Upwork Competitors: The 12 Best Alternatives for Finding Freelancers

Upwork is the product of a merger between oDesk and Elance. It’s currently one of the best-known platforms for anyone looking for a freelance job or a remote employee.

Upwork is popular because it’s huge. It’s been around for more than ten years and boasts millions of freelancers in a multitude of fields. But, its strengths are also its weaknesses. Luckily, there are plenty of Upwork competitors out there to consider.

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Why you should use an alternative to Upwork

Posting a job on Upwork can be a hassle. The sheer number of applicants to any job can be overwhelming, and some applicants will mass-apply to jobs they definitely aren’t qualified for. Sorting through irrelevant responses can be a job in and of itself.

Yes, Upwork has a rating system for freelancers. Still, that rating system doesn’t show you how readily a freelancer communicates and other key work habits you should observe before hiring someone. Plus, the system benefits those who have been on the platform longer, so you may overlook great freelancers just because they’re new to Upwork.

Upwork’s messaging platform and payment systems are cumbersome and rife with bugs. Communicating — especially with multiple freelancers — can be a giant pain.

It can also be quite costly to hire and work with freelancers through the platform. (In fact, we save over $30,000 every year by not using Upwork.)

Upwork may be the biggest name in the game, but there are many Upwork competitors out there that get the job done without the downsides. Whether you want an alternative platform or an in-house process to find and hire content creators, we’ve got you covered.

The best Upwork competitors and alternatives

1. Fiverr

Fiverr bills itself as the world’s largest online marketplace for on-demand freelance services. They originally offered $5 services, but that has since changed.

You can find just about any kind of service you want for five bucks or more — that includes users who will design a t-shirt, prank call someone, beatbox your name, and lots of other wild services.

What makes it different from Upwork?

You have the option to post a project or browse through gig offers to find something that fits your requirements.
Fiverr is best used for specific gigs with predetermined outcomes.
High-rated sellers and Pro-level providers charge way more than just $5. Expect to get what you pay for.
Creating an account is free and you can communicate with the freelancer before placing an order with them.
Fiverr is better suited for people who want a gig completed quickly and within a small budget.
Like we mentioned above, it covers a wide range of services and is less focused than other platforms.

If you’re looking to accomplish a quick, clear-cut job that you know is easy to hand off, it might be worth looking at Fiverr. That said, it does have its fair share of shortcomings.

Compared to competitors, Fiverr won’t always yield a high-quality outcome for you or your business. Buyers’ options are limited as most of the power is in the seller’s hands.

Although Fiverr is an Upwork competitor, it has a very different business model and tends to be good for different types of projects you would not normally use Upwork for.

2. Hubstaff Talent (100% free)

Hubstaff Talent connects freelance professionals and clients with efficiency and finesse.

This free platform displays a freelancer’s hourly rate, skills, experience, availability, résumé, and languages spoken. Freelancers also have the option to add a short description to provide more information on themselves.

You can filter profiles by skill, availability, years of experience, or country. You can also run a search for keywords or phrases.

For business owners to find freelancers and agencies, they simply have to browse the profiles on Hubstaff Talent, contact their chosen freelancers directly, decide on work terms, and get started.

Agencies can start a profile and add team members in order to be found by business owners. Freelancers only need to start a profile, get found, contacted, and then hit the ground running.

Here’s what makes Hubstaff Talent different as an Upwork competitor.

It’s a free directory for companies looking for remote talent across the globe.
There are no markups and no fees on either side (freelancer or business owner). That means freelancers get exactly what their client pays them.
Because there are no fees, Hubstaff Talent takes a very small role in the pairing and agreements client and talent work out.
There are no fees levied on projects or hourly work.
Employers are free to reach out to freelancers, interview them and hire them at no charge.
Hubstaff’s project management software, Hubstaff Tasks, can be used for an additional monthly fee.
You can also add Hubstaff time tracking software, which comes with invoicing and payroll options via PayPal, Bitwage, and Payoneer.
Hubstaff paid plans start at $5 for a single user per month.

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3. Credo

One of the biggest problems with freelance marketplaces is that you just have to trust a freelancer who says they’re good at what they do.

You can check their portfolios, but that’s not always a great indication of the quality of their work. Credo aims to solve that issue by vetting all of their providers before listing them on the site.

