8 Marketplaces That Connect You With Specialized Growth Professionals
Building a growth team from scratch is expensive and time-consuming. Between recruiting, onboarding, and managing full-time employees, many startups and mid-sized companies find themselves stretched too thin. Outsourcing gives you access to proven talent without the overhead of traditional hiring. The right marketplace can connect you with specialists who know how to drive real results, whether you need help with paid ads, SEO, content strategy, or conversion optimization. This list focuses on platforms that cater specifically to growth roles, with an emphasis on quality, flexibility, and practical fit for businesses that want to scale smartly.
- Legiit
Legiit started as a marketplace for digital marketing services and has grown into a solid option for companies that need growth specialists on demand. The platform focuses heavily on SEO, content marketing, link building, and paid traffic services, which makes it particularly useful if your growth strategy leans on organic or paid acquisition channels.
What sets Legiit apart is the range of service packages available at different price points. You can hire someone for a one-time project or work with a provider on a recurring basis. Many sellers on the platform have built up strong reputations over time, so you can review feedback and portfolios before committing. The interface is straightforward, and the vetting process helps filter out low-quality providers.
If you’re a small to medium-sized business looking for affordable, results-focused marketing help without the complexity of traditional agencies, Legiit is worth exploring. It’s especially helpful for teams that want to test different tactics quickly without locking into long-term contracts.
- Gun.io
Gun.io specializes in connecting companies with vetted freelance developers and technical growth experts. While it’s known primarily for engineering talent, the platform also attracts growth professionals who work at the intersection of product and marketing, like growth engineers, data analysts, and product managers who focus on retention and activation.
The vetting process at Gun.io is rigorous. Freelancers go through technical interviews and skill assessments before they’re admitted to the platform, which means you’re working with people who have proven capabilities. This makes Gun.io a strong choice if your growth challenges are more technical in nature, such as building analytics dashboards, setting up experimentation frameworks, or optimizing onboarding flows.
Pricing is on the higher end compared to general freelance marketplaces, but the quality and reliability tend to match. If you need someone who can blend technical skills with a growth mindset, Gun.io offers a curated pool of professionals who can execute at a high level.
- Mayple
Mayple takes a matchmaking approach to connecting businesses with marketing experts. Instead of browsing through profiles yourself, you answer questions about your business and goals, and Mayple’s team recommends a vetted marketer who fits your needs. The platform focuses on performance marketing, so you’ll find specialists in paid search, social ads, email marketing, and conversion rate optimization.
One of Mayple’s strengths is the human touch in the matching process. You’re not left alone to sort through hundreds of profiles. The team does the initial filtering based on your industry, budget, and objectives, which saves time and reduces the risk of hiring the wrong person. All marketers on the platform are pre-vetted and have demonstrable track records.
Mayple works well for companies that want expert help but don’t have the bandwidth to manage a lengthy hiring process. The service is designed for businesses that need to move quickly and want confidence that the person they hire has relevant experience. It’s particularly useful if you’re new to outsourcing and want a bit of guidance along the way.
- Toptal
Toptal markets itself as a network of the top 3% of freelance talent, and while that claim is hard to verify independently, the platform does maintain a reputation for quality. Toptal covers a wide range of roles, including growth marketers, product managers, data scientists, and designers. The screening process is intensive, involving multiple rounds of interviews and test projects.
For businesses that need senior-level growth professionals who can operate independently, Toptal is a strong option. The talent pool skews toward experienced individuals who have worked with well-known companies and can hit the ground running. You won’t find entry-level freelancers here, which means you’re paying for expertise and strategic thinking, not just task execution.
The main trade-off is cost. Toptal’s rates are among the highest in the freelance marketplace space, but many companies find the investment worthwhile when they need someone who can own a growth channel or lead a complex initiative. If budget allows and you need top-tier talent fast, Toptal delivers.
