The 10 Best Outsourcing Websites

If you want to hire from the top 3% of talent in the world for your projects, Toptal is for you. Unlike other outsourcing websites, Toptal has a very strict and thorough vetting process. They pick just the top 3% of freelancers who apply to make sure they’re getting only the real experts in their fields. 

You can hire experts in software development, design, marketing, finance, product management, and project management. But here, you don’t have to search for freelancers yourselves. Toptal gives you hand-picked freelancers according to your needs.

• Freelancers on Toptal have to go through a strict five-step process that includes interviews, skill assessments, and test projects. And only the best of the best are accepted.

• The hiring process doesn’t take much time. You can hire quickly in under 48 hours.

• Toptal also offers a no-risk trial period. You can work with the freelancer for a few weeks, and if you’re not satisfied, you don’t have to pay. This is a really helpful feature to let you see if the freelancer is a good fit before fully committing.

Toptal is not for you if you’ve a limited or tight budget because all these top experts come at a really high price. There is even a mandatory deposit of at least $500 before they start looking for a freelancer for your project.

Upwork matches you with the right freelancers based on your needs to reduce your manual search work. You can post a job with all your requirements on the website. It then matches the project with a list of freelancers that specialise in that field of work and shortlists candidates for you. Any interested freelancers can also see your job and submit their proposals to you.

If you prefer to look for freelancers manually, you can do that as well. While searching, you can add filters like what skills you're looking for, experience level, hourly rate, etc. 

• Upwork’s Project Catalog lets freelancers offer set packages like a logo design for $100. This is great if you need a quick solution for something and want to know the price right away.
• Depending on the project, you can hire freelancers on either an hourly basis or for a fixed price.
• There’s also a messaging system, file-sharing options, and built-in video calls. This makes it easy to stay in touch with freelancers and manage projects without switching between apps.

Before you use UpWork, there are a few things you should know about. UpWork charges service fees on both sides, which can make projects more expensive. Also, while it’s a good thing that there are many talented freelancers, it can be time-consuming to go through so many portfolios and profiles before you find a suitable hire.

Gigster

Gigster could be your go-to platform if you want to outsource experienced developers to build software, applications, or other tech products for your business. You can specify all your project details and requirements. Based on this, the platform selects from the top 1% of global talent, which also includes engineers from Google, Facebook, SpaceX, NASA, etc., to create a hand-picked team for your project.

It handles everything from managing the team to communicating with them, so you don’t have to do anything yourself. Throughout the process, you’ll receive updates from both the team and Gigster’s AI, keeping you informed about your project’s progress.

• Gigster builds a complete team for your project, including designers, developers, and project managers.

• It also uses AI to track deadlines, check in on tasks, and give you updates.
  

• Unlike some platforms where prices can increase with changes, Gigster offers fixed pricing for projects. They give you a set price, so there are no extra charges later.

While Gigster is a great outsourcing website, it's expensive. So, it’s not the best option if you’ve a limited budget. And if you only need a quick task done, like fixing a bug or making a small website update, Gigster’s team-based process won’t be suitable for you.

99Designs helps you connect with creative design experts. It's an outsourcing website made just for design-related tasks. Whether you want help creating a logo, a website design, your product's packaging or anything else, there are experts to help you out. 

You can either hire a specific designer to collaborate with or start a contest where all the designers can compete. This gives you many design options, and you can choose the best one out of them.

• In the contest, you describe your project and set a budget, and designers from around the world submit their ideas. And then, you can choose the design you like the most.

• 99Designs ranks its designers into categories like "Mid," "Top," and "Entry" levels based on their experience and portfolio. So you get an idea of what to expect before choosing.

• The platform also helps you make a detailed creative brief that gives designers a clear idea of what you want. 

99Designs is a great outsourcing platform for design work but it does have a few limitations. While you can set your own budget for a design contest, high-quality work usually comes with a higher price tag. So it can get quite expensive for you.

Also, even though you get multiple submissions in a contest, there’s no guarantee you’ll find a design that is exactly what you want. It’s probably better to hire a specific designer.

Freelancer is one of the oldest outsourcing websites where you can run contests and let multiple freelancers bid on your projects. You can post a job with all your project details and requirements. Interested freelancers will then submit bids for your project along with their work. You can then pick the best submission which gives you multiple options to choose from before hiring someone.

There are over 2700 skills available on the platform. You can also check freelancers' profiles, portfolios, and ratings before hiring.

• There are time-tracking tools on the platform for hourly projects so you can monitor the freelancer’s progress and make sure you pay correctly.

• You don’t have to pay until you’re satisfied with the work done. 

With so many freelancers on the platform, you’ll need to spend some time going through bids to find the right match. Also, Freelancer charges service fees to both businesses and freelancers, which can add up, especially if you’re working on a long-term project.

Guru helps you outsource freelancers and work with them easily, all on the same platform with their virtual workrooms. These workrooms let you share files, schedule meetings with freelancers and discuss any project-related details. 

You can find freelancers for several different tasks like design, development, sales and marketing, writing and translation, etc. You can either search for freelancers yourself or just post a job and let interested freelancers contact you. Other than that, 

• You can also check the feedback and portfolio of freelancers before hiring them. 

• There are multiple payment options, such as fixed price, task-based payment, hourly payment, or recurring payment, so you can choose whatever fits you best.

• Payments on Guru are handled through SafePay, which makes sure that freelancers only get paid when you’re happy with their work.

There are a few things to keep in mind before using Guru. Both freelancers and employers have to pay a service fee. Also, finding the best talent at the right price can take some time.

UpCounsel is a go-to platform for outsourcing legal services. Here, you can find expert attorneys to help you with your legal needs, whether it's creating legal agreements, signing contracts, registering businesses, etc. 

Over ten thousand companies, including some from the Fortune 1000 list, have trusted UpCounsel to get legal help. Their lawyers, on average, have been practising law for over 14 years, so they’re all professionals who know what they’re doing. 

Before you hire an attorney, you can also check their ratings and reviews from past clients, which can help you decide who to work with. 

• The Lawyers on UpCounsel go through a thorough vetting process to make sure that only experienced and qualified legal professionals are available to you.

• You can hire a lawyer for a one-time job or for any ongoing bigger projects.

• You can see how much you’ll have to pay before hiring a lawyer. There are no extra hidden fees.

• It’s also a great platform to get legal advice online from some of the top attorneys worldwide.

UpCounsel is a trustworthy platform for finding lawyers, but it has some limits. It's best for one-time or short-term legal help. If you need ongoing legal support, you might have to hire a new lawyer each time rather than working with the same one long-term. 

Also, if your business is going through some really complex legal situation, it’d be better to hire a lawyer in person.

Liveops

LiveOps is an outsourcing platform for customer service. You can hire professional agents for your company’s customer support-related tasks, whether it's phone calls, chat, email management or anything else.

On average, all the agents on their platform have over 15 years of experience in their field of work. So they know how to handle different customer situations. 

Just explain them the details about your business and what kind of customer support you need. LiveOps will then give you suitable customer service agents based on your needs.  

• LiveOps agents are available the whole time, so your business can offer 24/7 customer service without having to maintain a full-time team.

• They also give you insights into how your customer service is performing. You can track call times, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction.

While LiveOps agents are experienced, they’re not your direct employees so you’ll have less control over their actions compared to an in-house team. Also, even though these agents are skilled in customer service, you’ll still need to train them on your specific business practices, products, and tone of voice.