Unlike many freelance marketplaces, Credo specializes in a very narrow field: SEO and marketing. When you land on the site, you can choose from a list of services you’re interested in, including:

SEO consulting (which include local SEO, travel SEO, real estate SEO, e-commerce SEO, lawyer SEO and international SEO)
SEO site audits
Content marketing
Inbound marketing
Link building
Facebook ads
PPC
Paid social ads
Online reputation management
WordPress development

Once you’ve done that, you’ll see a list of providers that you can choose from. And because the founder of Credo has closely vetted those providers, you can be confident that you’re getting absolutely top-notch talent for your project.

How does Credo compare to Upwork?

The Credo process is more like a concierge service that guides you throughout your project.
They vet every agency and consultant in their network.
The Credo team gets on the phone with you to make the right recommendations and introductions in under 24 hours.
Credo reaches out to potential agencies and freelancers who are the best fit. When they accept, you are introduced.
Credo helps with project proposal reviews and clarifications and then checks in from time to time to ensure the project is moving along well.

4. Freelancer

With more than 20 million projects posted and over 50 million users, Freelancer is a massive and constantly growing Upwork alternative that offers similar benefits.

For employers and small businesses, signing up and getting started on Freelancer is quick and easy. You post a project to get started, fill out project details, add job skills and pricing options, and attach project files for applicants to peruse.

Alternatively, employers can reach out directly to a freelancer they find attractive for the job.

Once you submit your job, freelancers will bid on your project. You can review their portfolios, work history, qualifications, and other details. Once the project is completed, businesses have the option to rate and review their freelancer.

Freelancer.com and Upwork are very similar in their offerings. The only major difference being pricing, access to tools for the subscription level and quality of the tools they provide.

Here are some key differences to note with this Upwork competitor.

Pricing on Freelancer.com varies from $3 to 3% of the project cost, depending on which is greater. You can purchase updates at an extra cost for things like priority, full-time work, NDA, etc. This is comparable to Upwork’s base plan (2.75% of the project cost).
Contests allow you to assign freelancers projects and pick a winner. While it is free to post a contest, you will need to provide prize money. You can also add upgrades to extend the contest, assign priority, NDA, etc. One big downside of hosting a contest is that many freelancers don’t enter because they don’t want to create spec work for free.
Don’t wish to manage your projects? You can consider adding a project manager to your project. However, fees will differ depending on the size of the project.

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5. Outsourcely

Outsourcely was actually born from the limitations and costs of using platforms like Odesk, Elance, and Freelancer for many years. The main frustrations the founders of Outsourcely wanted to solve were the difficulty of finding reliable freelancers, high payment processing fees, and not being able to hire directly.

In solving these differences, Outsourcely stands out as an Upwork alternative. Here is how it’s different:

The talent on Outsourcely is primarily looking for long-term remote work opportunities.
Outsourcely allows employers to interview and hire talent directly without any involvement from Outsourcely.
Employers can pay talent directly without extra fees being levied.
Prospective employers can interview and hire talent with real-time communication tools built into the platform, including real-time private chat, browser-to-browser video and voice calling, video and voice messaging, or direct email. This makes the hiring process much quicker and easier.
Like Upwork, you can find a freelancer through a skills search or by posting a remote job.
Employers can manage their remote team via the Outsourcely Team Workplace platform or even invite their existing staff to Outsourcely to use a single management tool.

Employers can choose from three pricing plans depending on their needs:

Free: 1 job post per month
Small Business ($79/month): 5 job posts and 100 connections per month
Professional ($229/month): 30 job posts and 500 connections per month

Outsourcely does offer the ability to create a free job post to get a taste of the platform. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you think it is not a good fit.

6. Textbroker

If you’re looking for high-quality freelance writing services, Textbroker could work for you. Like Fiverr, this site is an Upwork alternative, but it runs things differently.

Textbroker guarantees your work gets done — even if your writer gets sick, can’t complete the job, or simply decides not to.

How does Textbroker compare as an alternative to Upwork? Here are a few differences.

This site focuses purely on freelance writing services.
You create an account and get to select your order type, quality level, and set up instructions.
You get access to 1000’s of writers from all over the world at different skill levels, as per their star rating.
You can then deposit funds to place the order.
You get to decide who writes the article and delivery dates.
Alternatively, you can use the Managed Service option, which starts at $2500, where a team handles the entire process for you.
Textbroker’s API makes integration with your CRM or CMS easy.

Buyers post a request for content, and the site matches the request to one of its thousands of writers. Writers are categorized by skill level, and the pricing matches, so buyers choose what quality level they want from their writer and move forward.

If the writer you chose is unable to complete your assignment, it’s automatically re-assigned, which is a neat feature.

