Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover hiring & freelancers. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Contra | Guru | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $29 | From $11.95 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | None | 9% of what you earn |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Hiring & Freelancers, Creator Finance | Hiring & Freelancers |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Freelance profiles and payments with no commission
Contra takes nothing out of what a client pays you, which is the whole pitch and a real difference from the marketplaces that take ten or twenty percent. What it charges instead is a flat platform fee per payment, capped, and a subscription that halves the cap. The work board is smaller than Upwork's, so most people arrive with a client already.
Our note
On a $5,000 project Contra's capped fee is a rounding error and Upwork's percentage is several hundred dollars. On a $200 one the maths reverses. Work out which side of that line your invoices sit on before picking.
Only on this side
Freelance marketplace with a lower job fee
Guru is an older freelance marketplace whose job fee drops as the membership tier rises, which is a different bet from the platforms that take a flat cut. Its SafePay escrow holds the client's money before work starts. Volume is well below Upwork's, so it works as a second source of leads rather than as the only one.
Our note
The break-even is arithmetic worth doing once. Executive costs $49.95 and saves four points against the free plan's 9 percent, so it pays for itself at roughly $1,250 of monthly earnings. Below that, Basic is the better plan.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.