What a full-time month costs each way, who does the vetting, and what happens when a hire doesn’t work out.
Use Upwork for projects and part-time work you can scope and vet yourself. Use a staffing agency when you need one marketer full-time, every week, and don’t want to screen proposals. A $30-an-hour Upwork marketer costs about $5,460 a month full-time. GrowthPair places a vetted, full-time marketer for about $4,000 a month, all-in.
| Upwork | Managed staffing agency (GrowthPair) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who finds and vets the marketer | You do: post a job, read proposals, interview | The agency: GrowthPair runs five steps, and about 1.5% of applicants are accepted |
| How fast | As fast as your own screening | About 3 weeks |
| Full-time monthly cost | About $5,460 at $30 an hour, with the 5% Basic fee | About $4,000 a month on average, all-in |
| Who runs payroll | The freelancer is a contractor; Upwork processes payments | GrowthPair pays your marketer and runs payroll, benefits, and HR |
| If it doesn’t work out | You start a new search | Lifetime replacement guarantee: we replace your marketer for as long as you’re a client |
| Hiring them yourself later | Conversion fee: 13.5% of the hourly rate × 2,080 hours, $8,424 at $30 an hour | Buyout at six months of the monthly rate |
| Commitment | Per contract, no minimum | Month to month, with 30 days’ notice |
Upwork says digital marketers on its site cost $15 to $45 an hour. A full-time month is about 173 hours (40 hours × 52 weeks ÷ 12).
| Hourly rate | Upwork, Basic 5% fee | Upwork, Business Plus 10% fee | GrowthPair, all-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $2,730 | $2,860 | About $4,000 |
| $30 | $5,460 | $5,720 | About $4,000 |
| $45 | $8,190 | $8,580 | About $4,000 |
The Upwork numbers are pay plus Upwork’s client fee. They don’t include your time to post, screen, and interview, or the cost of a new search if the hire leaves. GrowthPair’s rate covers the search, the vetting, payroll, benefits, HR, AI training through GrowthPair University, and a lifetime replacement guarantee.
Where Upwork wins on price: at $15 to $20 an hour, a full-time Upwork marketer costs less than GrowthPair, if you find one you trust and keep them.
Want to compare more options? See Upwork alternatives for marketers, what Upwork charges clients, and how much marketing staffing agencies charge.
For projects and part-time work, usually yes. For a full-time marketer at $30 an hour or more, no: that’s about $5,460 a month on Upwork’s Basic plan, versus about $4,000 a month, all-in, through GrowthPair.
Yes. You can hire a freelancer for 40 hours a week on an hourly contract. You do the screening, and they stay a contractor unless you pay Upwork’s conversion fee to hire them directly.
It finds and vets the marketer for you, pays them, runs payroll and HR, and replaces them if it doesn’t work out. GrowthPair also trains every marketer on AI through GrowthPair University.
For a full-time marketer vetted by marketers, at a published price, GrowthPair: about $4,000 a month, all-in, with talent from Latin America and the Philippines. See our comparison of 10 global marketing staffing agencies.
