You've found the perfect contractor for your business — maybe through a referral, LinkedIn, or your professional network. Now comes a crucial decision that many businesses get wrong: Should you ask them to sign up on Upwork or Fiverr just to manage payments and contracts?

It's tempting. These platforms are familiar, and their payment systems are already set up. But that means you or the freelancer will have to pay unnecessary platform fees. This will dilute their direct relationship with you.

While Upwork and Fiverr are built for finding freelancers, platforms like Thera are specifically designed for the next step: properly managing contractors you've already found. Let's explore why the platform you choose for contractor management matters more than you might think - especially for your bottom line and compliance needs.

Understanding Freelance Marketplaces Such as Upwork and Fiverr

Freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr serve primarily as talent discovery platforms. These platforms excel at their core purpose: connecting businesses with freelance talent from around the world. They offer built-in payment processing, basic contract templates, and a rating system that helps validate talent. They also provide dispute resolution services and hold payments in escrow to protect both parties.

However, these conveniences come at a cost. Marketplaces charge significant fees, typically ranging from 10% to 20% of each payment. These fees apply whether you found your contractor through the platform or not. For contractors, this means losing a substantial portion of their earnings. For businesses, it often means contractors raising their rates to offset these fees.

Beyond the obvious fees, using platforms like Upwork and Fiverr for managing existing contractors creates several unexpected problems:

• Communication Barriers: These platforms force all communication through their systems. Every email, file share, or quick update must go through their interface. For established relationships, this adds unnecessary friction to daily interactions that could be handled through regular business channels.
• Payment Complications: Want to give your contractor a bonus? Need to adjust payment terms? Every financial transaction must fit within the platform's predefined structure. This means less flexibility in how you handle compensation and longer processing times for simple payments.
• Platform Lock-in: Once you start managing a contractor through these marketplaces, moving away becomes complicated. Your contract history, payment records, and communication logs are trapped in their system. It's like renting space in someone else's building - you're stuck playing by their rules.
• Professional Relationships: Asking established contractors to join freelance marketplaces can create unnecessary friction. Many experienced professionals have their own established ways of working and billing. While these platforms can handle basic contract management, requiring contractors to create new accounts, verify identities, and adapt to platform-specific processes adds extra steps to what could be a simpler arrangement.
• Platform Usage Options:Businesses can use these marketplaces solely for contracts and payments while keeping day-to-day communication through regular channels like email or Slack. However, this creates a disconnected experience where critical business information lives in multiple places. Plus, you're still paying platform fees for features you're not fully using.

These platforms weren't designed for managing existing contractor relationships. They're optimized for finding new talent, not handling ongoing partnerships with contractors you already know and trust. Using them solely for payment and contract management is like buying a whole car just to use the radio.

Let's look at the best alternative to Upwork and Thera for managing your contractors.

A Solution Built for Contractor Management: Thera

Unlike freelance marketplaces, Thera was designed specifically for managing existing contractor relationships. Think of it as your contractor management command center — handling everything from contracts and payments to compliance and tax documentation. It several key advantages:

1. More Money in Everyone's Pocket

While marketplaces take 10-20% of each payment, Thera's fee structure is significantly lower. This means:

• Contractors keep more of their earnings (up to 3% more take-home pay through better exchange rates)
• Businesses save on processing fees (customers like Hypergen report 50% lower costs)
• No need to inflate rates to offset platform fees

Cost Comparison for a Typical Business Scenario where they're spending $10,000 monthly on contractor payments

Let's break down the true costs of using a marketplace like Fiverr compared to a specialized contractor management platform like Thera. This comparison goes beyond just looking at the obvious platform fees to consider three critical cost factors:

The numbers tell a clear story: while freelance marketplaces serve an important purpose in finding talent, using them solely for payment and contract management is like paying a matchmaking service long after you've found your perfect match. For businesses with established contractor relationships, a specialized platform like Thera offers significant savings while providing better service to both parties.

2. Lightning-Fast Payments

Traditional marketplaces often hold payments in escrow or have lengthy processing times. Thera offers:

• Same-day payments for 80% of contractors
• Support for 150+ countries
• Competitive exchange rates without hidden fees
• Simple, transparent payment processing

3. Direct Communication and Support

Instead of forcing all communication through a platform:

• Get a dedicated Slack channel for direct support
• Average response time of 10 minutes
• Direct access to compliance experts
• No artificial barriers between you and your contractors

4. Built for Growth

As your contractor relationships grow, Thera scales with you:

• Manage payroll across all 50 US states
• Hire contractors in over 150 countries
• Handle both contractors and employees on one platform
• Automated compliance and tax documentation

The difference becomes clear when looking at real customer experiences.

Take Eighteen Forty, a company based in Kansas city. Thera helped them onboard 330+ Contractors & reduce cost by 50%. Or consider Zendrop, a Saas company — they moved 100+ contractors from Gusto to Thera.

Making the Switch

Moving your contractor management to Thera is straightforward:

1. Set up your account (takes less than a day)
2. Invite your contractors
3. Start processing payments immediately

If you've already found great contractors and want to manage them more efficiently while saving money, Thera provides the specialized tools you need without the overhead of a full marketplace platform. It's contractor management done right.

Schedule a call with Thera to know how we can help you manage contractors at the best possible rate in the market, while giving you top-notch services.

‍