### First Let me tell you something about the interview process, because I see the most hate comes from that. It is consisted of 4 parts: 1. Initial interview (basic communication) - this is where they see do you know English language enough to do this. 2. Codillity challenge - 90 min to solve 3 problems. This is hard. Yes, many will say that this is nothing like they use in every day developing, but every developer should be able to do at least 1 problem. 3. Skype challenge - 2x20 min to solve 2 problems. This is way easier then Codillity. 4. Project - you get a small project to develop using desired technologies. And then you present it in a 10 min Skype presentation.
Basically the Codillity challenge is the hardest. But it is not something that you can't do or learn. Famous 3% is just a marketing trick. They don't say 3% of all developers in the world, but 3% of all developers that applied to Toptal. Yes, it is a marketing trick and everyone use those.
### Second You don't know how much Toptal is charging for your services. You only know how much you get from TT and client knows how much he is paying TT. And in this gap the TT is getting money.
### Third Honestly, I do not understand people who live in USA or any other developed country and would work for TT. I live in a country, where the average net pay is $400 per month. Yes, and I am not kidding. As a developer I would maybe get twice as that. And on TT I earn that in a week. If I had the luck to be born in a better country I would never considered TT. There is a small chance that you would get from TT what you charge on your own. Even if you get $120 per hour, you can know that TT is charging the client at least $180.
### Fourth From my perspective TT is working very well. I have an opportunity to earn decent money, I can travel, organize my time better, etc. There are downsides, like any other freelancing job, but I don't have to mention those.