- Growth Collective
Growth Collective is a membership-based platform that connects startups with experienced growth advisors and operators. Unlike traditional marketplaces where you hire someone for a specific task, Growth Collective focuses on ongoing advisory relationships. Members get access to a vetted network of growth professionals who have scaled companies before and can provide strategic guidance.
The platform is particularly well-suited for early-stage startups that need senior expertise but can’t afford a full-time head of growth. You can work with advisors on a fractional basis, getting their input on strategy, experiments, and execution without paying a full-time salary. The community aspect is also valuable, as members can learn from each other and share what’s working.
Growth Collective requires a membership fee, so it’s not the right fit for every company. But if you’re at the stage where strategic direction matters as much as tactical execution, and you want access to people who have been through the growth challenges you’re facing, the platform offers real value. It’s less about hiring hands-on help and more about tapping into experience and networks.
- Gigster
Gigster is a managed marketplace that assembles full project teams, including developers, designers, and product managers, to build software products and features. While it’s not exclusively a growth marketplace, Gigster is highly relevant if your growth strategy requires building or improving digital products, like mobile apps, web platforms, or internal tools that support your growth efforts.
What makes Gigster different is the managed service model. You don’t just hire individuals and manage them yourself. Gigster’s team handles project management, quality assurance, and coordination, so you get a functional team without the overhead of managing freelancers directly. This is helpful if you lack in-house project management resources or want to move quickly on a complex build.
Gigster’s pricing reflects the managed service approach, so it’s more expensive than hiring freelancers directly. However, the reduced management burden and the accountability that comes with a managed team can justify the cost, especially for companies that need to ship a product or feature that will directly impact growth metrics. If you’re willing to pay for convenience and reliability, Gigster is worth considering.
- Worksome
Worksome is a freelance management platform that helps companies find, hire, and manage freelance talent across multiple categories, including marketing, design, and development. It’s designed for businesses that work with freelancers regularly and need a centralized system to handle contracts, payments, and compliance.
The platform includes a marketplace where you can post projects and receive proposals from freelancers, but it also integrates with your existing freelance networks. If you already know talented people you want to hire, Worksome makes it easy to bring them on board and manage everything in one place. This flexibility is helpful for companies that have a mix of new hires and repeat collaborators.
Worksome is particularly useful for mid-sized companies that are scaling their use of freelance talent and need better infrastructure to manage it. The platform handles invoicing, time tracking, and compliance across different countries, which reduces administrative headaches. If you’re building a distributed growth team and want a system that keeps everything organized, Worksome provides the tools to do that efficiently.
- Marketing Hire
Marketing Hire connects businesses with freelance marketing professionals across a wide range of specialties, from content marketing and SEO to paid acquisition and analytics. The platform is straightforward: you post a job, review applications, and hire the person who fits your needs. There’s no lengthy vetting process or matching algorithm, which gives you more control but also requires you to do your own due diligence.
The talent pool on Marketing Hire includes both generalists and specialists, so you can find someone to handle broad marketing tasks or focus on a specific growth channel. Pricing varies widely depending on the freelancer’s experience and location, which means you can find options that fit different budgets. The platform also supports both project-based and ongoing arrangements.
Marketing Hire works well for companies that know what they need and are comfortable managing the hiring process themselves. It’s less hand-holdy than some other options, but that also means fewer barriers and faster time to hire. If you have a clear job description and the ability to evaluate candidates, Marketing Hire gives you access to a solid pool of marketing talent without unnecessary overhead.
Outsourcing your growth team doesn’t mean sacrificing quality or control. The right marketplace gives you access to skilled professionals who can execute on your strategy without the long-term commitment of full-time hires. Each platform on this list serves a different need, whether you’re looking for affordable tactical help, senior strategic guidance, or managed project teams. Start by identifying your biggest growth gap, then choose the marketplace that aligns with your budget, timeline, and level of involvement. With the right match, you can build a flexible, effective growth team that scales with your business.
