UpWork and Fiverr vs. Panther: Where should you hire your contractors?

In the next couple of minutes, you’ll learn why hiring directly on freelancing platforms is cutting into your bottom line—and your teammates’. And, you’ll learn how you can move talent off of platforms like UpWork to have more control, fewer fees, and a happier team.

So what’s the deal with freelancing platforms, like UpWork? While they serve as useful places to source talent, platforms like UpWork and Fiverr also want you to hire that talent through their platforms. The problem? These platforms tend to take a serious cut of what you pay your team—and they charge you big fees, too. 

For example: UpWork takes a 20% cut of what contractors make (up to their first $500) and also typically charges significant processing fees for you, the client.

• If you want your contractor to receive $350 on UpWork, you’d actually have to shell out close to $440—because UpWork’s commission (on the first $500) is 20%. Fees go down after that, but they’re still significant. Not fun for anyone involved.

Most other platforms sing the same tune, for good reason: It’s how they earn revenue. But it’s a real thorn in your team’s side—your teammates get huge slices of money taken out of their pay, and you pay serious fees just to hire on-platform.

Introducing… Panther.

When it’s time to get serious, Panther’s how you hire

There’s a big difference between hiring on UpWork and hiring on Panther:

• Freelancing platforms like UpWork are job boards with tacked-on hiring functionality. They work well to source talent, and because they need to make revenue, they want you to hire on-platform. But their most effective feature is that they’re good places to find talent.
• ‍Panther isn’t a job board—it’s built specifically for compliantly hiring and paying contractors in 150+ countries. Letting you hire and pay your team of contractors is our only purpose. It’s what our entire platform is created for—what we’re dedicated to building on a daily basis. So, we don’t take from your contractors’ pay or scoop huge fees out of your account. Because we don’t need to.

With Panther, you can hire your contractors with an employment-like experience. You’ll pay us $49 per contract per month. No commissions or cuts from what your talent makes. When you want your contractor to receive $350, you pay them $350. That’s that. It’s easier for you, and less frustrating for the people you hire.

How to make the transition to Panther

It’ll take you just a couple of minutes. Here’s how: 

1. Create your Panther account (for free).
2. Generate contracts for your current team (in a few clicks).
3. Invite your team to sign their contracts through Panther.
4. Get automated invoices each month—and pay everyone in a click, in 150+ countries. In the currency of their choice.

That easy. Start with Panther today.

The bottom line on freelancing platforms vs. Panther

Ever walked by one of those “Chinese-American-Thai” restaurants? Ever wondered how they could possibly make great food from three entirely different countries? Truth is, they can’t. Just like how most freelancing job boards aren’t great places to actually hire talent.

In the end, UpWork—and places like it—are good places to find talent. But Panther’s where you hire your team, if you want a seamless, compliant, low-friction experience in 150+ countries.

Source your talent anywhere, then hire and pay them through Panther. Start for $0.