The downside to Textbroker is that communication with your freelancer is limited. And, again, you get what you pay for, so if you chose a lower-quality content writer to complete your task, you’re likely to get low-quality work.

While the site does boast some high-quality writers, you may be better off forming more personable relationships with writers directly, especially since content is such a nebulous field with a lot of gray areas.

7. Workhoppers

Workhoppers is the anti-thesis of Upwork-type freelance sites and was designed for companies to find and hire professionals in their own city.

How is Workhopper different from Upwork?

No commissions are paid. Instead, you’ll pay a monthly plan with fees as low as $19 per month.
Can find freelancers who work in your local area for full-time, part-time, or contract roles.
A matching algorithm provides a curated list of potential candidates instead of having people apply or having to hunt them down.
You save time by contacting candidates directly and immediately.
You get to negotiate terms with the candidate, saving time and money.

With Workhoppers, there are no bidding or complicated processes to estimate the cost of a project.

Workhoppers believe in the advantages of working face-to-face, even if it’s just once a month over a coffee. Companies and “workhoppers” can communicate directly and agree together on the terms of the contract. It uses a powerful matching algorithm to highlight the most qualified freelancers. That means you don’t have to go through the sorting process.

Once the job is completed, businesses have the opportunity to review their freelancer. All companies and jobs are vetted before they can post on the site.

The site intends to encourage companies to hire and meet with freelancers in their communities. This focus on long-term relationships is better for everyone.

The obvious downside of Workhoppers is that, depending on where you live, the cost of a local freelancer could be higher. Our 2017 Global Freelancing Trends survey showed that freelancers in places with higher costs of living charge more.

You can specify that you are seeking a freelancer in another city, but you’ll need to establish trust since there is no escrow payment processing. The site is a great option for projects that require meeting face-to-face.

8. FreeUp

Nathan Hirsch created FreeUp (formerly Freeeup) to help users get access to top talent quickly. Nathan initially started out vetting freelancers for eCommerce businesses like his and then branched out into other skill sets as demand grew for the service.

How is FreeUp different from Upwork?

First off, it is not a job board.
The candidates available possess various skill sets, not limited to one focus area.
As part of building their talent pool, FreeUp vets candidates for you based on skills, attitude, and communication. They only allow the top 1% into the network.
They offer one to three handpicked, pre-vetted candidates based on your work request — and usually within 24 hours.
In instances where candidates require specific knowledge or software expertise, FreeUp will recruit and interview for you outside of their marketplace at no cost to you.
Once introductions to potential candidates have been made, you can communicate with them via email, Skype, or phone.
FreeUp handles payment for freelancers every week via credit card, PayPal retainer and, ACH for U.S. clients.
FreeUp also offers a no-turnover guarantee. So even if your freelancer quits for some reason, they cover all retraining, replacement costs, and provide a new person right away.
There are no sign-up fees or monthly fees. They make money off the difference in the hourly rate.

Again, the ability to pay your freelancers directly can save you thousands of dollars. Freelancers are only given assigned work after their hours have been approved.

When it comes to suggested candidates, you have no obligation to hire them. Instead, you can provide feedback to FreeUp to help find candidates that would best suit your project or work requirements.

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9. PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour is similar to Upwork in that it also offers a trusted dynamic platform where you can post a job and have freelancers apply for it. However, it also offers popular requests at a fixed price. Freelancers get to define these requests (known as hourlies) and its price.

In what other ways does PeoplePerHour differ as an Upwork competitor?

It is free to set up an account.
There are no fees involved in hiring a freelancer but payment processing fees when using a credit/debit card or PayPal will be passed on to you.
Posting a Job on PPH is free. If you want to feature your job listing there is a fee.
You can browse “Hourlies,” which are fixed price offers that freelancers can start on immediately.
Alternatively, you could post a job and let freelancers in the PeoplePerHour community find you.
Another way to get started is to search profiles of freelancers and contact them directly.
The “WorkStream” in your PeoplePerHour account is a single dashboard that enables you to track activity, communicate, and manage payments.
PeoplePerHour also offers buyer protection. In other words, it holds funds for the service you purchase in escrow until it assignments have been delivered.

10. Guru

Guru provides freelancers and employers with a straightforward experience when finding or posting jobs. Thanks to its security features and relatively low fees, the platform boasts a 99% customer satisfaction rate — an impressive number.

Here’s what makes Guru a notable Upwork alternative.

