Outsource Software
Elance vs. RentACoder From a Buyer’s Perspective
As you probably know, there are many online freelance marketplaces to procure software development services. In this article, I will outline my experiences in using two systems: Elance and RentACoder. If you are considering Elance or RentACoder for your next outsouce software development project, here are some bullet points that might help in using or choosing either system.
Elance:
- I liked the ability to add bidders to short-list. On projects with large audience of capable bidders, it helps to keep things organized.
- Clean design and good usability
- Choose to receive your project bids from two levels of service providers: Select and Basic
- Select Level
- “Your project deposit shows providers you are a serious buyer. “
- “You get better qualified responses as we charge Providers more to bid in Select.”
- “You get more detailed responses as Providers cannot read each other’s
proposals. Most major providers only bid in Select. ” - “$25 Deposit required. “
- Basic Level
- ”You get better prices as providers can see what their competition is bidding. “
- ”You get more responses as we charge Providers less to bid in Basic. “
- ”Credit card required for identity verification.”
RentACoder:
- I liked the notes you can add next to each bidder.
- Their version of Elance short-list is turning bids on and off.
- Didn’t like the HTML emails even though I specifically set it to off
- I was use to Elance, so the RentACoder Deadline concept threw me off
- Felt much more safe using RentACoder because of Escrow deposit, email with RentACoder Facilitators, telephone verification. Elance looks better and is easier to use, but RentACoder seems more safe.
- Changing project deadlines requires RentACoder facilitator intervention
Both have a private message system to communicate and share files with bidders.
Agree/Disagree? Want more information on a particular area? Let me know in comments or click over to the forum to discuss.
