Updated November 2026
Choose Toptal when you need a screened freelance specialist for a defined piece of work, such as a design project or a financial model, and would rather not add headcount. Choose a recruiter when the role is a permanent employee who joins your payroll and owns part of the business for years. Plenty of startups need both in the same quarter, so decide which engagement each need calls for before you compare providers.
Decide the engagement before the provider
Toptal is a talent network that connects companies with screened freelance specialists, including software developers, designers, finance experts, and product and project managers. A recruiter searches the market for someone who will become your employee.
The quickest test is to try writing the end date. If you can say on day one when the work is finished and what gets handed over, you are describing a freelance engagement. If the only honest answer is "when this person eventually leaves", you are describing a job.
Founders tend to skip question 2. A freelance specialist can do excellent work and still leave with the reasoning behind it, so plan the handover from the start.
When a freelance specialist is the better choice
A freelance talent network is often the right call in these situations.
- The work is defined and finite. Examples include a brand refresh or a pricing model before a raise.
- You need someone working within days. A permanent search takes weeks.
- You want seniority you could not justify full-time. Six weeks of an experienced finance specialist can be worth more than a year of a junior hire.
- You do not want to add headcount. Perhaps the board approved spend, not a role.
Engagement types and terms change, so check each provider's own site, Toptal's included, for current pricing, terms and the engagement types they offer.
When a permanent hire through a recruiter is the better choice
A recruiter suits work with no end date, such as owning the roadmap or building the sales team, where value builds up over years of context inside your company. A permanent hire can also be offered equity and a career path, which matter most in roles that grow into leadership.
| Freelance specialist through a talent network | Permanent hire through a recruiter | |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | A specialist's time and skill for a defined piece of work | A search for someone who joins your team |
| Who the person works for | Works as a freelancer; see the provider's terms | You, on your payroll |
| How it ends | When the scope is delivered | When either side ends employment |
Contingency recruiters typically charge 20 to 25% of first-year salary, while a fixed-fee recruiting partner agrees one price per hire upfront. Our guide to choosing between a contractor and a full-time first hire covers the earliest version of this decision.
Worked example: one startup, two engagements
Take a fictional 16-person B2B analytics startup, six months after its Series A. In one quarter it needed to rebuild its pricing before renewals, and it needed its first product manager to take the roadmap off the CTO.
The pricing work would finish once new tiers were live and the CEO could update the model. The product manager role had no finish line.
For the pricing, the startup engaged a freelance finance specialist through a talent network. For the product manager, it ran a recruiter-led search at an illustrative salary of $140,000 (swap in your own). At 20 to 25%, a contingency fee would be $28,000 to $35,000; under Funded.club's fixed-fee bands, a hire up to $150,000 is $11,500.
The finance specialist's handover notes then became part of the product manager's onboarding, so the person owning pricing long term started with the reasoning behind it.
Where Funded.club fits
We recruit permanent hires who join your own team, across engineering, product, sales, marketing, operations, customer success and leadership. We do not place freelancers or contractors, so if your need has a clear end date, a freelance network is the better route. Our guide to Toptal alternatives for startups groups the other options by what you are buying.
Since 2019 we have helped 500+ startups from Seed to Series D across North America, Europe and APAC. One dedicated recruiter from our fully remote team runs each search end to end, from sourcing and headhunting to screening and support through offer. You see first screened candidates within 7 days, and kick-off to hire averages 33 days, with a 100% fill rate.
Our fixed fee is agreed upfront and averages 6 to 9% of salary, between $4,900 and $21,900 per hire. Part is an advance at the start of the search and the balance is due when your candidate accepts the offer. First-time customers can ask to defer the advance until they see their first candidates, and if we do not deliver a shortlist of at least 3 qualified candidates within 30 days, you can claim the advance back in full. See pricing for the bands.
Frequently asked questions
Can a startup use Toptal and a recruiter at the same time?
Yes, when the needs are different. A freelance specialist can deliver a defined project while a recruiter searches for the permanent person who will own that area afterwards, with a handover planned between them.
Is a freelance specialist cheaper than a permanent hire?
It depends on how long you need the work. Compare the freelance cost over that period with the salary, benefits and recruiting fee of a permanent hire, using current rates from each provider's site.
What should I do if a freelance project turns into a permanent role?
Ask the provider about their terms for that situation before the engagement starts, because they vary. If the role is clearly permanent, start a search for the long-term hire and use the freelance engagement to cover the gap.
Worth a brief chat about your next hire? Book a free call.
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