Top 5 Best Contractor Management Software in 2024

Your choice in contractor management software can make all the difference in your ability to seamlessly manage and pay independent contractors. Our shortlist of best contractor management software for 2024 includes Playroll, Upwork, Rippling, Deel and Fiverr. Compare pricing and top features to make the best choice for your business.

Contractor Management

Marcelle van Niekerk

October 11, 2024

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Key Takeaways

If you’re thinking of hiring independent contractors, you’re not alone. In recent years, remote work has drastically changed how businesses manage their workforce. The demand for skilled freelancers has skyrocketed due to the flexibility, specialized skills, and cost savings they offer businesses. In the U.S. alone, 35% of the workforce are gig workers, with this number expected to increase in the coming years.

At the same time, businesses are increasingly hiring across borders, making good contractor management software essential for managing international payments, compliance, and contracts of global contractors.

There are many platforms for contractor management on the market, each with its own business model, set of features and pricing. To remain compliant and efficient as a business, making the right choice from the get-go matters. That’s why it’s so important to carefully weigh up your choices.

Below, we’ll dive into the details of our shortlist of the best contractor management software on the market. Here’s a summary of their main stand-out feature, as well as pricing.

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Contractor Management Software	Key Features	Pricing
Playroll	Affordable pricing and built-in compliance to hire and manage contractors or employees globally.	$35 p/contractor. Flat fee per month.
Fiverr	Large marketplace and advanced filters to find freelancers.	Service fees of 5.5% per purchase amount. For purchases under $100, an additional $3.00 is added per purchase.
Upwork	Project management and time tracking functionality.	Between 5-10% service fees, some plans include contract initiation fees per contract. Custom fees for enterprise customers.
Deel	Comprehensive compliance support for global contractors.	Starts from $49 per contractor/month.
Rippling	Automated payroll in multiple currencies.	Not disclosed

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What Is Contractor Management Software?

Contractor management software is a digital solution that helps businesses manage the entire lifecycle of hiring, managing, and paying contractors. Some typical features of contractor management systems include automated manual processes such as setting up contractor agreements, making payments and conducting compliance checks.

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What are the benefits of contractor management software?

It’s tempting to manage contractors yourself to save costs as a business. However, going the manual route can quickly get time-consuming, and it’s especially risky if you’re hiring contractors in multiple countries. Contractor management software can offer the following benefits over managing everything yourself:

Guaranteed Compliance: Ensures all contractors comply with local tax and labor laws, reducing compliance risks and potential fines or penalties.
Simplified Payment: Automates payment workflows, ensuring timely payments – most software also offers the ability to pay in multiple currencies.
Streamlined Management: Easily oversee work orders, agreements, and performance from one platform.
Performance Monitoring: Track contractor performance, ensuring you have visibility into work progress.
Time and Cost Efficiency: Reduces administrative time and costs by automating manual processes and minimizing human error. This can be especially useful if multiple people in your organization interact with contractors, by offering one standardized platform to manage everything.

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Shortlist Of Top Contractor Management Services

1. Playroll

We admit our bias, but have a proven track record of success behind our name as a standout global employment solution to compliantly hire workers across the globe – which includes our all-in-one platform for contractor management.

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With Playroll, we’re not just getting lower costs but a true service-oriented mindset. You don't know what you're missing until you meet Playroll.

Sherene Binni, Senior Office Manager & HR People Partner, Exalate

Read Case Study

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With Playroll’s contractor management system, you can hire and pay international contractors in 180+ countries. Managing and paying your team is made easy with automated contract creation, global payments in 50+ currencies, and an intuitive platform to manage work for all your contractors in one place.

When setting up your contractor agreements, Playroll does the heavy lifting to ensure compliance with local labor laws. Each client gets their own dedicated Customer Success Manager, at no extra cost, for ongoing support.

Playroll also offers Employer Of Record (EOR) services to hire full-time employees, making it easier to scale your workforce for any type of employment need.

Pricing: $35 p/contractor. Flat fee per month.

      
        Playroll Stand-Out Features
      
       Cost-effective, straightforward pricing
 Payments in 55+ currencies
 Free misclassification assessments
 Centralizes payment and contractor management
 Expert contractor compliance support

    

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2. Fiverr

Fiverr offers a large marketplace that allows businesses to connect with freelancers worldwide. It’s easy to navigate with advanced filtering options, making it a popular choice for companies that want quick access to talent and browse freelancers by category.

However, managing larger teams of contractors through Fiverr may require additional tools for tracking and contractor management. They also do not offer comprehensive compliance support when hiring international contractors.

Pricing: Base service fees of 5.5% per purchase amount. For purchases under $100, an additional $3.00 is added per purchase.

      
        Fiverr Stand-Out Features
      
       Extensive freelancer marketplace
 Dispute resolution system
 Project-based hiring

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3. Upwork

Upwork provides project management tools and time tracking to help businesses manage contractors. With access to a large talent pool, it’s a great platform for finding specialized skills or purchasing ready-made projects.

On the downside, managing payments across international borders may require third-party tools. They don’t offer compliance support for hiring international contractors. Upwork also charges high fees for its premium features, including dedicated support and customized reporting.

Pricing: Between 5-10% service fees, some plans include contract initiation fees per contract. Custom fees for enterprise customers.

      
        Upwork Stand-Out Features
      
       Project management software
 Time tracking
 A large talent pool of freelancers

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4. Deel

Deel is a well-known platform designed for managing international contractors and employees. It automates multi-currency payments, has comprehensive compliance support, and offers an intuitive dashboard for tracking contractor performance and agreements in one place.

On the downside, they charge high fees for contractor management, starting from $49 per contractor/month, as opposed to the flat fees other providers offer. They’ve also received reviews of high exchange fees and unexpected fees. This can make it hard to properly budget for their services.

Pricing: Starts from $49 per contractor/month.

      
        Deel Stand-Out Features
      
       Automated payments in wide number of currencies
 Compliance solutions for international contractors
 Detailed reporting and contractor management tools

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5. Rippling

Rippling is a workforce management system that also offers services to hire, pay and manage international contractors. It offers advanced capabilities to automate payment processing and compliance checks. They offer a wide range of products, including IT and finance management, that can make them a good fit for businesses looking for one platform to handle multiple aspects of their workforce.

On the other hand, Rippling has received public reviews on the steep learning curve of its products, with many products that are difficult to navigate. They do not publicly disclose their pricing, making it hard to make a straightforward assessment of whether their services fit into your budget.

Pricing: Not publicly disclosed.

      
        Rippling Stand-Out Features
      
       Multi-currency payments
 Automated compliance checks
 Wide country coverage

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Why Playroll Stands Out

While there are many strong contractor management solutions on the market, Playroll stands out for its competitive pricing, dedicated support to businesses of all sizes – and built-in compliance to hiring globally.

Avoiding Employee Misclassification Risk

While hiring independent contractors comes with many perks, government authorities worldwide have started clamping down on the issue of misclassification of employees as contractors, which can open up businesses to hefty penalties.

Playroll does free misclassification assessments to protect clients from these risks, helps set up compliant contractor agreements, and ensures that your IP belongs to you when working with contractors. Dedicated support in these areas comes free of charge, unlike many competitors. When hiring globally, these are essential features to scale your workforce without risk.

In addition, Playroll offers businesses the ability to hire full-time employees compliantly in 180+ countries, and can help convert your independent contractors to employees if needed. This helps your business remain flexible to any future workforce needs, without bringing any additional third-party services on board.

Book a chat with our team to find out how we can help you scale your global team, without the red tape.

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2024 Guide To Avoid Employee Misclassification

Our comprehensive guide to employee misclassification include a checklist to distinguish correctly between employers and contractors, and top tips to avoid misclassification risks.

Read Guide