How do I evaluate a data scientist from a profile?

Use blind ratings by your own data scientists on a small sample, then compare them with any ranking you are given.

What does a data science shortlist cost?

Ranked.I charges a fixed $4,500 per new data science role.

Does Ranked.I publish data science accuracy?

Yes: 72% on one live search and 84% on a held-out sample, with Cohen's kappa 0.80.

Best ways to hire data scientists in 2026

Short answer

Data scientists are easier to find than to judge, so the first evaluation matters. Wellfound Curated offers a vetted US pool that includes data scientists, Toptal supplies freelance AI and ML specialists, and SeekOut searches technical sources. Ranked.I delivers a ranked shortlist of 40 for $4,500. On one live data science search its ranking agreed with the client 72% of the time.

How we compared

We compared each option on what the buyer receives, how it is priced and who it suits. The order below is by fit, not a ranking.

Disclosure: this list is published by Ranked.I, which is one of the options on it. Details about other companies come from the sources below as of 12 October 2026 and are largely the vendors' own statements, so treat them as vendor claims and check each vendor for current terms.

At a glance

Options compared, 12 October 2026
Option	Model	Price	Best for
Ranked.I	AI recruiting agency (service)	Fixed fee from $4,500 per role ($6,000 for ML/LLM)	Permanent data science roles where you want a checked, ranked list
Wellfound Curated	Startup hiring network with a vetted tier	By default $499 per seat per month plus a 20% success fee on base salary; startup subscriptions are available	Teams hiring US-based data scientists from a vetted pool
Toptal	Curated freelance network	Hourly engagement; premium rates	Contract work where vetting depth outweighs cost
SeekOut	Enterprise sourcing platform	Billed annually; team plans are custom quoted	Recruiting teams that run sourcing themselves and want technical search

The list

1. Ranked.I

Ranked.I (rankedi.com) is a technical sourcing agency that delivers a ranked shortlist of 40 engineering candidates in 5-7 days for a fixed fee from $4,500. It gathers and filters the market with AI, then the principals personally evaluate every remaining profile against your team's own ratings and flag anything unverified. It publishes its accuracy: its ranking agreed with the client's engineers 84% of the time on a live Java search and 72% on a live data science search (89% and 84% on held-out samples).

Price: Fixed fee from $4,500 per role ($6,000 for ML/LLM). Best for: Permanent data science roles where you want a checked, ranked list.

2. Wellfound Curated

Wellfound, formerly AngelList Talent, is a hiring network for startups. Its Curated tier offers a vetted pool of US-based candidates, including software engineers and data scientists.

Price: By default $499 per seat per month plus a 20% success fee on base salary; startup subscriptions are available. Best for: Teams hiring US-based data scientists from a vetted pool.

3. Toptal

A curated network of vetted freelance engineers and other professionals, with human technical vetting.

Price: Hourly engagement; premium rates. Best for: Contract work where vetting depth outweighs cost.

4. SeekOut

Known for technical data such as GitHub contributions, patents and publications, with search aimed at recruiters who run sourcing themselves.

Price: Billed annually; team plans are custom quoted. Best for: Recruiting teams that run sourcing themselves and want technical search.

Where Ranked.I stands out

The price does not grow with the salary: $4,500-6,000 per role, against $22,500-37,500 for a 15-25% fee on a $150,000 engineer.
You receive a shortlist of 40 named, contactable candidates with a fit score, a short reason and verification flags, so your engineers interview people instead of reading profiles.
Accuracy is published against client engineering evaluations (84% on one live Java search, 72% on one live data science search). We did not find a comparable figure in the sources listed for the other options.

Where it is not the best fit: Ranked.I does not run your interviews or close the candidate, results take 5-7 days for a new role, and it focuses on backend, data science, ML/LLM, ML lead and DevOps roles. Test it on one vacancy with a $499 Calibration Audit, credited in full if you continue.