Have folks used Toptal or Braintrust to hire devs? What has your experience been? How do they compare to Upwork? Does the stark difference in cost really reflect in the quality of the talent pool?
An fyi about Toptal -- you'll be over paying big time. And their "recruitment" sucks -- yes, I've been to their interviews, and failed the last one -- I can't even put into words how much that sucked. They give you the bullshit that they hire only the top 3% -- but based on what I saw first hand, it's basically "sure, it's 3% of the interviewees, but it's pure luck".
And Braintrust -- I can't say anything about them except that the fact that they're using blockchain is stupid to say the least.
Having said that, what skills exactly are you looking for?
An fyi about Toptal -- you'll be over paying big time. And their "recruitment" sucks -- yes, I've been to their interviews, and failed the last one -- I can't even put into words how much that sucked. They give you the bullshit that they hire only the top 3% -- but based on what I saw first hand, it's basically "sure, it's 3% of the interviewees, but it's pure luck".
And Braintrust -- I can't say anything about them except that the fact that they're using blockchain is stupid to say the least.
Having said that, what skills exactly are you looking for?