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The Toptal Alternative
For Australian Product Teams
A Remote Dedicated Developer
A remote developer who works only on your product, 160 to 172 hours a month, through your AEST afternoon and live until midnight AEST. AUD invoices issued without GST, paid by BPAY, direct EFT or wire, with no superannuation or payroll tax and a 7-day risk-free trial.
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Empiric Infotech vs Toptal
Toptal lists premium Australian contractors at AUD $90 to $220 per hour. A full-time month at those rates is AUD $14,400 to $35,200, and a year of product work from one contractor reaches AUD $173K to $422K. Empiric Infotech is the Toptal alternative for teams in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth that want the same full-time hours on one monthly invoice: a mid-to-senior developer, or a small dedicated team, working only on your product. Your developer overlaps 3.5 hours of your day, 2:00 to 5:30 PM AEST, and stays live until midnight AEST, so the standup happens after lunch and anything raised in the afternoon is usually done by the next morning. Perth teams get 12:00 noon to 10:00 PM AWST. Invoices are in AUD, issued without GST (you self-assess), and paid by BPAY, direct EFT or wire. Because the developer is not your employee, there is no superannuation, payroll tax or Fair Work process. Toptal fits a short sprint where the contractor must be based in Australia; for a 6 to 18 month roadmap, a dedicated developer costs a fraction of the hourly figure.
Empiric Infotech vs Toptal vs a Sydney or Melbourne hire
| Empiric Infotech (dedicated, monthly) | Toptal / Arc.dev premium | Upwork hourly | In-house hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost for 160 hours | One flat monthly fee in AUD | AUD $14,400 - $35,200 (AUD $90 - $220 / hr) | Variable hourly | AUD $13,500 - $20,300 fully loaded (AUD $130K-$180K senior salary + 25-35%) |
| Employer costs | None: the developer is not your employee | None: contractor | None: contractor | Salary + super, payroll tax, leave loading |
| GST and invoicing | AUD invoice issued without GST (you self-assess); BPAY, direct EFT or wire | Premium hourly rate | Project / hourly | Payroll |
| Hours with your team | 3.5 hours, 2:00 to 5:30 PM AEST; live until midnight AEST; Perth 12:00 noon to 10:00 PM AWST | Australia-based contractor on your hours | Variable | Your hours |
| Commitment | Monthly; seven days' notice to stop | Hourly engagement | No sprint commitment | Permanent + Fair Work Act notice + redundancy |
| Trial | 7-day risk-free trial | 2-week trial period | Milestone partial | 6-month probation |
| Time to start | 48 hours | 1-2 weeks | 1-30 days | 30-60 days hiring + notice period |
| If the fit is wrong | Free replacement | Manual rematch | Re-post job | Re-recruit + Fair Work notice |
Australian time zone overlap, AEST and AWST
Our team works 09:30 AM - 07:30 PM IST and a project manager is on call 07:30 AM - 11:00 PM IST, Monday to Friday. Here is exactly when that lands for clients in the US, Europe and Australia, your region first.
Australia East (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane) - full team online 3:00 PM - 1:00 AM (next day), project manager 1:00 PM - 4:30 AM (next day).Live cover across the edges of your day, your morning and your evening, with a project manager who replies the same business day.
US Eastern (New York, Boston, Atlanta) - full team online 12:00 AM - 10:00 AM, project manager 10:00 PM - 1:30 PM (next day).
US Pacific (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle) - full team online 9:00 PM - 7:00 AM (next day), project manager 7:00 PM - 10:30 AM (next day).
UK & Ireland (London, Dublin) - full team online 5:00 AM - 3:00 PM, project manager 3:00 AM - 6:30 PM.
Central Europe (Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid) - full team online 6:00 AM - 4:00 PM, project manager 4:00 AM - 7:30 PM.
Want it to the half-hour in your own time? Slide through your day and book a slot below.
When an Australian team should choose a dedicated developer over Toptal
Toptal makes sense for a short, specialised sprint where the contractor must be based in Australia and work your exact hours. Over a longer roadmap the rate decides. At AUD $90 to $220 per hour, a full-time month costs AUD $14,400 to $35,200, and twelve months of one contractor costs AUD $173K to $422K.
