Every designer is personally reviewed and approved before joining. Talent keeps 100% of their rate, and companies pay a simple 12%. Here is how that stacks up against other platforms.
| Feature | Designtalent.AI | Braintrust | Upwork | Fiverr | Toptal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talent fees | $0. Talent keeps 100% of their rate, forever. | $0. Talent keeps 100% of their rate. | 0% to 15% per contract, set when the contract starts. | 20% of every order. Sellers keep 80%. | $0. Talent keeps their full quoted rate. |
| Company fee | 12% platform fee. | 15% on top of every invoice. | About 5% marketplace fee. | 5.5% buyer service fee. | Not published. Margin built into the hourly rate. |
| How talent is vetted | Personally reviewed and approved by the founder before joining. No open signups, no AI interviews. | Initially screened by an AI interview before matching. | Open marketplace. Clients do their own vetting. | Open marketplace. Seller levels signal track record. | Multi-step screening with live interviews and a test project. Claims only the top 3% pass. |
| Focus | Contract design talent first: designers, researchers, and content strategists. Contract-to-hire and FTE roles also available. | Tech talent broadly: developers, designers, and product roles. | All categories. Generalist marketplace. | Fixed price gigs. Creative and digital services. | Tech and finance talent: developers, designers, finance experts, and project managers. |
| Matching | Skill based match scores. A job's must have and nice to have skills score against a designer's top skills. | Matched from the screened network after a role is posted. | Post a job, proposals come in. Search and filters. | Browse gig listings and order directly. | Matched by Toptal's team, typically within 24 to 48 hours. No public bench to browse. |
| Verified identity | Yes. Blue checkmark once a designer is both approved and identity verified (LinkedIn or government ID). | Identity verified before matching. | Identity checks on freelancer profiles. | Seller levels, no single verified badge. | Identity verified during screening. |
| Dream Teams | Yes. Assemble a team from the bench. | Not a core feature. | Agencies on the platform. | Not a core feature. | Teams assembled by Toptal. |
| Hush Gigs | Yes. Share a job privately with a link instead of a public listing. | Not a core feature. | Private job invites. | Custom offers by request. | Not a core feature. |
| Ratings & reviews | Yes. Ratings from post-engagement reviews, with a minimum-rating filter on Browse Talent. | Client feedback on talent profiles. | Star ratings and reviews on freelancer profiles. | Star ratings and reviews on seller profiles. | Client feedback, not public ratings. |
| Referral bounties | Yes. Set and funded by the hiring company. 0% platform cut. | Referral rewards paid in network tokens. | Not a core feature. | Not a core feature. | $2,000 per referred paying client. Up to $500 per referred talent. |
| Engagement types | 1099 through Stripe Connect. W2 through an employer of record or the company's own payroll. | 1099 contractors. | Hourly and fixed price contracts. Payroll and employer of record options. | Fixed price gig orders. | Hourly, part-time, and full-time engagements. Freelancers are independent contractors. |