Guru.com vs. Wise vs. Upwork

Guru.com is great if you are a freelancer looking to connect with clients to get projects, but it is not for people looking for a steady flow of work or a more permanent employment situation. There is a learning curve before you can successfully get clients, but once you get the hang of it, it works nicely.

Incentivized

For a small business looking to expand internationally, transferwise offers lower admin fee and no hidden fee which is very important. It also remove the hassle and headache of setting up accounts with the local banks. Other than the low fees, the best part is we can use transferwise safely with a peace of mind as it is being regulated by the MAS. Lastly, any small business can set up their transferwise account within minutes which is very convenient

Incentivized

I would recommend Upwork to a colleague as a solution to workplace issues. Our company has utilized Upwork to vet out potential competitors as well as partners in a lengthy data analysis project, as well as given our engineering team extra hands when implementing new products, projects, and features. This has allowed our company to stay on track with projects without in-house manpower.

Incentivized

• Quick - because funds are transferred domestically, even when going international, you don't have to wait long.
• Easy - the printout of what information I needed to give the sending bank was complete and easy to understand.
• Affordable - the fees on both ends were minimal.

Incentivized

• Allows us to filter freelancers by location. This is especially important when working across time zones.
• Upwork is one of the only freelancing websites that actually provides a filter for US based contractors; and they rigorously verify this.
• Huge candidate pool. You're almost guaranteed to find a few individuals who specialize in whatever you're looking for.
• Allows both fixed bid and hourly. Each one is useful for different kinds of projects.

Incentivized

• Relatively high fees taken out of earnings
• Fake clients still get through, which causes a headache
• Having to pay to get your bid higher up in the list of freelancers makes it even more costly

Incentivized

• For large money transfers, the tax is a bit expensive so it would be nice if that was adjusted or if there was some economy of scale.
• Ability to schedule recurring transfers could be useful.
• Be able to transfer money by using a mobile phone number, like with Mobile Pay or Bizum, when the sender and receiver of the money are in different countries.

Incentivized

• In my opinion the worst customer service. It is impossible to contact them via phone, and they are not transparent about their decisions.
• I feel they don't have the freelance community's best interest in mind. Their focus is on the companies that pay. Freelancers are disposable.
• They charge ridiculous fees to the freelancers that are the ones that need the money the most because they are the ones starting their businesses. It is like if your employer charges you for coming to work.

Incentivized

I have earned a lot on Upwork and I would always recommend it to my fellow peers and people who have skills and are looking independently and remotely from the comfort of their home. Once you get successful in developing a good profile on Upwork revenue target are more easier to achieve.

Incentivized

We haven't really had to engage with TransferWise support. The platform is simple and easy to use.

Incentivized

Support has been great. Rarely have I ever had an issue that has required support but when I have they have been great. I did have to interact with support to confirm my identity and the process was easy and quick and support was helpful to know what I needed to do to accomplish that task.

Incentivized

We considered PayPal payment, ACH bank transfer, and simply mailing a check. TransferWise's fees were much lower than PayPal and our bank. Postage might have been less than TransferWise's fee, but payment could have taken more than a week rather than hours (or days in the case of a new payee).

Incentivized

Upwork is better suited for finding contractors that you can have ongoing relationships. Compared to Fiverr, it's a much easier process to find qualified designers rather than one-time contractors to design simple things for you. The interface is easier to use as well and the billing management makes it so much cleaner and easier to know how much we're spending and how contractors are logging work hours.

Incentivized

• We can save around 5% on our transfer fees
• The online account management is easier than going into banks personally
• There's no negative impact...

• We have gotten close to 50% of all of our clients through the platform.
• Upwork backs the work done through the platform, so no matter what the client or person you are working with does, you get paid for the work that you do. You aren't left hanging after doing hours of work for a client and then never getting paid for it.
• Made it easy to communicate with clients from different parts of the world and set up partnerships and agreements in an easier fashion. I would highly recommend it to anyone with a unique skill set.

Incentivized