11 Upwork Alternatives That Actually Speed Up Your Hiring Process

If you’ve spent hours sifting through hundreds of Upwork proposals only to end up with mediocre candidates, you’re not alone. The platform’s sheer size can actually slow down hiring instead of speeding it up. Fortunately, there are smarter alternatives that help you find qualified freelancers faster, with less noise and more relevant matches. This list focuses on platforms that prioritize speed without sacrificing quality, so you can fill positions quickly and get back to running your business.

Legiit
Legiit takes a different approach by letting freelancers create pre-packaged service listings with fixed prices. Instead of posting a job and waiting for proposals to trickle in, you can browse through ready-made offerings and buy immediately. This eliminates the back-and-forth negotiation phase entirely.

The platform specializes in digital marketing services like SEO, content writing, social media management, and web development. You’ll find freelancers who have already defined their deliverables, timelines, and pricing, which means you can make a decision in minutes rather than days. For businesses that need specific marketing tasks completed quickly, this model cuts hiring time dramatically.
Toptal
Toptal maintains an exclusive network by accepting only the top three percent of applicants. When you submit a hiring request, they match you with pre-vetted candidates within 24 to 48 hours. You’re not drowning in applications from unqualified freelancers because Toptal has already done the screening.

The platform focuses on developers, designers, finance experts, and project managers. While the hourly rates tend to run higher than budget platforms, you’re paying for the time saved on vetting and the reduced risk of a bad hire. Most clients start working with their matched freelancer within days, not weeks.
Gun.io
Gun.io operates as a managed marketplace specifically for software developers. They handle all the screening, testing, and interviews before a developer even appears in your candidate pool. When you need a developer, they present you with a small selection of qualified matches.

What makes this platform fast is the concierge approach. You’re assigned a dedicated account manager who understands your technical requirements and handles the logistics. Instead of managing the hiring process yourself, you review a curated shortlist and make your choice. Most placements happen within a week of your initial request.
Contra
Contra built its platform around speed by removing commission fees and simplifying the payment process. Freelancers can accept projects and get paid without the platform taking a cut, which attracts high-quality professionals who might avoid commission-heavy sites.

The interface emphasizes portfolios and direct communication. You can view work samples immediately, reach out to freelancers with a single click, and negotiate terms through a streamlined chat system. The platform appeals to creative professionals like designers, writers, and marketers who want to showcase their work upfront rather than compete in a proposal war.
Solid Gigs
Solid Gigs flips the model by serving freelancers rather than clients, but this actually helps businesses hire faster. The service curates legitimate, well-paying freelance opportunities and sends them directly to its members. Freelancers on Solid Gigs tend to be more established and selective about the projects they take.

If you post your job on the boards that Solid Gigs monitors, your listing gets in front of a smaller but more qualified audience. You’ll receive fewer applications overall, but the quality bar is higher. This reduces the time you spend sorting through unqualified candidates and speeds up your decision process.
We Work Remotely
We Work Remotely is a job board rather than a marketplace, which changes the hiring dynamic. You post a detailed job listing, and interested freelancers or remote workers apply directly. There’s no bidding system, no proposals to review, and no platform acting as an intermediary.

The community skews toward experienced remote professionals who know how to work independently. Because the board charges a flat fee to post, you’re less likely to get spam applications from people who mass-apply to everything. The simplified process means you can move from posting to interviewing within days, and the flat structure keeps things moving quickly.
Speedlancer
Speedlancer lives up to its name by focusing exclusively on small tasks that can be completed in 24 hours or less. If you need a quick logo tweak, a short blog post, or a simple graphic, this platform delivers fast results without the overhead of traditional hiring.

Freelancers on Speedlancer commit to turnaround times upfront, and the platform’s structure discourages large, complex projects. This keeps expectations clear and timelines short. For businesses that need minor tasks handled immediately without a lengthy onboarding process, Speedlancer eliminates most of the waiting.
Slack Hiring Channels
Many industry-specific Slack communities have dedicated hiring channels where you can post opportunities and connect with freelancers in real time. These communities are often invite-only or require membership, which naturally filters for people who are active and engaged in their field.

The speed advantage comes from direct communication. You can chat with potential hires immediately, ask questions, review their work, and make offers within hours. There’s no platform bureaucracy, no proposal system, and no waiting for responses. You’re tapping into a ready-made network of professionals who are already paying attention.
Working Not Working
Working Not Working caters to creative professionals and operates on an invitation or application basis. The platform manually reviews each creative before approving them, which means the talent pool is smaller but consistently high quality.

When you post a project, you’re reaching a curated group of designers, art directors, copywriters, and other creatives who have already been vetted. The reduced volume of responses makes it easier to find the right person quickly. Many companies use this platform when they need creative work done fast but can’t afford to wade through hundreds of portfolios.
Gigster
Gigster specializes in software development projects and uses artificial intelligence tools to match your requirements with the right team. When you submit a project brief, their system analyzes it and assembles a team of developers, designers, and project managers suited to your needs.

The platform manages the entire project on your behalf, which removes most of the hiring burden from your plate. You’re not interviewing individual freelancers or coordinating multiple contractors. Instead, you approve the proposed team and timeline, then let Gigster handle execution. This approach works well for companies that want development work completed quickly without managing the process themselves.
Codeable
Codeable focuses exclusively on WordPress development and maintains a highly selective expert network. When you submit a project, their team reviews it and connects you with the most appropriate developer from their pool. You don’t browse profiles or review proposals.

The vetting process ensures that every developer on the platform has proven WordPress expertise, which eliminates the risk of hiring someone who claims skills they don’t actually have. Most projects get matched with a developer within 24 hours, and the narrow specialization means developers can estimate timelines accurately. For WordPress-specific work, this focused approach saves substantial time compared to general marketplaces.

Hiring faster doesn’t mean compromising on quality. These alternatives to Upwork each solve the speed problem in different ways, whether through pre-vetted talent pools, fixed-price services, or streamlined matching systems. The right choice depends on what kind of work you need done and how hands-on you want to be in the hiring process. Try a few options that match your specific needs, and you’ll likely find that filling positions can happen in days instead of weeks.