Freelancer or agency: how to choose
The choice is usually framed as price against quality. It is really a choice about who does the work, who answers for it, and how much of the managing you want to do yourself. Each option is right for some projects and expensive for others.
What you are actually buying
An agency and a freelancer can produce the same logo, the same website or the same article. What differs is everything around the work.
An agency
- A company is your counterparty, with a contract and an invoice
- The agency chooses who does the work, and may change them
- An account manager coordinates, so you manage less
- Several disciplines under one roof — design, copy, development
- The price covers the work, the coordination and the overhead
A freelancer
- An individual is your counterparty
- You choose exactly who does the work
- You brief, chase and review the work yourself
- Usually one discipline, done by the person you hired
- The price is mostly the work itself
When an agency is the right call
We run a freelance marketplace, so take this section as the one we had least reason to write.
- The project needs several disciplines working together at once — a product launch with strategy, design, copy, video and media buying, all depending on each other.
- You need an ongoing relationship with someone who manages the work for you, month after month, and you do not have the time to brief and review it yourself.
- The work needs a large team at short notice, more people than any one freelancer can bring.
- Your organisation can only buy from vendors that meet a procurement process designed around agencies.
In those cases the coordination is the product, and paying for it is not waste. The mistake is paying for coordination on a project that does not need any — a single logo, a set of product descriptions, a landing page — because the only alternative seemed to be an individual with no paperwork and no recourse.
When a freelancer is the right call
- The work is well defined and sits in one discipline, so you can describe it in a brief and judge it when it comes back.
- You want to choose the person, see their past work and know they are the one doing it — not a junior you have never met.
- Your budget should go on the work rather than on the layers around it.
- You are happy to answer questions and review drafts yourself, which on a defined project is a few conversations, not a job.
The cost of hiring a freelancer directly is the part that is not on the quote. Your contract is with an individual. If the work is late or wrong, your remedy is with that person alone. And your finance team may need to handle an invoice from someone who is not registered for GST, or no invoice at all.
The third option
Lancerscape exists because the choice above is usually presented as all-or-nothing: the accountability of a company, or the choice and price of an individual. The structure underneath is what makes it possible to have both.
Hiring a freelancer directly
You
Choose the person
contract with
The freelancer
Does the work, and is also your only remedy if it goes wrong
Through Lancerscape
You
Choose the person from the bids on your brief
contract with
Lancerscape Global Pvt Ltd
Your counterparty, accountable for delivery
which separately contracts
The freelancer
Does the work, and is paid by us
You post a brief, KYC-verified freelancers bid on it, and you choose one — the person, at the price they bid. Your contract for the project is with Lancerscape Global Pvt Ltd, which contracts that freelancer separately, invoices you once in rupees with GST, and stands behind delivery of the project as described when you accepted the bid. You are invoiced the project value and nothing more; our fee comes out of the freelancer’s payout, as set out on our pricing page.
It is not an agency. We do not choose the freelancer for you, we do not run your project for you, and we do not combine five disciplines into one retainer. If that is what you need, an agency is still the right answer.
A quick way to decide
- 1Can you describe the deliverable in a page? If not, you may need strategy first, and an agency or consultant is better placed to provide it.
- 2Does it need more than one discipline working at the same time? If yes, an agency’s coordination earns its cost.
- 3Do you want to choose who does the work? If yes, hire a freelancer.
- 4Do you need a registered company to answer for the result and to invoice you properly? If yes, hire that freelancer through a company that will — which is what Lancerscape is for.
FAQ
Is a freelancer cheaper than an agency?
Often, for the same piece of work, because an agency’s price also covers account management, coordination and overhead. Whether that is waste depends on the project: on multi-discipline work the coordination is worth paying for; on a single defined deliverable it usually is not.
Is it riskier to hire a freelancer than an agency?
When you hire an individual directly, your contract and your remedy are with that individual. That is the real difference in risk, more than the quality of the work. On Lancerscape your contract is with a registered company that stands behind delivery, while you still choose the freelancer.
Can I get a GST invoice when hiring a freelancer?
Only if the freelancer is registered for GST, which many individuals are not. Through Lancerscape you receive a single GST invoice in rupees from Lancerscape Global Pvt Ltd, whoever carried out the work.
Does Lancerscape choose the freelancer for me?
No. Freelancers bid on your brief and you choose one, seeing what each of them bid. Every freelancer who can bid is KYC-verified first; who you work with is your decision.