Built once.
Or kept running.
Upwork vs LeanLoop: hire a freelancer to build it, or have it built and kept running
If you're sure software could take some admin off your hands but don't want to set it up yourself, hiring someone is the obvious next step. Maybe a freelancer to set up Zapier, or someone to automate your admin more widely. Upwork is a well-known place to find one. Its categories include AI and software development, which is where you'd look for someone to set up software that answers enquiries, moves orders between systems or chases invoices. LeanLoop does that kind of work too. The difference is who writes the brief, who manages the work, and who keeps it running once it's built.
Freelancer or agency? The short answer
- Hire a freelancer on Upwork if you know exactly what you want built, you're happy to interview and manage them, and someone can look after the work afterwards, or you keep the freelancer on to do so.
- Hand the job to LeanLoop if you'd rather not manage anyone. We work out what to build, build it, test it on your own examples and run it every month, and you approve its work.
What hiring on Upwork involves
Upwork describes itself as a global online platform that connects freelancers and clients. You post a job, read proposals, interview the people you like and hire one. Contracts are paid by the hour, or as a fixed price split into milestones. Upwork's own guide to hiring includes managing the work: a kick-off meeting, then regular progress reviews. On fixed-price contracts, you review the work for each milestone before the payment is released.
Upwork shows badges to help you choose, such as Top Rated and Expert-Vetted, for freelancers with the strongest records. Fees are a percentage of what you pay, plus a fee for each new contract, set in US dollars. UK clients pay VAT on Upwork's fees unless they give a VAT number. Its help centre has the current fees.
Built once, or kept running
A freelancer builds what's in the brief. That puts two hard jobs on you before anyone starts: deciding which of your jobs is worth handing over, and describing how it's done well enough for a stranger to build it. With LeanLoop, that's the time audit. It's a fixed price, agreed before we start, and usually takes about a week. You get a written plan with a fixed price and a date for each job worth doing.
Then there's afterwards. Software that does a job for you needs looking after. Apps change, your prices change, and odd cases turn up. Upwork's own help centre warns that websites and plug-ins may stop working properly as the technology behind them goes out of date, and suggests talking to your freelancer about that. You can keep a freelancer on by the hour for ongoing work. If you do, you're managing them: setting the work, checking it, approving the hours.
An alternative for small businesses that don't want to manage it
With LeanLoop, looking after it is the monthly service. The assistant drafts the job's work as it comes in and puts it in your to-approve list. We check its work, fix what goes wrong, change it when your business changes and report to you each month on what it did and what you approved, changed or binned. The monthly service has a 1-month minimum term and 1 month's notice. See how repeat jobs work.
Upwork vs LeanLoop, side by side
| Upwork | LeanLoop | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A marketplace that connects you with freelancers | A small crew that sets up assistants for the jobs you repeat, and keeps them running |
| Who decides what to build | You, in the job post and brief | Worked out with you in the time audit |
| Who manages the work | You: interviews, kick-off, progress reviews | We do. You approve the assistant's work |
| Testing before it goes live | Whatever you agree with the freelancer | On 20 real examples from your business, and you see the results |
| After it's built | You look after it, or keep the freelancer on by the hour | We keep it running, with a report each month |
| How you pay | The freelancer's rate or fixed price, plus Upwork's fees, in US dollars | Fixed prices for the time audit and for setting up each job, then a monthly service |
When to hire a freelancer
- You know exactly what you want built, and can write it down.
- Someone on your team can manage a freelancer, and look after the work once it's done.
- The job is a one-off, like moving your records from one system to another, with nothing to keep running afterwards.
- You need a rare skill for a specific system, and want to choose from a large pool of people.
When to hand the job to us instead
- You're not sure which job to start with. The time audit works it out, with each job's value in your own numbers: hours a week × what an hour is worth to you × 52.
- Nobody on your side has time to manage a freelancer, or to look after what they build.
- You want every piece of its work in your to-approve list, with nothing going out until you've said yes.
Questions to ask whoever you hire
- What exactly will it do, and what will always come to me?
- How will you test it before it touches a customer?
- Who fixes it when something changes, and how quickly?
- What will it cost each month to keep running, including the tools it runs on?
- What do I own if we stop working together?
A good freelancer will have answers. So will we.
Thinking of building it yourself instead? See Zapier vs LeanLoop. Want a person rather than software? See Virtalent vs LeanLoop.
