Reviews and expert opinion Guru

How is Guru Different?

Many freelancer platforms focus on providing as much choice as possible. Guru’s membership structure for its freelancers, on the other hand, tends to encourage more experienced professionals. It offers a number of different ways of commissioning work, including hourly and milestone-based contracts.

Guru’s flexibility can cause confusion, though. For example, Guru charges each seller a commission on their rate, a standard practice for freelancer platforms – plus a nominal handling fee of 2.9%. However, when quoting for a job, freelancers can opt to request that the buyer pay part of that commission fee for them. This is a detail that buyers can easily miss.

Guru’s membership structure tends to encourage freelancers to charge higher fees. If you need to hire a professional but you don’t have a huge budget, you should definitely give Fiverr a try. Simple jobs cost as little as $5, and you can choose from a huge variety of freelancers from all over the world.

Freelancers Cross the Borders

Guru has members around the world. Whether you need a local or someone on the other side of the globe, there’s a good chance you can find them on Guru. However, Guru’s popularity seems to have waned over the last few years. A lot of buyers and sellers who formerly used the platform have complained about its billing and arbitration processes.

Both long- and short-term contracts are possible on Guru. From single tasks to years-long collaborations, the platform can support whatever working relationship you need. It’s worthwhile reading up on SafePay, which is Guru’s escrow-style shared account for employers and freelancers, as most sellers will prefer to use it.

Guru has been in the market for more than 20 years, standing the test of time when it comes to connecting buyers and sellers.

Here Is Where the Magic Happens

Guru doesn’t run contests or use complicated experience points-based rating systems. Instead, it uses a weighted percentage rating for both sellers and buyers. Both parties can post feedback and ratings at the end of a contract. Keep this in mind, as sellers will tend to avoid buyers with low scores.

When you write a job ad for Guru, try to imagine that you’re a freelancer needing information about the job. What would you want to know? For example, include the scope of work and any firm expectations like delivery due dates. Don’t add direct contact information to your ad – this is a big no-no on Guru and can get your account suspended or terminated.

Once you start receiving responses for your ad, you can find a quote that you like and either accept it, talk further with the freelancer, or negotiate on price and other specifics.

Clear and Simple Navigation

The Guru layout is clean and the navigation is fairly intuitive. Each user has a personalized dashboard that displays a summary of their interactions on the platform. As an employer, you’ll see current contracts, invoices that need to be paid, quotes that are under negotiation, and responses to your job ads.

You can find the most common tasks, like posting a job or looking for specific freelancers, in the toolbar at the top of the site. More account-specific tasks are available from your profile picture.

We Don’t Want to Talk to You

Guru’s Help Center does not feature live chat, so if you like a speedy and personalized service though, you’re out of luck on this platform. However, it does offer an email-based ticketing system. You can send the customer service team an email via a contact form. And there is a phone number you can call from Monday – Friday, 9am – 6pm EST. 

The Help & FAQ section is comprehensive, answering the most common questions that users are likely to have about the service. One thing I liked is that many of the help topics can be toggled between ‘Employer’ and ‘Freelancer’, offering information specific to each. 

There’s also a blog. This tackles topics that are a little bit hazier, like how different freelancers have set up their profiles, or tips for posting a job ad. Guru’s additions seem a little sporadic, but it’s a good source of extra information.

• Help & FAQ sections
• Email support
• Phone support Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm EST
• No live chat

Here’s Where It All Gets Complicated

While Guru’s fee flexibility can come in handy when negotiating with freelancers, it can also cause issues. Newcomers especially tend to find the costs confusing and difficult to navigate. 

The platform charges up to 9% of a freelancer’s takings. So if a freelancer quotes you $100 for a job, up to $9 will go to Guru.com instead. However, freelancers can include fee-splitting in their quotes. For example, that freelancer might ask that you pay a 5% fee – leaving them still paying a 4% fee themselves. This would mean that your bill for the job would sit at $105 instead.

Then there’s the handling fee. This is a fairly standard payment handling fee, and at 2.9%, it’s not outrageous – other platforms charge more. However, you receive a 100% rebate of that fee if you use the eCheque or wire transfer payment methods. Just make sure to check the fees that your bank might charge for these services.