Toxic culture with a lot of fluctuation - Software Engineer Toptal Employee Review

1.0
24 Apr 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Hi, unfortunately I agree with all the low reviews here. Don't get fooled by the positive reviews, change the sorting to "Sort: Most Recent" and check the critical reviews as well. - 100% remote work - You work mostly with experienced developers (however, >98% white man) - Some developers are very friendly and helpful - Some teams have quite interesting projects/codebases - Ambitious company goals

Cons

- Unfortunately, the management is very chaotic and unprofessional. - Most of them have no soft skills (including CEO). - As a developer, you have almost no contact to the management. They don't care at all how you're doing, if you need help or support, etc. They only watch how many tickets you finish. If you underperform and you are lucky, you will get a warning, otherwise they will lay you off. - Even though I never met the CEO, I just heard weird stories and jokes about him. The employees don't really trust him and they have quite a toxic relationship. - They don't treat you as a valuable employee, you are just a role which can (and will be) replaced as soon as they find another role with better qualifications (on the paper). - Strong "hiring and firing" culture. - No diversity at all (which results in quite a toxic and competitive culture). - During my time at Toptal I have seen a lot of developers leaving (or got terminated). In my team of 8 developers half of them either changed teams or left the company (in just 6 months). - No support to improve in your field, no support in career progression. You have to do it on your own, in your free time. - There is also just low support in understanding the technical parts. They will tell you to read the code, which is fine if you have the time, but in general you are already under pressure finishing your tickets. - No mentorship. - There is a culture of blame and fear. If you make a mistake, people will shout at you. These are just the important points, I encourage you to go through the other low reviews with more insights on how it is to work at Toptal.

Explore other reviews about Toptal

5.0
28 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

1. Excellent Pricing 2. Geneue Big and Global Clients 3. Pricing at your Choice 4. Top Class Payment System 5. Job Matcher who listen to you when and where required. 6. Always Real Job not a Job where person working as Freelancer to some international client and post job which you do during your parttime.

Cons

I don't find any Cons for TopTal Freelancer Platform

avatar
Toptal Response
3w
Thank you for your positive feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.
1.0
1 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

None. Avoid. This is a sinking ship.

Cons

As others have mentioned, the leadership of Toptal is very poor. Constant changes of direction, unstable leaders, a product with tons of competition. They also have extremely high turnover. Even if you get a job here, you'll be looking again in under a year.

3
avatar
Toptal Response
3w
Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention, as your input helps us improve.
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All