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I’ve heard that toptal (https://www.toptal.com/) is a good place to start, because you can get paid decently and you get in touch with serious employers.

I don’t have experience with them nor am I affiliated to them, so to take with a grain of salt.

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I've heard the opposite, that the pay was low and the expectations were high, as in that they don't respect your off time and expect you to be on-call.

Don’t you set your own rates and timings at Toptal? From what I can see it functions more as a talent agency than as an employer.

I'll ask my friend next time we chat, but if its anything like other online agencies, you can set your rates, but such agencies draw clients who want cheap labor.

I'd steer clear of toptal and other big names (upwork, gigster etc.) and focus on niche platforms that focus more on the user experience, client quality and are not flooded with people willing to work for really low rates. I've heard ok things about gun.io and povioremote.com.

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