problems.
  • Test Project: Developers are then given a project that has changing requirements. This stage is to see how the developers act under common situations. The final product is never used by the company.
  • X-Academy: In this last stage, developers are paid to complete internal projects to show their value. They are then welcomed into X-Team’s community and has opportunities to help them continue to learn and grow.

You Should Use X-Team If:

You need motivated developers who can communicate often, move projects forward, and are surrounded by a community that’s dedicated to helping them become better. Also, it’s a good fit if you’re looking for a developer in the long term. Each developer you hire from X-Team, are equipped with skills that will grow alongside your business.

Conclusion

In the end, both Crew and X-Team make good toptal alternatives. If you’re looking for short-term developers that can assist you, try Crew. But, if you want dedicated developers for long-term projects, then X-Team is the better option. To conclude, find out which one is better suited for your project to complete it with ease!