Signing up and posting a job are free.
You can jump straight into several freelancing job categories such as sales, development, and writing.
You have four payment terms to choose from: fixed, hourly, task-based, and recurring.
The SafePay feature provides payment security by assuring freelancers that funds are available.
Like with Upwork, Guru freelancers can use credits — called Bids — to apply for jobs. They receive 10 Bids every month with the free membership.
Freelancers working on the same project can work together through WorkRooms, Guru’s built-in collaboration spaces.
Employers can post unlimited jobs and use SafePay and WorkRooms at zero cost.

Freelancers can use Guru for free, but it also has a paid membership that unlocks additional benefits. This includes more bids, lower job fees, and the ability to message employers directly.

Guru charges employers a 2.9% handling fee for every invoicing transaction. You can get a 100% cashback by paying via wire transfer or eCheck, Guru’s in-app wallet.

11. 99designs

99designs doesn’t bill itself as a “freelance marketplace” like the other platforms on this list, but it performs the same core function that they do. However, 99designs focuses exclusively on design services and has gained recognition as one of the best ones in that regard.

What makes 99designs stand out?

The platform lets you select from several design templates for logos, web pages, book covers, and more.
There are two ways to get your projects done:
- You can provide your design needs, budget, and deadlines to 99Designs. They will find a designer to do the job for you while you wait.
- You can directly contact designers through the platform and negotiate and collaborate with them yourself.
You’ll be able to view portfolios, which gives you an idea of a designer’s capabilities before you decide to hire them.
They offer a premium service called Studios, which aims toward projects that require creative campaigns instead of design pieces.
99designs performs quality checks on designer submissions to an extent before presenting them to you. This means that you can expect quality work virtually every time.

Like Freelancer.com, 99designs allows you to host your own contests.

You’re going to submit project specifications, choose a prize amount from 99designs’s pricing packages, and receive submissions from several competing designers. The prize goes to the author of the design you select (i.e. the “winner” of the contest).

99designs charges fees based on the designer’s level. Entry Level designers pay a 15% fee for every project, Mid Level designers pay 10%, while Top Level designers pay 5%.

12. Toptal

Toptal is short for “top talent,” which should give you an idea of what they stand for. Of the many freelancer applications they receive per month, they end up hiring less than 3%. This demanding screening process ensures only the highest quality of freelance talent will work on your projects.

Why should you consider Toptal as a good alternative to Upwork?

Toptal’s application process essentially eliminates the possibility of working with underqualified freelancers.
You can assemble a team of project managers, designers, and developers all on the platform.
Toptal has freelancers specializing in various industries ranging from health care to entertainment.
Unlike in other freelancing platforms, you cannot browse freelancer profiles. Toptal will do the matchmaking for you based on your needs.

One can argue Toptal is the polar opposite of Fiverr. While Fiverr is catered toward clients who just need one-time jobs done, Toptal is for clients looking to work with specialists in a more steady capacity. With that said, Toptal isn’t the best option unless you’re one of the latter.

While Toptal doesn’t provide any pricing information on its website, many review sites agree that it charges more expensive fees than its counterparts.

Toptal’s value stands out when you need to get a complex project done right away but don’t have time to hire and onboard new employees. If you’re looking for quick, affordable, one-time jobs, you might want to look elsewhere.

Consider a comprehensive team management platform

In addition to Hubstaff Talent, you can also manage your team’s time and projects with Hubstaff and Hubstaff Tasks.

Hubstaff time tracking allows you to add freelancers and contractors to easily track their work hours and get paid quickly and accurately. Teams in industries like e-commerce, software development, and staffing and recruitment also use Hubstaff to work efficiently daily.

Hubstaff Tasks is an Agile project management tool that uses visual project boards and detailed tasks to keep your whole team on the same page. Assign tasks to freelancers and contractors and then get progress updates as they work on projects.

Plan Sprints, automate workflows, and set deadlines so that handing off projects to outside professionals is easy and streamlined.

Use all three tools together to find talent, track their hours, and keep projects moving forward.

What are your favorite Upwork alternatives

No matter which Upwork alternative you choose to work with, remember that you need a reliable solution to manage your team of freelancers or remote workers. Many of the platforms outlined above are enticing, but remember that you have the freedom to choose the solution that makes the most sense for your business.

Do you prefer to hire on Upwork, or have you used any of the alternatives above? Did we miss your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Looking to hire a WordPress developer? Check out this Freelancer to Agency Series on how to hire freelance WordPress developers for your agency.

This post was originally published in March 2016. We updated it in March 2022 for accuracy and included more relevant platforms.

Upwork Competitors: The 12 Best Alternatives for Finding Freelancers

Why you should use an alternative to Upwork

Sites like Upwork: