Toptal vs Gun.io
Side-by-side from the Top 11 rankings of Toptal vs Upwork vs Fiverr Pro: 11 Best Freelance Platforms for Hiring Talent 2026 and Forward Deployed Engineer vs Full Stack Developer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026. Last verified June 17, 2026.
The short answer
Toptal ranks higher on Top 11 (#1 vs #10) for Startups and SMBs hiring freelancers for design, dev, and marketing / Founders, chief executives and chief technology officers in New York, San Francisco and the wider United States who have a stalled AI project, a budget for one senior hire, and no clear idea whether they are shopping for a forward deployed engineer or a full stack developer.. The best for pre-vetted, high-caliber developers, designers, and finance experts.
At a glance
| Toptal | Gun.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #1 / Toptal vs Upwork vs Fiverr Pro: 11 Best Freelance Platforms for Hiring Talent 2026 | #10 / Forward Deployed Engineer vs Full Stack Developer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026 |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 9.3 | 5.6 |
| Best for | Hiring elite, vetted talent | One senior freelance developer in a named stack, managed by you |
| Pricing | $$$$ (from $80/hr) | $$ (rates not published; engagement based) |
| HQ | San Francisco, USA | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Founded | 2010 | 2013 |
Toptal
The best for pre-vetted, high-caliber developers, designers, and finance experts.
www.toptal.comSee full entry in Toptal vs Upwork vs Fiverr Pro: 11 Best Freelance Platforms for Hiring Talent 2026
Gun.io
A Nashville engineering guild, roughly 1,000 vetted engineers, and concrete public stack counts.
gun.io/Methodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.