Professional Services · alternatives
Alternatives to Guru
20 professional services tools sit alongside Guru in this directory. Below is what separates each from Guru on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 9
- Cheaper to start
- 0
- Guru starts at
- Free
Why people look past Guru
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Guru entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
Cost climbs steeply across the tiers
Guru publishes 5 tiers, from Free up to $49.95/month. Teams that outgrow the entry plan can find the next rung a large step, the Guru pricing page breaks each one down.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Financial software for small businesses
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 3 tiers to Guru's 5.
All-in-one business management for freelancers and agencies
- Starts $9 a user/month dearer, at $9/user/month.
- 4 tiers to Guru's 5.
Find the best freelancers for any job online
- Sold on a transaction model rather than subscription.
Simple, all-in-one invoicing and billing software
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 4 tiers to Guru's 5.
Time tracking that's easy, powerful, and frictionless
- Starts $9 a month dearer, at $9/month.
- 3 tiers to Guru's 5.
Projects, timesheets, invoices done right
- Starts $11.95 a month dearer, at $11.95/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
- 4 tiers to Guru's 5.
Every Guru alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guru (this page) | Free | Subscription | 5 | |
| WaveFinancial software for small businesses | Free | Freemium | 3 | vs Guru |
| BonsaiAll-in-one business management for freelancers and agencies | Free, then $9/user/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Guru |
| Freelancer.comFind the best freelancers for any job online | Free | Transaction | - | vs Guru |
| HiveageSimple, all-in-one invoicing and billing software | Free | Freemium | 4 | vs Guru |
| Toggl Track | Free, then $9/month | - | 3 | vs Guru |
| Avaza | Free, then $11.95/month | Freemium | 4 | vs Guru |
| Teamwork | Free | Subscription | 5 | vs Guru |
| Harvest | Free, then $9/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Guru |
| FreshBooks | Free, then $23/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Guru |
| Certinia PSA | On request | Quote | - | vs Guru |
| Scoro | $17/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Guru |
| Netsuite OpenAir | $500/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Guru |
| TravelPerk | Free | Usage-based | - | vs Guru |
| Kantata | On request | Quote | - | vs Guru |
| Productive | $10/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Guru |
| Plutio | $19/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Guru |
| Function Point | $53/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Guru |
| Accelo | On request | Quote | - | vs Guru |
| BigTime | $20/user/month | Subscription | 4 | vs Guru |
| PracticePanther | $49/month | Subscription | 8 | vs Guru |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Guru badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (9)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Wave , Free
- Bonsai , Free, then $9/user/month
- Freelancer.com , Free
- Hiveage , Free
- Toggl Track , Free, then $9/month
- Avaza , Free, then $11.95/month
- Teamwork , Free
- Harvest , Free, then $9/month
What you would be giving up
Guru is most often brought in for connecting freelancers with employers for competitive project bidding, managing multiple contractors as a distributed freelance business, standing out in competitive freelance bidding with premium quotes, managing monthly bid limits for active freelancers, improving profile ranking in freelancer search results. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Guru is broadly right and the question is cost, the Guru pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Professional Services category lists everything the directory holds, and best professional services tools ranks them.
Guru runs on not recorded. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Guru alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Guru?
- 20 other professional services tools are listed in this directory, led by Wave, Bonsai, Freelancer.com, Hiveage. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Guru?
- 9 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Wave, Bonsai, Freelancer.com, Hiveage, Toggl Track.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Guru?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: cost climbs steeply across the tiers. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Guru?
- Guru is most often brought in for connecting freelancers with employers for competitive project bidding, managing multiple contractors as a distributed freelance business, standing out in competitive freelance bidding with premium quotes, managing monthly bid limits for active freelancers, improving profile ranking in freelancer search results. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Guru?
- None of the professional services tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Guru alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Professional Services, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Guru against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Guru covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every professional services tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Professional Services category, 20 tools beside Guru. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.