A senior Sydney or Melbourne hire is the other option, and it is slow and expensive in its own way: AUD $13,500 to $20,300 a month fully loaded once superannuation, payroll tax, leave loading and equipment add 25 to 35% to an AUD $130K to $180K salary, 30 to 60 days to hire plus a notice period, and Fair Work notice and redundancy obligations once the person is on staff.
A dedicated developer from Empiric Infotech is the middle path. One engineer works only on your product, joins the standup after lunch on AEST, stays live until midnight AEST, and has most of the afternoon's requests done by your next morning. Perth teams share 12:00 noon to 10:00 PM AWST, the strongest overlap of any Australian city.
The money side is simple. One AUD invoice a month, issued without GST (you self-assess), paid by BPAY, direct EFT or wire. There is no superannuation, payroll tax or leave accrual, because the developer is employed by Empiric Infotech, not by you. The NDA and IP assignment are signed before work starts, and you can stop with seven days' notice.
Australian clients include Acceleread, a speed-reading app in 24 languages built by a two-developer team, and Architecture CRM, a task, email and calendar CRM built by a single dedicated developer. Typical Australian engagements run 6 to 18 months.
See how the in-house figure is calculated in our Software Development Cost Benchmark 2026.
Real client engagements, including Australian product teams
Acceleread (Australia, learning app)
A speed-reading trainer with an adjustable pacer and personalised learning paths, in 24 languages on iOS, Android, macOS and Apple Vision Pro. Built by a two-developer team and rated 4.0/5 in the app stores.
Read case studyArchitecture CRM (Australia, task management and CRM)
One dashboard for projects, tasks, email, calendars and contacts, synced with Google and Microsoft, with Stripe subscriptions and a Docker CI/CD pipeline. Built by a single dedicated developer.
Read case studyEndoDNA (United States, healthcare SaaS)
A HIPAA-compliant multi-tenant clinic platform with a branded subdomain for each clinic. Built by a single dedicated developer, on the same engagement model Australian teams use.
Read case studyGot a Toptal quote in AUD? Compare it with a dedicated developer
Tell us the role, the stack and the hourly rate you were quoted. Within 24 hours we send a written scope and introduce one developer who fits; you meet them in your afternoon, and they can start within 48 hours on a 7-day risk-free trial. One AUD invoice a month by BPAY, direct EFT or wire.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
For a roadmap of more than a few months, a dedicated developer billed monthly in AUD. One mid-to-senior engineer works only on your product through your afternoon and into the evening, with a 7-day risk-free trial and a free replacement guarantee from Empiric Infotech.
Toptal lists premium Australian contractors at AUD $90 to $220 per hour: AUD $14,400 to $35,200 for a 160-hour month and AUD $173K to $422K over a year. Empiric Infotech charges one flat monthly fee per developer in AUD for 160 to 172 hours, a fraction of that; the current rate is shown above.
Three and a half hours inside a standard day, 2:00 to 5:30 PM AEST, with developers live until midnight AEST for evening work and reviews. Perth teams overlap 12:00 noon to 10:00 PM AWST. The project manager is available from noon AEST.
By BPAY, direct EFT or wire, against one AUD invoice a month. Empiric Infotech LLP is established outside Australia, so invoices are issued without GST and you self-assess.
No. The developer is employed by Empiric Infotech, so superannuation, payroll tax, leave accrual and Fair Work notice obligations stay with us. You sign a service contract between two companies and can stop with seven days' notice.
Yes, and Perth gets the strongest overlap: 12:00 noon to 10:00 PM AWST, which covers your whole afternoon and the evening. Standups can sit just after lunch, and evening reviews still fall inside your developer's normal working day.
Meet the developer in a working session, then use the 7-day risk-free trial on a real backlog item; Toptal's equivalent is a 2-week trial period. Every release is reviewed and tested by a senior team lead, and a replacement developer is free if you need one.
You do, fully. The NDA and IP assignment are signed before work starts, and the developer works in your GitHub and your AWS or Azure account, so the code, the data and the accounts stay with your company.
Yes. Acceleread, a speed-reading app in 24 languages, was built by a two-developer team, and Architecture CRM, which syncs Google and Microsoft email and calendars, was built by a single dedicated developer. Typical Australian engagements run 6 to 18 months.
