Cognition (Devin) vs Toptal
Side-by-side from the Top 11 rankings of Forward Deployed Engineer vs Full Stack Developer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026 and Toptal vs Upwork vs Fiverr Pro: 11 Best Freelance Platforms for Hiring Talent 2026. Last verified September 3, 2026.
The short answer
Toptal ranks higher on Top 11 (#1 vs #11) for 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. / Startups and SMBs hiring freelancers for design, dev, and marketing. The best for pre-vetted, high-caliber developers, designers, and finance experts.
At a glance
| Cognition (Devin) | Toptal | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #11 / Forward Deployed Engineer vs Full Stack Developer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026 | #1 / Toptal vs Upwork vs Fiverr Pro: 11 Best Freelance Platforms for Hiring Talent 2026 |
| Score (out of 9.4) | — | 9.3 |
| Best for | Teams testing whether an agent can absorb well specified backlog work | Hiring elite, vetted talent |
| Pricing | $ to $$$ (a $20 a month Core plan plus usage billed in agent compute units, with enterprise contracts quoted) | $$$$ (from $80/hr) |
| HQ | San Francisco, California | San Francisco, USA |
| Founded | 2023 | 2010 |
Cognition (Devin)
Automating the specified half of the job, which is exactly why the unspecified half is getting expensive.
cognition.com/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
Methodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.