Comparision of Major Service Marketplaces
The service marketplace industry is well developed and growing very rapidly, with a small number of dominant players and a few other platforms that are succeeding by focusing on geographic or skill-based niches. As the marketplaces are all private companies we have to rely on their publicly provided data, which may not be directly comparable. However compiling what information we do have available helps to provide an overview of the industry.
Comparison table
- Source: Getting results from the crowd. Ross Dawson. 2011. pp. 50-51
| Elance | Freelancer.com | www.guru.com | www.odesk.com | www.vworker.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| URL | www.elance.com | www.freelancer.com <br/>(and individual country sites such as www.freelancer.com.au) | Pittsburgh, PA, U.S. | Redwood City, CA, U.S. | Tampa, FL, U.S. |
| Head Office | Mountain View, CA, U.S. | Sydney, Australia | Privately owned, $500,000 from Fairview Funds in 2000. | Privately owned, three funding rounds 2006 -08 for total of $29 million from Globespan Capital, Benchmark Capital, and others | Privately owned and funded. |
| Ownership / Funding | Privately owned, funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, NEA, Stipes Group and other investors. $65 million funding announced in 2000. | Privately owned, undisclosed funding from Startive Capital. | 1998. Branded as Guru.com In 2004. | 2003 | 2001 as Rentacoder.com, rebranded as vWorker.com In 2010 |
| Founded | 1999. Sold off enterprise business in 2006, and re-launched in 2007 as a web-based platform. | 2004. Acquired and rebranded as Freelancer.com in 2009. | $411 million | ||
| Total billings | $450 million | $105 million since payments were made mandatory through site (2.5 years). | 300000 | 170000 | |
| Number of active project buyers | 190000 | 440000 | 250000 | 1450000 | 350000 |
| Number of active freelancers | 550000 | 2500000 | 10000 | 100000 | 15000 |
| Avg. projects posted monthly | 60000 | 50000 | 75000 | 210000 | 23000 |
| Monthly unique visitors(Compete.com) | 279000 | 270000 | |||
| Alexa ranking | 355 | 348 | 2609 | 462 | 2497 |
| Top countries for freelancers
(by projects, freelancers or hours) |
By freelancers:1. U.S. (39%)2. India (15%)3. Pakistan (8%) | By freelancers:1. India (23%)2. U.S. (13%)3. Pakistan(9%) | By freelancers: 1. U.S. (58%) 2. India (18%) 3. Canada (3%) | By hours: 1. Philippines (24%) 2. India (16%) 3. U.S. (14%) | By projects: 1. India (21%) 2. Pakistan (13%) 3. U.S. (10%) |
| Top countries for employers
(by projects, employers or hours) |
By employers:1. U.S. (54%)2. U.K. (8%)3. Australia (7%) | By employers:1. U.S. (32%)2. U.K. (11%)3. India (9%) / Australia (9%) | By employers: 1. U.S. (80%) 2. U.K. (6%) 3. Canada (4%) | By employers: 1. U.S. 2. U.K. 3. Australia | By projects: 1. U.S. (47%) 2. U.K. (11%) 3. Canada (7%) |
| % of IT work vs. non-IT work
(by earnings) |
59% | 81% | 59,00% | ||
| Commission | 8.75% (drops to 6.75% after $10,000) from freelancer. | 6.5% to 15% commission paid by employee depending on the structure of the project (minimum fee is $3.00). | Freelancers are charged 7.45% or 11.95% of an invoice depending on the freelancers Status. | 10,00% | 6.5% to 15% commission paid by employee depending on the structure of the project (minimum fee is $3.00). |
| Number of tests / exams | 430 | 180 | 706 | 344 | |
| Escrow available? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Dispute arbitration? | Yes, free to both parties. Independent external arbitration also available for $99. | Yes, for a fee of 5% or $5, whichever is higher (refunded to the winner of the dispute). Only for users who have elected to use the milestone payment system. | Yes, for a fee of 5% (minimum $25) deducted from the total amount in scrow. | Yes, free to both parties. | Yes, free to both parties. |
| Worker PC monitoring software | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Buyer registration fee | $10 | Free | Free | Free | Free |